Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP)

The Science Days Festival held in Palestine, co-organised by the Science Studio and held under the title "Food Revolution 2050,” created important dialogue in which people of all types participated aand interacted. This monthlong event held in 22 separate locations dealt with the great challenges that will face us and the planet at the environmental, cultural and social levels. Likewise, the interactive exhibition “Motion and Stillness,” designed by the Science Studio team, was envisioned to be a draw at the Cultural Centre’s opening, carrying a statement that the sciences are not a separate entity from the arts; rather, they have a unique relationship with the arts and people of all ages can explore it.

On another level, 2018 was the year to examine the results and impact of the Culture, Art and Social Engagement project, now in its third year. The funding for this project was renewed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for an additional year. Visual arts and community projects were created, and the community helped make, research and explore them, in addition to creating a movement around them. This was accomplished through art exhibitions implemented in the six sites of the project: Qatana, Khan Younis, Anabta, Jericho, Qalqilya and Ni'lin. The community projects had artistic and research aspects, centred on art as a context for understanding society and its transformations and as a concept in society through the involvement of all people in artistic work.

It was also a year full of different experiences, through which the team tested new possibilities. Unlike previous years, the winter courses were not a continuation of the Drama in Education Summer School, but rather consisted of three courses, each unique in education and building experiences. The courses were: Education Based on Culture and Cultural Products; Drama as a Context of Learning through the Curriculum; and Integrative Learning through Interactive Science Exhibits.

This year, summer school was held for the 12th consecutive year in the Jordanian city of Jerash in August 2018, with the participation of dozens of teachers from Palestine and the Arab world.

The teachers initiated, at different areas throughout the year, dozens of activities and events in which students, other teachers and members of the community participated. Most activities were carried out in partnership with local institutions and schools.

The programme began the journey of 45 educators into professional development. Seventy educators from Palestine interacted with three British teachers in three kindergartens to study and reflect on the experience.

As part of the inauguration of the new Cultural Centre, the team is preparing—in partnership with teachers—two interactive spaces: the Puppet Animation Laboratory and the Experimental Classroom. Over the next few months, the two spaces will become part of an integrative learning experience for students, teachers and families related to history, art, the natural sciences and research.

This track witnessed extensive, critical production, feeding the tracks of ERDP and its different projects and providing them with resources around the project’s pedagogy, tinkering, children’s literature and the traditional test system.

The programme’s contribution to global dialogue related to its fields of competence is not limited to publishing and translation—despite their importance—but rather exceeds this in its Arab and international participation in conferences, research seminars and other training and scientific festivals, through which the programme creates links and connections with several Arab and international institutions and centres.