Contact seminar brings British and Yemeni teachers together [Archives:2008/1135/Last Page]
By: Yemen Times Staff
On March 9, 2008, the British Council is holding a contact seminar between schools in Yemen and the UK as part of the Connecting Classrooms Initiative. 8 British teachers will arrive in Sana'a to join 16 teachers from Sana'a for a three-day seminar on finding partners and developing international links.
Connecting Classrooms is a long-term British Council project that facilitates dialogue between young people in the Middle East and the UK, challenges stereotypes, and develops projects in the field of social responsibility. The project develops ties and links between young people in schools in the Middle East and the UK through discussion and teamwork across borders. Communication between schools engenders mutual understanding.
Connecting Classrooms creates international learning partnerships that encourage schools and students to share experiences and develop mutual awareness and understanding. This project also offers teachers the opportunity to share in joint curriculum projects, visit their partner schools and be involved in collaborative learning.
In the seminar, two schools from Sana'a will partner with one school each from the UK. Together they will plan joint curriculum projects, activities the students in each school can work on and plans for visits for the next two years. The aim of the seminar is to enhance the learning experience for the students and help them develop an understanding of the lives and cultures of their peers around the world, and to provide an opportunity for the teachers' professional development.
To date, 24 schools in Yemen have established school links with schools in the UK, and a further 16 will form new partnerships in the coming seminar. The project has the full support and participation of the Ministry of Education in Sana'a.
Two students from schools which have already developed links with the UK have commented:
“When the British Council announced the beginning of the School Links Program, I never expected that it would have such a profound effect on my school. Everyone expected cultural as well as educational benefit to all the links members. We really needed a chance to tell the others who we are, what we do, what we can give to them, what we can learn from them, besides getting close enough to know them.” Abeer Al Harathi, from Khawla School for Girls
“After coming back from the first gathering in the UK in 2007, nobody could imagine how interested everybody in my school was, how eager they were to give a hand and how happy they were while participating in that program. That link changed their attitude towards teamwork. It made everyone forget about himself and think only on how to give a hand to best present his school as well as his country to the others.” Laila Al Ottnah, from Hafsa School for Girls.
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