Ahliah School, in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Tamam Project at the American University of Beirut (AUB), organized an educational forum around School Relevance and our Current Social Realities on Monday, October 28, 2024. The event also falls under a new memorandum of understanding recently signed between AUB and Ahliah that aims to create new avenues for collaboration and development.
Mr. Rabih Murr and Ms. Aseel Hadwan from Ahliah School presented at the forum. The session highlighted Ahliah School’s current initiatives to explore and emphasize the role of students as a fundamental pillar for designing educational plans and experiences that support their educational journey and growth. It presented a methodology that allows the inquiring and reflective educator to involve students in the research process and development of their school. The event included a presentation of the process and results of a participatory research with youth project that Mr. Rabih and Ms. Aseel worked on using Photovoice as a research method.
The project aimed to center students’ voices and help them express their perceptions and points of view about their experiences at school and in their lives. It also aimed to reflect on the challenges and opportunities associated with these experiences in an effort to make the school more relevant to students’ lives and aspirations. Over 5 sessions, a group of high school students explored and analyzed their experiences and articulated their findings and aspirations critically as part of working with the school community to achieve a qualitative change in the educational experiences provided at school.
