Featured Teacher
grades 5 to 10 and the Primary Years strengths as a principal?
Programme (PYP) for PreK to grade
4. Mashrek is the first fully authorised
school in Jordan to offer three IB
programmes. In 2018, the school
was accredited by the Council of
International Schools (CIS). Being authentic and genuine, visible
and approachable by students,
parents, teachers and staff. Having
one on one relationships, helped pave
the way for our community to grow
from good to great.
Mashrek’s progress and success have
grown from years of dedicated work
and a series of ambitious goals. The
founders' vision and values, along with
the support of the staff have taken
Mashrek from its modest beginnings
in the opening year, with 172 students
and 28 employees in a small campus
in Amman-Jordan, to become one
of the leading schools in Jordan
and the region, with 1,450 students
and 350 employees prompting the
relocation to a larger, more spacious
colourful and bright campus, boasting
numerous facilities in the suburbs of
Amman, surrounded by hills of acorn
and oak trees. I am a “walking principal” with a heart
full of love and joy towards education,
highlighted with open channels of
communication within and outside
our community. My role is not limited
to Mashrek, it transcends beyond,
contributing to the educational
system in Jordan and the entire
region. Opening our doors at Mashrek
to all schools and educators to present
a model of educational quality, is
essential to being a strong support
system.
What makes your school unique?
Since 1992, Mashrek has been catering
to students’ emotional, social, physical
and mental welfare. The wholeness of
the child’s wellbeing is the pillar of our
mission, with a focus on each human
reaching his or her full potential, rather
than just emphasising on grades and
immediate results. We aim to give
personalised attention and care to
each student so that they can grow
to become constructive and proud
citizens of Jordan and the world.
What makes Mashrek unique is that
we embrace a journey of learning that
is comprehensive, including; students,
parents and staff, all together that
is empowering to create a life-long
learning community that will be
proactive in the Jordanian and global
society. We all aspire to turn Mashrek
into an inclusive organisation.
Our journey through implementing
three IB programmes, took 15 years
of challenging experiences of change
and innovation, which strengthened
our community by bringing everyone’s
minds, thoughts and beliefs together,
that was and still is the centre point of
creating a sense of togetherness.
Share three of your major
My faith in the students and staff are
the backbone for my commitment to
education. I believe that this passion,
along with patience and perseverance,
have taught me that the potentialities
and opportunities are limitless when
we believe in the human capacity.
Share two ways in which you
motivate and encourage your
staff
The first thing would be to find one
positive attribute in one or more
teachers or staff members every
single day, to commend and praise,
no matter how small or large it is, this
will make a tremendous difference in
their career.
I always like to include teachers
and staff members in the decision-
making and planning processes,
making them active participants in
the development; to have ownership
of the change that caters to the best
interest of the school, while achieving
and maintaining its mission and vision.
This is established through dynamic
interactive intellectual participation in
the new educational direction, as they
are a crucial part of its creation and
development.
How do you encourage creativity,
innovation and risk-taking among
your staff?
I like to create an environment that
Class Time
is safe and conducive for staff to take
initiatives and risks. I encourage my
teachers and staff to voice their ideas
while being supportive of bringing
these ideas to life. In addition, as a
principal, by practicing resilience,
confidence and motivation towards
innovation, I give the community a
positive example as a role model.
What are the three major goals
that you will be working on with
the staff and students of your
school in the academic year 2019-
2020?
When we started planning for
Mashrek’s new strategy, we had a good
understanding of the road ahead; we
identified opportunities to enhance,
strengthen and build our school, over
the next three years (2019-2022). Today
we are poised to lead innovation and
positive change in education. We
are in a position that enables more
dynamic learning opportunities that
will engage students in intellectual
and creative inquiry.
Mashrek will start a new chapter of
educational change in Jordan that
will begin as a model in the primary
years. The focus of this concept will be
aimed to establish a leap in teaching
and learning to become a model
school in Jordan and eventually, the
world. This model embraces an open
space environment where teachers,
students and parents will witness a
revolution in space and time. This open
learning space concept will encourage
all students, teachers, parents and
professionals to create and discover
their own knowledge. It is an intricate
process with many different people
involved with different skills coming
together to capture elements of their
space and learning processes and
experiences.
We will continue to guide and
encourage our middle years students
towards learning that is advanced
and relevant to real-life in this 21st
century. Finally, we will enrich our
communication
and
connection
within and outside the school
community. We have a responsibility
to serve each other and share
experiences and good practice.
Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019
41