Jusoor is delighted to invite you to attend our Generation Hope Conference:
Improving Delivery of Emergency Education to Syrian Refugee Children in the Middle East through Teacher Training
BEIRUT DIGITAL DISTRICT, BEIRUT
JANUARY 10, 2016 | 9 AM – 5 PM
SUPPORTED BY THE VARKEY FOUNDATION AND BEIRUT DIGITAL DISTRICT
With the Syrian conflict stretching for yet another year, the war has displaced millions of Syrians with the majority of them settling in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. Jusoor’s emergency education conference will concentrate on the improvement of the delivery of emergency education to Syrian refugee children in the Middle East through teacher training. It will provide space for educators working in the area of emergency education to share experiences and expertise, and to learn about the most recent developments in the that field.
The conference will focus on the following topics:
The Place Of Teacher-Training In Emergency Education
Research shows that teachers are the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement. This highlights the need to focus on training and supporting them to be successful educators. Emergency and crisis situations place higher demands on the school as a component in the social fabric, where it needs to support each child to reach their maximum academic potential despite interrupted education, loss, and trauma. It also carries part of the weight to remedy the negative impact of displacement, violence, and/or lack of access to children rights.
As the teacher in these circumstances is faced with increasing responsibilities, from dealing with gaps in education and varying levels in the single classroom, to addressing the needs of children who have experienced emotional and psychological distress, this conference explores the need for teacher-empowerment and training in emergency education contexts.
Minimum Educational Standards For Emergency Education
The conference will focus on three themes under this topic: a) The Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards for Education, b) best practices for school principals in emergency education, and c) cognitive science-informed teaching practices, especially in the areas of math and basic Arabic literacy.
Engaging experts in the areas above, the conference will focus on sharing and discussing the best practices that are available to us today at a global level, and will bring the discussion back to the reality in Lebanon’s non-formal schools through a panel of school-principals.
Supplementary Educational Components For A Wholesome Educational Intervention
Educational responses in times of emergency include basic skills in the areas of literacy and math, but often extend to other educational components, like focusing on health, diet, hygiene, psychological counseling, arts and sports, and technology. The conference will showcase best practices across these areas and more, with space for discussion and reflection.
Sharing Experiences And Best Practices
There are many NGOs that work towards the education and improvement of the lives of Syrian refugee children. However, the space is still limited for communication and sharing experiences about educational standards, the teaching process, teacher training, and educational outcomes. This conference provides an opportunity for teachers and school principals in Lebanon and Syria’s other neighboring countries to engage around these topics. Targeted at the non-formal education sector, it also engages NGO leaders in aligning visions around the discussed themes.
Conference Program
Please click here to view the pdf program.
×Helen Abadzi
Helen Abadzi spent 27 years as senior education specialist at the World Bank. As a psychologist, she uses cognitive psychology and neuroscience to improve the outcomes of education investments. She regularly monitors the emerging research in these fields and synthesizes relevant findings to explain and predict likely outcomes from various interventions. Her work raised early-grade reading fluency into an international priority. Dr. Abadzi is an author of many international education publications, including the widely cited “Efficient Learning for the Poor,” and continues her academic activities at the University of Texas at Arlington. She is interested in researching the building blocks that lead to automatic execution of complex skills, such as math, reading, and comprehension speed of languages such as Arabic. A Greek national, she is a polyglot of 19 languages.
×Rakan Alghaiber
Jusoor
Rakan Alghaiber is the principal of Jusoor’s school in Al-Jarraheye Camp for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. He has a Bachelor Degree in English Literature from Damascus University and is currently pursuing a diploma in teaching methods at the Lebanese International University. Prior to being school principal, Rakan was an English language teacher in Lebanon since 2014, after moving from Syria due to the war. He participated in the Syrian Young Leaders Program organized by Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation.
×Laila Atshan
Laila Atshan is a psychosocial consultant with experience in the field of trauma and war. She has worked in several countries, including Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, Denmark and Brazil, with a range of organizations, including UNICEF, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and CARE International. She also has experience working with local actors, such as the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Tamer Institute, a Palestinian NGO devoted to children’s education. Laila is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Palestine International Award for Distinction and Creativity (2011) and a lifetime achievement award from the Harvard Arab Alumni Association (2013).
×Farah Bayoumi
Kam Kalima
Farah Bayoumi is the Education Outreach Manager at Kam Kalima, liaising with schools and other community partners, as well as managing the Arabic content team. Farah is a registered ABA behavioral therapist, and has practiced both in Lebanon and the UAE. She has experience managing education projects with large teams, including delivering education in emergencies.
