by Jala Rizeq, Lecturer and Researcher in Clinical Psychology at the University of Glasgow, Palestine/United Kingdom
The psychological wellbeing of children and adolescents is a global health priority as it is a vital factor in maintaining health and success in the short and long term. Psychological difficulties can proliferate with exposure to violence, trauma, and conflict, including in those settings fraught with war and uncertainty, and this is certainly the case for Palestinian children and youth in the Gaza Strip (Abudayya et al., 2023).
In this article I focus on the intersection between school environment and the learner’s wellbeing within the context of war and threat and what it means to engage in safe and supportive learning during war, especially for school-aged children and youth currently living in the Gaza Strip. I will draw on disaster behavioural health frameworks and educational models of school-community partnership and adapt those to settings of ongoing traumatization during war. In this discussion I will touch upon five interrelated domains that capture the experience of learning within the context of emergencies identified in a study conducted with Palestinian students, residents of Gaza, West Bank, and East Jerusalem (Forsberg et al., 2023). Specifically, I start with the intersection between wellbeing and learning in school and its dependence on safety, then move on to adaptability within unsafe and threatening settings and link those to the domains of school and family support via a partnership approach that can nurture hope and wellbeing and conclude with some emotion regulation recommendations.
This is by no means an authoritative account of the experience of learning and wellbeing in Gaza, but an attempt to draw on the evidence base in the service of children’s rights to education, safety, and dignity.
Wellbeing and learning
Within a school setting, learners’ wellbeing is closely interconnected with the school environment including safety and peer relationships or social connectedness (Graham et al., 2022). An environment that promotes learners’ emotional and behavioural wellbeing allows them to safely engage with academic learning and progress their education. These elements of wellbeing can in part or together be disrupted during war. This can happen through experienced loss of friends and teachers (or other school personnel) or through constant threat and uncertainty while operating under ongoing violence.
As part of the IASC guidelines for a minimum response in an emergency setting is to “strengthen access to safe and supportive education’’ (2007). It is difficult to prescribe an environment that can promote learning when learners, teachers, and schools’ wellbeing is under threat and in the absence of a safe and stable setting where the physical school structure exists in part or in whole and where there is at least a prescribed school environment that learners attend.
How can we discuss supportive and safe learning when these normative structures are dismantled, in settings where boundaries between school and home are blurred and overlapping? For a concrete example of this, A Save the Children report from 10 November 2023 notes that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were sheltering in schools at the time. And thus, how can I differentiate a housing apartment from a classroom in these settings? This then forces us to reconceptualize our understanding of schools, learning environments, and distribution of learning and teaching responsibilities and roles.
Partnership approach
“It is imperative for new teachers to understand family diversities, community resources, student experiences in and out of school, and how to use all available resources to maximise student learning and success….Research over the past 30 years, however, redefines ‘professional’ as a teacher who understands that education is a shared responsibility of home, school, and community.”(P. 401 Epstein, 2018)
Partnerships as “positive possibilities that can and do occur when two or more people (including teachers, students, families, and members of the school community and the community at large) come together to collaborate on behalf of student learning.” (p. 7, Zacarian & Silverstone, 2015).
In exceptional circumstances of war and violence, safety, shelter, and access to basic needs such as food and power are priorities for survival. And whereas wellbeing and learning may seem secondary concerns in these conditions, they are arguably important domains that can nurture resilience and survival. According to IASC (p148, 2007): “In emergencies, education is a key psychosocial intervention: it provides a safe and stable environment for learners and restores a sense of normalcy, dignity and hope by offering structured, appropriate and supportive activities.”
Partnerships between teachers, families and the larger community become increasingly necessary to support children and adolescents’ wellbeing. Learning becomes a shared and collective responsibility. And as learning and teaching resources become scarce, partnerships that mobilize family and school supports become even more valuable to maintain some form of normalcy or routine for children and adolescents. Whereas the broader context of war is beyond the community’s control, they can work together to provide some sense of security and stability to children and adolescents’ lives by trying their best to maintain daily routines and structure. This will have a reciprocal effect by also offering community members some sense of control and efficacy in times of increased uncontrollable stress and fear.
