Post on 06-Mar-2016
description
Qatar Foundation International, LLC (QFI) is a US-based member of Qatar Foundation (QF). Its mission is to connect cultures and advance global citizenship through education. A not-for-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, QFI focuses on grant-giving and programmatic activities that promote education as a reliable facilitator of collabora-tion across geographical, social, and cultural boundaries.
QFI's innovative educational and volunteer programs inspire lasting exchanges of experi-ence and knowledge. By placing young people from diverse social, economic, and cultural backgrounds into effective, collaborative learning environments—inside and outside
the classroom; in person and online—QFI provides K-12 students in Qatar and the Americas with skills that will enable them to be engaged global citizens.
Within three core program areas—Arabic Lan-guage and Culture, STEAM (Science, Technol-ogy, Engineering, Arts, and Math), and Youth Engagement—QFI equips students to address the major global challenges of this century. Using Open Educational Resources and innovative online technologies, the students in QFI's programs prepare to tackle problems such as climate change, insufficient access to education around the world, and the need for cross-cultural dialogue, both globally and in their own communities.
MISSION
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MISSION / Qatar Foundation International
Four key themes—Commu-
nity, Challenge, Access, and
Dialogue—inform and unite
QFI's programs. We work to
build a global community,
address pressing 21st-century
challenges, make education
easier to access from any-
where in the world, and foster
cross-cultural dialogue.
Open Education provides un-
encumbered access to digital
resources, encouraging life-
long learning from anywhere.
We utilize Open Education
to develop learner-centered
experiences and promote
dialogue between classrooms
and communities spanning
great physical distances.
QFI is committed to teaching
the next generation to collab-
orate across cultures and
between communities. Using
interdisciplinary learning, we
teach young people to work
together to creatively solve
problems, so they may effect
change both in their home-
towns and around the world.
➜ GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP ➜ OPEN EDUCATION ➜ PROGRAMMATIC THEMES
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ARABIC EDUCATION IN NEW YORKIN TWO NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOLS, QFI AND THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE PROJECT (GLP)
EXPAND ACCESS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE - EDUCATION WHILE ENHANCING CROSS-CULTURAL DIALOGUE AND UNDERSTANDING.
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Hamilton Heights School began in 2002 as a small academy, created by parents and teachers and housed in PS 28. Since then, it has expanded tremendously, earning full school status in 2007 and relocating in 2010. The school employs a progres-sive academic approach, emphasizing project-based learning and an open and collaborative environment. Hamilton Heights was the first public school in New York City to introduce Ara-bic-language classes, thanks to the support of GLP and QFI.
NEW YORK / Qatar Foundation International
Last September, Her Highness Sheikha Moza
bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation
(QF), visited Hamilton Heights School, where
students study Arabic thanks to QFI. After-
wards, she said: "I enjoyed hearing the children
speak in Arabic so enthusiastically, and it was
lovely to see that most of them are not of Arab
origin, which means the language reaches
families and communities who have not been
exposed to our culture previously."
At PS 261, located in the Boerum Hill neighbor-hood of Brooklyn, a QFI grant has enabled GLP to expand its Arabic-education offerings from an after-school initiative to a full-day program. PS 261, which stresses an enriched learning envi-ronment, uses a curriculum created by GLP—the same one utilized at Hamilton Heights School—to provide language training to an underserved population, focusing on acquisition, proficiency, and measurable results.
PS 261, BROOKLYN120 K-5 STUDENTS
PS 368, HAMILTON HEIGHTS SCHOOL, HARLEM43 K-5 STUDENTS
BROOKLYN
MANHATTAN
ALCI
Responding to the need for deeper, more positive engagement between people living inside and outside the Arab world, QFI created the Arabic Language and Culture Initiative (ALCI). The program provides opportunities for students from a wide variety of backgrounds to acquire language skills and learn more broadly about the Arab world’s history and culture. QFI is the only foundation with a systematic approach to significantly expanding the study of Arabic language and culture among public-school students in the Americas.
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
QFI’s youth-engagement programs focus on three areas—education, leader-ship, and service—to spark action and curiosity in the world's next generation of leaders and educators. Utilizing technology and language, QFI readies young people to investigate parts of the world both near and far, understand varied perspec-tives, exchange ideas, and tackle community and global issues. During student-led projects, youth practice as-suming leadership roles and collaborating to accomplish common goals.
STEAM
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math)projects enhance classroom education and emphasize global, 21st-century challeng-es—climate change, biodiver-sity, and water conservation, among others. QFI utilizes hands-on, experiential ap-proaches and problem-based learning (PBL) to provide effective education and con-nects educators and learners from around the world to pro-mote collaboration between classrooms. This cross-cultur-al communication enhances science and math education for all involved.
➜ Expanding access to Arabic
education for youth in the
Americas.
➜ Providing Arabic teachers
training, networking opportuni-
ties, and classroom materials.
➜ Using technology to support
instruction and collaboration.
➜ Connecting students and
scientists around the world.
➜ Distributing high-quality,
usable educational materials.
➜ Providing enrichment and
service-learning activities—
youth ambassadorships,
learning expeditions, and more.
➜ Investigating the world.
➜ Understanding varied
backgrounds and
perspectives.
➜ Communicating and
exchanging ideas.
➜ Acting decisively to address
community and global issues.
OUR PROGRAMS
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Qatar Foundation International / PROGRAMS
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"At this school, you've got kids from all nationalities and socioeconomic back-
grounds and they're all coming here and coalescing around the love of language."
ANGELA JACKSONFounder and Executive Director of Global Language Project
"I was expecting that they weren't going to be open
to us, but that was one of the shocking things I discovered there. They were very open to our
religion, treating us like close friends, not the way the movies portray.”
JAWAHAR AL MAL A senior at Al Bayan Independent
Secondary School for Girls, who visited the US as part of a QFI-backed trip.
"You get to learn new words. It's a little hard; some-
times you forget. I like talking in
Arabic, and we get to play!"
JAYREN FOSTERA student in Hamilton Heights School's
Arabic-education program.
In September, 2013, the New York City Depart-ment of Education (DOE) will launch, with sup-port from QFI, a dual-language Arabic program at PS/IS 30, the Mary White Ovington School. The Bay Ridge, Brooklyn school is home to one of the city's largest populations of Arabic students and the fifth-largest concentration of Arabic-speaking English-language learners. The program, funded by a grant from QFI, will begin in PS/IS 30’s kindergarten this fall, providing a rich curriculum for English-speakers learning Arabic and Arabic-speakers learning English. It will be the first of its kind in New York City.
The DOE recognizes the educational, social, and economic importance of bilingualism in our global society—particularly in a city with
such a unique cultural fabric. Students in New York schools represent over 160 different language groups and a plethora of national, ethnic, and religious identities. The DOE has pursued dual-language education in a number of different languages to foster bilingual and multilingual development. QFI joins the DOE in its commitment to language learning at the K to 12 level.
Starting this fall, PS/IS 30 will serve kinder-garteners in addition to its intermediate-school students. The majority of families in the Bay Ridge neighborhood are immigrants from Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria. The Dual Language Arabic program will serve as many as 25 students in its first year.
DUAL IMMERSION IN BAY RIDGE, BROOKLYN
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Qatar Foundation International / DUAL-LANGUAGE ARABIC PROGRAM
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Washington, DC | 202.652.0147 | @QFINTL | fb.com/QFINTL | qfi.org