×Ziad Kanaan
Right to Play
Ziad Kanaan holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Peace through Sport from the University for Peace, International University of Monaco, and University of California Berkeley. He works with Right to Play, where he runs the football-focused UNICEF-funded project “Sport and Humanitarian Assistance.” Previously, he managed the project “Enhancing education qualities in conflict affected areas,” which focused on active learning and was funded by the IKEA Foundation. Ziad participates in many volunteer activities internationally, including with the European Volunteer Service-Finland.
×Lina Hassid
Najda Now
Lina Hassid has been working with Najda Now since 2015 as principal of the al-Amal Center in the Bekaa Valley. Previously, she was the head of the internal care unit at the Islamic Orphans House for more than 8 years. Lina has a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Lebanese University, and diplomas in Political Science and Learning Difficulties from from the Islamic University of Lebanon. Parallel to her work in education, Lina is a member of the Human Rights Commission, the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration “CRCICA”, and the Arab Union for Intellectual Property. She is also an international arbitration consultant and an expert in petroleum issues.
×Michelle MacDonald
Jusoor
Michelle MacDonald recently moved from London to Lebanon to join Jusoor as the psychological counselor. She draws on her experience in teaching as well as counseling and her background in alternative medicine to reach out to children. She also offers support to the teaching staff by giving training workshops and one-on-one sessions, and to the community through working with parents. Michelle is trained in the International Child Development Program (ICDP) method and is a firm believer that in order to support children’s psycho-social development we need to be there for the caregivers too- parents and teachers. In Lebanon, she previously worked at the Selective Education Centre for Children with Special Needs (SEC), Brummana High School, and City International School. In the UK, she is a qualified alternative health practitioner, is registered with the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths–UK, and worked in the health sector and with migrant communities.
×Massa Mufti
Sonbola
Over the past 22 years, Massa Mufti has accumulated a substantive depth of diversified knowledge and experience in the field of education and learning across educational institutions in the US, Lebanon, and Syria. She is highly engaged in Syrian civil society and in supporting Syrian refugees in the field of Education. Massa is the co-founder and Chair of Sonbola Group For Education & Development (SONBOLA), an NGO that provides education support for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. She is also a consultant at ESCWA on Education for Syria and has been involved in various consultancy projects relating to education management and reform as well as in research projects that address Emergency Education, NFE, Interactive and Museum-based Learning, and Citizenship Education. Massa is a certified trainer in Education in Emergencies-INEE (Beirut, 2013), in Executive Management and Leadership from Harvard Business School (2011), and in Public Speaking (London, 2011). She holds a Master’s Degree in French Literature from Catholic University in Washington DC and Master’s in Education Policies and Leadership from AUB.
×Fatima Primo
Kayany
Fatima Primo is the educational supervisor at Kayany, which aims to bring free and accessible education to the most vulnerable refugee children, helping them build their knowledge through a network of portable schools in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon. She holds a Master’s degree in Literature and Humanities – Department of Natural Geography from Aleppo University, and a teaching diploma (2010). At Kayany, Fatima supervises school principals and teachers, as well as curriculum development.
×Hana Sabbagh Durgham
Hana Sabbagh Durgham studied Nutrition and Dietetics at the American University of Beirut and received a Master’s in Exercise, Science and Health from George Mason University in Virginia. She started her career as a health educator and became a seminar organizer for ANP, presenting scientific seminars for doctors and product education trainings for employees in Lebanon, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. She worked in parallel as a part time university instructor for 5 years, teaching nutrition and hygiene in each of Kafaat and Islamic Universities. Hana is an active member of CARE institute for kids with special needs, and works with several other local NGOs on spreading awareness and helping families in need. She has over 20 years of experience in consulting and writing individualized diets for different nutrition concerns, including chronic diseases and weight loss management.
SAWA for Development and Aid
Nidal Al-Sa’adi
×Nidal Al-Sa’adi
SAWA for Development and Aid
Nidal Al-Saadi is a school principal at SAWA for Development and Aid. He has been teaching English for more than 17 years and has a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Damascus University. Nidal began teaching in Syria with the Ministry of Education at a public school in his area for a range of grades from elementary to secondary levels. Nidal then worked in Saudi Arabia with the Ministry of Education where he taught English to students in the preparatory and secondary stages of education. He was also a supervisor in the Control Department, also known as the examination department. From 2014-2016, Nidal worked with SAWA for development and Aid as a teacher and school principal. He taught English to students in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades and before becoming the school principal.