Although formal education might be untenable within such a context, other forms of creative and collaborative learning activities and informal education can be supported including arts and crafts, music, sports, drama and reading and writing circles. These activities require creativity and engagement but are not resource heavy and do not require facilitators with a formal background in education. A participatory approach to facilitating learning in these circumstance is not only important and considerate of the needs of the community but also likely necessary. Giving adolescents and older youth the option to help lead on facilitation of activities for younger children may be particularly valuable and may help with their wellbeing as well. A full list of learning and teaching recommendations that can be adapted to various emergency contexts can be accessed through the 2007 IASC guidelines and the 2004 INEE handbook of minimum standards for education in emergencies. Adaptability and flexibility in applying these guidelines to the context’s needs is key.
Managing psychological distress in children and adolescents
Even when we provide nonformal learning environments and preserve some form of stability, children and youth will have various reactions to ongoing traumatization during war. Some psychological reactions that can be observed include the following:
Emotional and cognitive reactions. Fluctuations in learners’ mood and anxiety are expected. Some of the reactions can vary from sadness, difficulties finding pleasure or joy in activities, worries and concerns, panic, fear, anger, frustration.
Behavioural reactions. Isolation, aggression, fighting, difficulty sustaining attention and losing focus, fidgeting, temper outbursts, being on edge, and avoidance.
Physical or somatic. Fatigue, weakness, aches (stomach-aches or headaches, etc.), dizziness, and changes in eating habits or appetite.
These are normative reactions to ongoing threat and violence, albeit psychologically distressing for many and certainly can contribute to a deteriorating quality of life and wellbeing. There may be times when learners are extremely distressed or are emotionally overwhelmed and require immediate support and relief. Practical tips to regulate emotions or manage elevated psychological distress in the moment informed by psychological guidance may be valuable as calming techniques. Some are listed as part of the resource package prepared by the UK Trauma Council (2022) and included in the resources below. Some such activities that can help children include deep breathing and muscle relaxation exercises, positive mental imagery, and stretching. It is important to be flexible and find the techniques that resonate with the children one is working with, which may differ from group to another and from one child to another.
Conclusion
Although it is impossible to prescribe “safety” under constant bombardment, in a setting like Gaza, community ties are important as ever as those are the bearers of hope and continuity. Education remains a priority and a right for children, especially during emergencies.
References
Abudayya, A., Bruaset, G. T. F., Nyhus, H. B., Aburukba, R., & Tofthagen, R. (2023). Consequences of war-related traumatic stress among palestinian young people in the gaza strip: A scoping review. Mental Health & Prevention, 32, 200305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2023.200305
Inter-Agency Network on Education in Emergencies (INEE) (2010). INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction.
Arabic version: https://inee.org/sites/default/files/resources/INEE_Minimum_Standards_Handbook_2010_Arabic_%28HSP%29.pdf
IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (2007).
Arabic version: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/sites/default/files/migrated/2019-03/iasc_guidelines_mhpss_arabic.pdf
Graham, A., Canosa, A., Boyle, T., Moore, T., Taylor, N., Anderson, D., & Robinson, S. (2022). Promoting students’ safety and wellbeing: Ethical practice in schools. Australian Educational Researcher, 50(5), 1477-1496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00567-8
Joyce L. Epstein (2018) School, family, and community partnerships in teachers’ professional work, Journal of Education for Teaching, 44:3, 397-406, DOI: 10.1080/02607476.2018.1465669
Forsberg, J., Dolan, C., & Schultz, J. (2023). Development and psychometric testing of the student learning in emergencies checklist (SLEC): Measuring promotors of academic functioning and wellbeing in palestinian youth affected by war and conflict. Intervention (Amstelveen, Netherlands), 21(1), 30-46. https://doi.org/10.4103/intv.intv_17_22
UK Trauma Council: https://uktraumacouncil.link/documents/Childhood%20Trauma,%20Migration%20and%20Asylum/UKTC-CTAM-education-toolkit.pdf
Resource in Arabic for young people: https://uktraumacouncil.link/documents/Childhood%20trauma,%20war%20and%20conflict/CTWAC_YP_Resource_Arabic.pdf
Zacarian, D., & Silverstone, M. (. t. (2015). In it together: How student, family, and community partnerships advance engagement and achievement in diverse classrooms. Corwin, A SAGE Company. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483388205
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.