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in a samll answer , We teach more than making Practise of what we all have studied up.
Where to begin!
Well, First -and the most critical in my opinion- is the curriculums, our educational system is based on out-dated textbooks that lack the latest info and lack the artistic touch found in foreign books and curriculums, it consumes the minds of our children by exposing them to things they don't necessarily need to learn because they've gone out of use -world wide- ages ago, and I'm not just talking early school years, Universities in general use pretty much the same method, Courses that have nothing to do with the titles what-so-ever are being shoved into the heads of our students and at the same time they're being notified that this is an "out dated" method and nowadays they use A, B and C but lets not talk about that and take a history class in computer science instead ( for example ).... This is confusing on so many levels and introduces clueless graduates to the work field, and what makes it worse is that the majority of our students don't bother to learn what's actually relevant to their majors because it will get into their own free time. It's a complicated matter and this is just my personal opinion.
People are educated about everything........
I am not expert in the Middle East public education.
Dr. Yusuf
October27,2013
I just completed an independent study course on education for refugee girls in Jordan for my master's program in political science. I was able to meet with Caroline Pontefract, UNWRA's Director of Education for Palestinian Refugees. She and I agreed that an updated approach would be preferable, but at this time Jordanians use a very authoritarian style of teaching where information is delivered to the student by the "expert", and the student is only required to regurgitate the information back to them. This type of teaching is consistent with methods used by teachers in Syria and Iraq. Educational formats for teaching in the classroom are well-developed beyond this stunted approach in many EU countries, and the US is starting to introduce more student-led and group collaborative types of learning approaches in the classroom.
I learned in my labor and politics studies that the type of education taught to lower and middle class students in the US only offers them a "functional literacy", while students in higher socio-economic levels are given a "power literacy". A power literacy is one that teaches independent learning as well as how to coordinate and conduct projects in teams or group environments, and getting into the higher universities and professional positions is not an issue for this socio-economically advantaged student. Lower and middle class kids, on the other hand, are expected to follow in their parents' footsteps - if they are poor or working poor, maybe the students drop out of school to work or be in a gang or live off mom. If they are middle class, they might go to college and get a decent job, or to technical school for blue collar work, but with the middle class being squeezed out by the rapidly repeating global financial debt crisis, many students are opting out of college and incurring massive debt to work and make a living. Many families are seeking alternative solutions such as online or home school to offer their children protection from dangers in the public school environment, as well as offer them a richer educational experience than what they can get currently. Charter schools also grow in popularity as the public school system scrambles to offer alternatives to keep their existence relevant, and all the while teachers are fighting for more freedom in curriculum and instructional practices used in their classrooms. These are all educational issues we have struggled with in the US - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and we would like to steer our Middle Eastern education partners away from continuing the same mistakes we have made.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and Lebanon as well, are overwhelmed by the amount of refugees they have allowed into their countries, and since many refugees are settled within Jordanian communities and not refugee camps, their economy is beyond strained, to say the least. There are currently about, Syrian refugee school age children in Jordan, and roughly, or% are receiving no education whatsoever. The numbers in Lebanon are more, I just don't know them off the top of my head. There are, Iraqi refugee students and the UN intends to take care of half of them, according to their projections, but in reality, most refugees are getting very little from the UN, even in camps.Since Jordan seeks to build their educational system toward producing a "knowledge-based" economy, it is important to build alternative methods into the education of the kids, a practice which will give them a better education as well as greater availability of education for all children hit by this crisis, since parents and volunteers can participate in the delivery of education, and not just a few “professionals”.
My proposal will be an app which connects curriculum and sponsor organizations or groups with families and centers in Jordan and Lebanon, thereby creating a matching tool for those who wish to help to those who need help, both of which are many. My goal is to intentionally build relationship across the sea, between religions and cultures, by making connection more informed, safe, and convenient. If any would like to assist me on this project, I am presenting in April and would really appreciate informational and creative assistance.
The same problems you would expect in any poor countries : lack of resources, facilities, and teaching aids. However, I have complete confidence in our teachers' abilities and whatever methods they use there.