Center for Lebanese Studies
Maha Shuayb
×Maha Shuayb
Center for Lebanese Studies
Maha Shuayb has been the director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies since 2012. Prior to that she was a Senior Fellow at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. Maha has a PhD in education and an MPhil in Educational Research from the University of Cambridge. She also teaches part-time at the Lebanese American University. She was a visiting scholar at various universities including University of Cambridge and the American University of Beirut. Maha’s research focuses on the sociology and politics of education, particularly equity and equality in education and the implications of the politicization of education especially on marginalized groups. Over the past five year, she has been occupied with the education response to the Syrian Refugee crisis in Lebanon. She has headed a number of research studies looking at access and quality of education for refugees and at bottlenecks. Her most recent studies include a comparative study between Lebanon and Germany, which examines the education provisions for refugees in the two countries. She is currently working on a book on this subject. Maha has numerous publications including an edited book on education and social cohesion and various articles. She is co-editor of Journal of Current Sociology.
×Suha Tutunji
Jusoor
Suha Tutunji is the Academic Director of Jusoor’s Refugee Education Program. She has over 25 years of experience in education, including as a teacher, trainer of teachers, and school administrator in each of Lebanon, the UAE, and the UK. She has an MA in School Management and Supervision and is particularly interested in widening access to Syrian refugee education and supporting students with learning disabilities. Suha has participated in several research projects and represents Jusoor on the INEE Minimum Standards Working Group for Emergency Education. She worked as a senior researcher at the Center for Lebanese Studies, where she co-published a paper titled Widening Access to Quality Education for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon. Suha is a member of the Lebanese Association for History and the co-founder and president of CARE, an NGO which caters for young adults with special needs.
×Nayla Zreik Fahed
Tabshoura
Nayla Zreik Fahed is the co-founder of the e-learning platform Tabshoura and President of the Lebanese Alternative Learning NGO (LAL). She holds a Ph.D. in XVIII century French literature, and her domain of interest evolved around bilingualism and its implications on learning abilities and teaching approaches. She led several research projects and publications on this subject and participated in seminars in France, Tunisia, Morocco, Belgium, and Georgia. Naila developed several methods to overcome linguistic interferences, adapting them to the Lebanese context. She taught at Saint Joseph University, and from 2012 to 2016, she was the national coordinator of the European Tempus project Pacome, whose objective was to link academic knowledge to the needs of the job market.
×Mohamed Haj Ali
Jusoor
Mohamed Haj Ali received his Bachelor’s degree in petrochemical engineering from Al-Furat University in Deir Zor, Syria. He later worked at PetroCanada-EBLA gas plant in Homs. After the crisis started in Syria, Mohamed moved to Lebanon with a SPARK scholarship to study Associate Project Management at the American University of Beirut. He joined Jusoor then and worked on different programs. Currently, he leads Jusoor’s regional emergency education and teacher training conference and workshop in Beirut..
Location
Lebanon hosts over one million Syrian refugees with approximately 40% under the age of 11 and ranks first in the world in terms of the ratio of national citizens to refugees. Syrian children in Lebanon have been generally granted the opportunity to enroll in formal education. However, limitations in the capacity of the formal education system and the English language barrier leave many out of school. The country has responded massively to the emerging education needs of the incoming refugees, including through many NGOs that provide non-formal education programs. It is therefore a great location for a conference on education in emergencies in the region.
Venue
The conference will be held at Beirut Digital District (BDD), a community-focused hub for creative companies and talents.
Address:
Beirut Digital District (BDD)
1079 Nassif El Yaziji Street, Bechara El Koury Avenue
Bashoura District, Beirut, Lebanon
Phone: +961-1-660941
Hotels
O MONOT Hotel
Conveniently located next to the conference venue, this hotel offers single rooms at USD 140 per night and double rooms at USD 150 per night. To receive this special rate, please reserve by calling +961-1-338777 ext.7202 or writing to reservations@omonot.com, and referencing “BDD – Jusoor Syria.”
MidTown Hotel
A limited number of single and double rooms are available at this hotel in Al-Hamra area. The regular room rate per night is USD 69 for single rooms and USD 79 for double rooms. Conference participants can benefit from a special rate by writing to info@MidtownBeirut.com and mentioning “Jusoor Conference.”
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