by Mohammed Tayseer Alzoubi: Arabic Language Curriculum and Teaching Methods Expert, Training Program Designer – Jordan
Gaza’s aggression teaches us a lot of pedagogical lessons that should be considered, placed in an appropriate sustainability framework, and used as a reference in the shadow of crises that appear to be escalating, or limited to wars and conflicts. What has taken place has been uncharacteristic and unexpected, and it introduced us to unfamiliar roles of schools and teachers; and that requires contemplation and analysis, in order to be brought out in lessons and discourses. Out of all the lessons, I will focus on those that reminded me of the days of opposing the new curriculums, when they would shoot at them with the arrows of criticism regardless of their origin. Then, some arrows would be thrown back out of insufficient comprehension of modern curriculums and their message, and the assumption that, when the teachers will grasp the curriculum’s vision and are trained to teach it, they will change their minds about it, which is often not the case.
This article discusses the importance of making the curriculums adaptable. Because catastrophes of any kind can happen at any time, and in the aftermath, teachers should be able modify the curriculum to meet emergency situations that necessitate a specific type of education, which is different from what the teachers usually offer. In order to achieve a flexible curriculum suited to different learning environments and changing circumstances, this article addresses the issue of building the curriculums, starting with a prototype based on sufficient reasonable ground, in order to make its contents diverse and not limited to merely knowledge. This design necessitates a team that acknowledges the enormity of the task it is handling, so it would establish the criteria that governs the framework of indicators to be met in circumstances of war and disaster, and how to present them in a way that ensures prompt and disciplined response from teachers, and that also allows the families to be actual partners in the education process.
This curriculum is applicable in normal situations, where students acquire the life skills expected of them during their developmental stage. Even if a disaster occurs, the approved curriculum would be appropriate in times of war and crisis, and volunteers or teachers can offer it within the available resources.
The prototype
The lesson learned from Gaza is that knowledge alone is not enough, and that it should have an effective role in times of crisis and emergency conditions. This is what curriculum designers must take into consideration, because the role of knowledge is to help people improve their status-quo and develop their tools of solving their own problems. Therefore, it is imperative for knowledge to play a role during wars and in circumstances of fighting and bombing. Future curriculums must contain sufficient knowledge to enable the students to cope, even minimally, with the conditions of war and combat, or natural disasters and crises. Knowledge must not remain abstract and dry, rather, it must be valid for the different circumstances that the students’ learning experience go through. And this shift should take into consideration the fact that, the physical learning environment during war and conflict may be an outdoor space, or the remnants of a classroom, perhaps a small house, or even a narrow tent.
The curriculums of values
Gaza’s lesson showed us that in war, people need different human values. Because war is the arena that proves the need of spreading values all across the curriculum- whatever their field or their content may be- and the need for the learning activities and tasks to be based on instilling the values in the students, and help them to acquire the skills they can exhibit in emergent situations, such as wars and conflicts. These difficult circumstances also demonstrate that the claims we hear about the curriculums of scientific material as being “serious” and rigid are not true; it is high time for the scientific knowledge -which was previously held captive in curricula and in laboratories- to be distributed to camps, asylum centers, or schools that house displaced persons, whose first concern is to survive in difficult conditions, and who need any piece of information – no matter how simple and whoever the provider may be – in order to help them in doing so. Imagine what a student who absorbed scientific knowledge and human values could achieve, when he succeeds in sharing them with displaced people running for their life, and then he manages to put that knowledge or information or value, in the path of their life.
Authorship teams
Gaza’s lesson added a new requirement to the specifications of the curriculum writing teams. Author teams with knowledge of students’ diverse life contexts are more skilled at building a flexible curriculum, which can be adapted to war and conflict contexts, and they are better able to develop instructions that suit different learning contexts. This requires them to review the Global Refugee Agreement, which stipulates in one of its most important items, that education is a right that comes directly after securing basic needs.
Even though it may seem luxurious to some individuals, this is still a basic human right, regardless of the circumstances. Moreover, during times of crisis or war, education may become a vital necessity for homeless and displaced people to acquire the knowledge and skills that can make them more resilient amid distress, to assist them in finding the most merciful mays of life, and to provide them with sustaining livelihood opportunities. In addition, learning in this case becomes the means to provide psychological and emotional safety, and the source of knowledge of rights, and how to protect oneself from illness and vulnerability.
The authors’ knowledge of these aspects is the first step in building a flexible curriculum, which is beneficial during circumstances of war and conflict, and also suitable for natural conditions. The authors’ team does a good deed by putting a plan for appointing teachers and volunteers at the forefront of its curriculum, which places them at the start of the process of transforming the usual curriculum into a flexible and applicable one, suitable for times of war, conflict, and disaster.
