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8
SPRING
2012
Welcome to the Educational Resources
Center – more lovingly known as the
ERC – nestled on the first floor of Thom-
son Hall. Welcome to the world of Lina,
Zeina, Connie, Joelle, Nayla, and Hus-
sein – the unknown soldiers behind IC’s
intricate educational maze.
From the outside, all looks serene. Lina
Mouchantaf, the director of the ERC,
calmly checks her hundreds of emails in
her brick red colored room while Connie
Hadba mutters quietly in the blue room
next door as she stares at the curriculum
guides posted on the walls. Nearby, Zeina
Dayya, Joelle Abdel Ahad, and Nayla
Hamadeh are working demurely at their
computers while Hussein Farhat quietly
prepares dozens of workshop booklets.
But beneath the serenity, the vibration is
unmistakable. Many web strings feed into
the main maze and they seem to be fixed
in some kind of continuously moving state.
“Everything is so alive,” says Mouchantaf.
“We are very demanding of ourselves. We
always want better and more.”
One of the “web strings” is an ongoing
revision and, in certain cases, rewriting
of the school’s curriculum – last updated
six years ago. With many programs and
projects running through the school’s
veins (SPEC, reflection, assessment
tasks, Primary Years Programme (PYP),
Diploma Programme, IT integration,
performance-based learning and student-
centered classrooms, etc.), this huge but
imperative project is not only needed to
bind programs together and put forward
one vision for the curriculum, but to
reflect on and identify the best practices
in the classrooms.
IC is not like other schools. It is effec-
tively a leader in the educational field.
This reputation was earned through an
educational system that doesn’t just limit
itself to the narrow world of textbooks
and exams, but dares to challenge stu-
dents’ thinking by creating inquisitive
critical thinkers.
To an outsider, this may appear to be the
initiatives of a few caring teachers, but it’s
not so. Behind the façade is a convolut-
edly planned design where all teachers go
through a series of workshops, conferences,
and exchange programs. Units – across the
schools – are continuously being devised.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Following
the internationally acclaimed “under-
standing by design” educational system,
educators first identify the desired under-
standing, knowledge, skills, and behavioral
outcomes of students, and work backwards
from there to plan instructional activities.
IC’s unknown soldiers
“We’re a team. We work great together. Everyone does
everything. Yes, we are the unknown soldiers. But
we’re happy. And it’s rewarding work. ”
Connie Hadba studying the curriculum guides.