Education Outreach Program

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NAAWA EOP members Ilham Nasser, Sirine Midani, Jihan Andoni, and Wahiba Derouaze presented to educators from across the country at the National Conference for Social Studies on "Including the Diverse Faces of Arab Americans in the Curriculum."

NAAWA EOP member Ilham Nasser participated in Miko Peled’s webinar “A look inside Palestinian and Israeli Classrooms” and discussed foreign influence on Palestinian classrooms.

Additionally, NAAWA EOP members worked with AROC (Arab Resource and Organizing Center) in California to promote the petition to keep the Arab American Studies portion of the Ethnic Studies Curriculum, which was under attack. The California Department of Education (CDE) affirmed Arab American studies as a field of ethnic studies and committed to its inclusion in the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC).

NAAWA Board member Jihan Andoni participated in author and activist Miko Peled's webinar “What do they teach our children? Israel’s Intervention in American Social Studies Curriculum” to discuss inaccurate social studies materials against Arabs in Virginia’s schools, as well as NAAWA’s work in introducing unbiased materials in their place.

On January 26th, 2020 the NAAWA EOP held a webinar entitled "Who is the Arab American?" that described the diversity of Arab Americans and the Arab World. Twelve social studies teachers attended the webinar, where they learned how to support their Arab American students and contribute to a more equitable classroom.

The Education Outreach Program (EOP) of the National Arab American Women’s Association (NAAWA) collaborated with Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) at their Social Studies’ Leaders Meeting which was held on October 31st at the Brambleton Library in Ashburn, VA.  The meeting included a diverse group of members of the Loudoun County Community along with 50 social studies teachers. This is the first event that Patricia Coggins (Loudoun County Public Schools Supervisor of the Social Science and Global Studies Program) has put together to introduce the diverse community of Loudoun County to the social studies teachers.

NAAWA EOP members introduced NAAWA and the Arab American community, as well as discussed the various events that EOP held this year. Members considered the issues that our community faces in terms of inequality, insensitivity and/or lack of knowledge about the community in general and suggested different solutions which would help bridge the gapbetween the teachers and the community about our culture.

EOP members emphasized the issues within textbooks in regards to misrepresentations and inaccuracies that pertain to the Arab World. Members also provided real life stories affecting  our children and their experiences in the classroom. We also distributed packages with reference materials that would assist the teachers in better understanding Middle East culture and offered our collaboration in assisting teachers in their classrooms if further materials are required, and/or any personal assistance is needed in introducing Middle East history to their classrooms.

The event was very successful as teachers were able to seek face-to-face answers from ourNAAWA members. We also suggested a further initiative with LCPS to do a training session for social studies teachers in the near future.