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American University of Beirut
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Department of Education
Announces
an
Education Forum
On
EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL COHESION
AND CITIZENSHIP
Presenters
Dr. Maha
Shuayb
St
Anthony College, University of Oxford
M.
Bassel Akar Institute
of Education, University of London
Date:
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Time: 4:30 pm
Place:
Auditorium B, West Hall, AUB
Abstracts
Social cohesion in
Lebanon: The ‘hammering’ impact of the current educational policies
and practices. By Dr. Maha
Shuayb
This presentation discusses the
impact of the current Lebanese educational policies and practices on
social cohesion. It examines how the Taif agreement shaped the
Ministry of Education’s approach to social cohesion and provides an
analysis and a critique of the government’s strategy for fostering
social cohesion and tackling confessionalisim. Current educational
practices in both religious and secular schools as well as their
impact(s) on the issue at hand will be addressed. The concluding
part of the presentation will suggest a multi-faceted approach for
fostering social cohesion through education
Exploring
the challenges and practices of citizenship education in National
and Civic Education grades ten and eleven classrooms in Lebanon. By
M. Bassel Akar
The presentation reports the results of a study that examined the
understandings of citizenship that teachers and students have and
explored their experiences of teaching and learning it inside the
National and Civic Education classroom in Lebanese schools. Data was
collected from 16 schools: 19 civics teachers were interviewed, 435
students in years ten surveyed, of which 11 students participated in
a self-reflective survey pack and class discussion. The results
provide insight into the challenges and practices of learning for
active citizenship. The teachers presented a nationalist-based
citizenship and an education that allowed students to practice
democracy while they demanded strategies of memorization for
learning content knowledge. The students conceptualized a maximal
notion of citizenship that struggled for collaborative and dialogic
learning activities to replace the current practices of
memorization. Students also found the textbooks prescriptive and,
consequently, hypocritical. Teachers and students experienced
difficulties and limitations with the curriculum, timetable and the
management of emotions during controversial discussions. |
