Teach Middle East Magazine May-June 2016 Issue 5 Volume 3 | Page 17

Vox Pop Ten Finalists Perspectives What advice would you give to a teacher dealing with a traumatised child? Hanan Al Hroub Palestine Richard Johnson Australia “You have to first speak to the child to find out what his needs are and the problems he/she is having. You need to identify the negative behaviour based on his/her personality. By doing this analysis, you will know more about the problems you are dealing with and how to approach them from an educational perspective.” Joe Fatheree USA Tell us a bit about the power of teaching science and technology. Share 2 ways in which schools can help students to be more creative. “We had a purpose built science lab, which evolved into a STEM laboratory in the last 3 years. We started with very simple types of experiments that have evolved into using high technological devices with them. Motivate students to be creative through demonstration. Our children have been working with 3D printers for the past 3 years. They work with Minecraft. They are master designers and excited about learning. There are technologies now that people consider as hoaxes… the Giga Net, Magic Leap and HoloLens. The power of computer programming is going to change the world drastically in the next few years and we have to be ready for it.” “Schools have got to start supporting students’ creativity more. They can best do that by enabling students to overcome failure. One of the ways that schools can support students’ creativity is by helping them to understand that failure is an important part of the learning process. The other way is to help them promote their dreams by helping them to develop a scaffolding system to get them there.” Robin Chaurasiya India Why is a social justice curriculum important for girls? “I grew up in a home with a lot of domestic violence and abuse. Both of my parents had mental illnesses. These are things that tie me very strongly to these girls. We require that staff and students have therapy. Healing takes time. The social justice curriculum allows us to step away from the idea of being a victim. We have been victimised, yet we choose to be agents of social change. You can change your situation. Being born into a particular situation does not mean it is where you are meant to be for the rest of your life. We can create change, so other girls don’t have to go through it.” How can we help students to develop social responsibility? Michael Soskil USA “Learning should matter for more than just passing tests and quizzes. At Wallenpaupack, we’ve empowered students to believe that they can make a positive difference by solving problems. We’ve used video conferencing technology to connect with over 70 different countries. Students talk to scientists, park rangers, artists, and authors (among others) who share their passion for what they do. This helps them to find out what problems they want to solve. We are able to collaborate with people from all over the world to solve those problems.” Class Time | | May - Jun 2016 | 15