Curriculum standards
The Gaza lesson has once again highlighted the importance of standards in teaching the curriculum, including what a student is required to complete after each lesson, and the next step they should take. This goes in parallel with ensuring the protection of the students’ life and their survival.
Why are standards important?
Education during times of war and conflict is usually carried out in environments unfamiliar to the student, in locations far from their place of residence, and in classrooms where the resources they are familiar with are not available. Learning might be provided by volunteers who have no education experience, or have never stood in front of students. Therefore, the curriculums must take into account the following:
1. Developing clear performance indicators showing what a student should achieve after a specific study module.
2. Drafting the indicator with clear and unrefuted vocabulary to make things easier for an inexperienced or volunteering teacher under limited training opportunities, so that the students would know what is expected of them in an abnormal educational environment, and the family would follow up with the most basic means and tools.
3. Targeting the largest segment of students; indicators may be formulated for two close school phases.
4. Helping volunteers and students in accurately determining their levels, and finding out the next step in their learning.
5. Indicators may be a suitable substitute for the exam when it cannot be held. They are a type of assessment.
Teachers are guided by these indicators to work in accordance with the laws of the refugees hosting place, considering the conditions of the location. The students will continue to learn and won’t be deprived of being tutored, and the reform process becomes possible with the least damage, making illiteracy very limited among children.
Teachers’ response
The focus of many education experts is on the teaching methods. And nowadays, many of them consider them these methods as the most important factor, in light of the easy access to knowledge and its multiple sources. In unusual circumstances, such as war, bombardment, and displacement, teachers have to realize that these conditions require different methods, and they have to consider modifying them to suit both the environment and the student.
Regular trainings offered to teachers may not provide sufficient knowledge about education in circumstances of war and conflict. Due to the frequent recurrence of this issue during this century, the educational systems must make the teachers acquire these skills, keeping them ready, in parallel with training them on risk prevention methods, missile avoidance, and proper response to bombing during the teaching sessions.
Training teachers to be fast responders involves teaching them how to insure safety, how to sustain their lives and those around them, and enabling to provide food and drink. These are things crucial and necessary to give them the physical strength they need to carry out their tasks, and to give them a new perspective of the planning process that is imposed by the conditions they operate in. And that requires the selection of basic substantive knowledge and the abandonment of peripheral details. Furthermore, they are the role models for volunteers who have never had any educational experience. This means having adequate transmission and communication skills, working in difficult conditions and under pressure, having adequate awareness, comprehensive knowledge, and a broad understanding of the new reality in which education will be conducted; also, how to overcome several instant challenges.
Gaza’s situation is slightly different, with aggression displacing people inside the besieged Strip itself, meaning teachers do not have to deal with new curriculums and laws, or an educational system with unusual specifications. The process of getting them ready will involve compensating students for what they missed from the moment they stopped learning until they return to sitting in front of a teacher in a tent, mobile home, or outdoor. Also, the process of integrating volunteers into the educational process will be easier and less time consuming, and their compatibility with experienced teachers in the working groups will be clearer. This means that the teaching courses are managed by teachers in a friendly environment with flexible management, balanced accountability, and continuous supervision, while consulting the teachers or volunteers, because they interact directly with the students who are working under challenging circumstances.
Parents and family
Gaza’s lesson added more responsibilities to the family’s teaching role. In wars, a volunteer who is teaching students in shelters, quickly reaches the skill and performance level of a father, a mother, or any family member who usually helps children learn. Therefore, the family’s role in wars and conflicts is close to mandatory, as the it becomes an effective partner in compensating what the students could not learn. And maybe this role can be expanded in emergency circumstances to cover sharing of roles, thus, the tent or sheltering center becomes a tangible part of the school.
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Gaza’s lesson isn’t final, but it could be the most challenging and difficult in the region’s history; and it’s better be handled wisely. Therefore, this article does not claim that education is the priority, but, it is an important part of the issues that should be heeded when we tell the world what is happening in Gaza. And we call on humanitarian organizations working in the Strip, to provide the mechanisms to ensure the continuity of the learning process, albeit minimally, and to chart a clear path for teachers and volunteers to move forward with education, offering them greetings and appreciation and great praising for their efforts. Because they remain steadfast, teaching and spending their time, efforts and resources, thus keeping the chain of students connected to their shattered schools.
This article was published in issue 16 of Manhajiyat magazine and was translated into English as part of a joint project with the Centre for Lebanese Studies and (PROCOL). All rights reserved. Republishing or quoting the article is prohibited without citing the source or obtaining written permission.