Ilham Nasser

The Shark in the Vitrine: Experiencing our Practice From the Inside Out With Transdisciplinary Lenses

The Scholars of Studying Teaching Collaborative engaged a dozen faculty members from 12 specializations and 4 colleges at a large public university in a 2-year teaching and research project with the goal of learning about and enacting a self-study of professional practice. Participants were selected from various disciplines to provoke alternative perspectives in whole group and critical friend teams. While we each conducted a self-study, we also designed and enacted a meta-study to assess our professional development within the context of the collaborative. We analyze the potential of engaging in collective self-study and report how the methodological challenges initiated transformational learning that bridged theory and praxis. Learning the self-study methodology was complex, but such concentration multiplied the impact of both personal and professional transformation. The study benefits faculty from a broad range of disciplines, at diverse stages in their academic careers, and working at every level of the academic hierarchy.

Perceptions of forgiveness among Palestinian teachers in Israel

This article presents the results of a study conducted among Palestinian teachers in Israel to address their contextual understanding and perceptions of forgiveness. It sheds light on K–12 teachers’ responses to daily cultural and social conflict situations in a Middle Eastern context. This research aims to contribute to our understanding of forgiveness on conceptual as well as perceptual levels, hoping to enhance the knowledge-base needed to educate for forgiveness and reconciliation in Arab society. The present study is the first of several examining forgiveness among teachers in four Middle Eastern countries (Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt). Sixty-two classroom teachers in Arabic-speaking schools among Palestinians in Israel participated in the study. The teachers filled out a survey that included 10 hypothetical scenarios requiring forgiveness. The results from the survey and qualitative written responses suggest a high level of forgiveness when the situation involves parents, children, and social commitments, such as in giving wedding gifts. When the wrongdoing was intentional, there was less willingness to forgive in all cases, except in the case of parents of a child misbehaving. In addition to the present study’s contribution to the research on forgiveness and reconciliation, it also adds to the knowledge-base on constructing curricula for peace education in the Middle Eastern context.

Peace Education in a Bilingual and Biethnic School for Palestinians and Jews in Israel: Lessons and Challenges

Peace education involves a slow process of change as opposed to an end product; therefore its impact is not tangible and easily quantified. As an emerging field of study, authors and editors of a recent special edition of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development on peace education agreed that it is much easier to detect or trace the impact of peace education programs on the micro (individual especially the direct, immediate, and short-term impacts) than the macro level.1 Changes in students’ and teachers’ attitudes are detected through surveys and other measurement forms. However, the larger impact of these programs is hardly traceable and few scholars have attempted such longitudinal research designs.

Examining social political contexts in teacher preparation in Palestine

This study explores teaching English as a foreign language in the West Bank, Palestine. It investigates the perspectives of a group of faculty, preservice, and in-service teachers about teaching and learning English in the primary grades under the overarching harsh realities of political conflict and instability. The study demonstrates the importance of addressing socio-political contexts to make teaching meaningful and to set pedagogical strategies that correspond to the context of the students in teacher preparation programs. Participants interviewed responded to open-ended questions about teaching English as a foreign language and discussed major issues and challenges they face.

Contextual and pedagogical considerations in teaching for forgiveness in the Arab world

This study was conducted among Arab teachers in four countries in the Middle East (Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine) to examine their views and methods on teaching for forgiveness in their classrooms. A total of 87 teachers in K-12 classrooms participated in semi-structured interviews as part of a larger study on teaching for forgiveness in the region. Thematic analyses of interviews suggested that teachers created opportunities to model and teach forgiveness as part of their civics education curriculum. They also expressed eagerness for instructional guidance and curriculum materials to systematically teach forgiveness in schools. The strength of religion and historical religious figures as positive sources for teaching forgiveness was also evident. Findings highlight the need to integrate education for peace and forgiveness in the education system, especially as a result of recent political developments in the Middle East, and to provide methods to assist teachers to do so in their classrooms.

An Interaction, a Conversation, Often in the Context of Play: Constructing Intentional Teaching in Early Childhood Education.

High profile documents in early childhood education describe Intentional Teaching (IT), yet little research has been undertaken to give specificity to the definition so that application is possible, for example, to determine and prioritize information to include in professional development, assess fidelity of the implementation of that professional development, and measure impact on teachers. Prekindergarten teachers in a community-based Head Start program participated in the study and were observed during large-group and centers/small-group activities. Three studies using mixed methods are presented. In 2 of the studies, experts together observed focus teachers with attention to coding all instances of IT. They then discussed their observations. Discussions were recorded and analyzed with grounded theory analyses. Features of IT were specified. The additional study used direct observations of teachers to assess their IT, comparing those given professional development centered on IT and a control group. F...

Introducing Values of Peace Education in Quranic Schools in Western Africa: Advantages and Challenges of the Islamic Peace-Building Model

Abstract Quranic schools (QS) play a central role in the education system in the Islamic world. Despite their relatively small numbers, QS teachers play a major role in introducing Islamic values to the public. Thus, working with QS becomes a key strategy in influencing local Islamic discourse. This article introduces a case study of a program integrating peace, interfaith, and human rights education in QS in West Africa while drawing on the Islamic tradition in peace-building. Results suggest that this approach offers advantages for addressing the challenges inherent in engaging these schools.

Head Start classroom teachers’ and assistant teachers’ perceptions of professional development using a LEARN framework

This study investigates early childhood education teachers’ and assistant teachers’ views about a year-long professional development model that focuses on developing intentional teaching. The study shares the results of interviews conducted with the teachers at the end of the implementation of a one-year experimental professional model in Head Start settings in a large metropolitan area. The purpose was to gather feedback on the model, which included large-group, on-site and one-on-one interactions. Teachers and assistant teachers were asked about the various components of the model and the influence the professional development opportunities had on their practice and classroom interactions. The results of this study support the importance of providing networking opportunities across sites and sharing usable knowledge and strategies that can be applied directly to their work with young children.

Dialogue under Occupation

In November 2006, academics and students from different US and international institutions gathered to discuss the complex issue of ‘Dialogue under Occupation’ through diverse disciplinary perspectives. The conference was hosted by Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Attendees heard experts present a range of papers on topics including the loss of language and culture among Kurdish people in Turkey, Native American education, Arab-American student awareness in American public schools, post-traumatic stress in Holocaust survivors and the interruption of education in the Palestinian Territories. This conference was very innovative in its attempt to expand concepts of occupation across languages and disciplines. People from different academic perspectives and expertise responded to the conference strands based on their own understanding of occupation. We believe that the provocative nature of the themes of the conference made it successful and intellectually stimulating. Through the diverse panels and various insights presented, participants were encouraged to examine and address issues in a global context. Participants came from various countries and after five days of listening, sharing and reflecting in small and large groups, they left connected by the power of the stories heard and as part of the established network of professionals who are passionate about issues of injustice and abuse of power around the world. They were also energized to continue the critical discussions in their own institutions about language, educational practices and varying viewpoints. This conference brought together different activists and highlighted the work that they do to further the voices of the disenfranchised around the world. The energy and connections formed during those five days in November sparked many conversations and planted seeds for further research and publications. As a result, the idea was formed of holding the next conference in the Middle East, a region that received a lot of attention during the conference and where people are actually experiencing occupation. The purpose of this will be to encourage scholarly exchange between academics experiencing very diverse social realities and to provide validity to research by scholars forced to work in extremely difficult social and political conditions. Al-Quds University, in the occupied West bank/Palestine, has been named as the host for the next ‘Dialogue under Occupation’ (DUO II). Many participants in DUO I look forward to the opportunity to continue the dialogue in 2007. The overall mission of DUO II is that participants will be able