About Qatar Foundation International Qatar Foundation International (QFI), LLC,is a U.S.-based member of Qatar Foundation (QF). QFI operates as both a grant-making organization, and a convener of thought leaders on issues related to global and international education, open education and education technologies as they intersect with the three core QFI programmatic areas: Arabic language and Arab culture, STE{A}M (STEM plus the Arts), and Youth Engagement. QFI inspires meaningful connections to the Arab world by creating a global community of diverse learners and educators and connecting them through effective and collaborative learning environments —inside and outside the classroom. Through our activities, QFI is committed to providing K-12 students in Qatar, the Americas, and the United Kingdom (UK) with the intellectual, communicative, and cultural competencies that will enable them to be engaged global citizens. Learn more at QFI.ORG
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Al-Masdar Qatar Foundation International’s (QFI) Arab Culture Program is dedicated to promoting global education both inside and outside of the classroom by supporting the understanding and teaching of Arab society and culture in public and public charter K-12 schools.
Professional Development To meet its commitment to building K-12 educators’ capacity to teach about the Arab world and create a broader understanding of the region, QFI offers a variety of professional development opportunities for educators and educational institutions. Grant Opportunities: QFI offers grant opportunities for educators to travel to professional development events that will enhance their knowledge and ability to teach about the Arab world and culture. These awards can be applied towards the costs of travel and registration to attend relevant workshops, courses, conferences, summer institutes and/or seminars. In addition, QFI offers grants to individuals or educational institutions seeking to develop and implement professional development opportunities for K-12 educators related to the Arab world. These awards can be applied towards the costs of developing event materials, speaker costs, as well as the logistical aspects of the event. Teacher Training and Resources: QFI has partnered with educational organizations to implement a variety of workshops and courses for K-12 educators about the Arab world, and to develop high-quality teaching materials for different aspects of the region and its culture. These trainings feature both subject matter and pedagogical experts who not only expose educators to content, but explore useful techniques and technologies that can be used for teaching the subject. Participants conclude each event by working together to develop open education resources (OERs) such as lesson plans and curricula on the covered themes and topics. Recent workshop topics have included the Middle East refugee crisis and the history of the modern Middle East. If you are interested in collaborating with QFI on an event, or having QFI come to your institution, please contact us at culture@qfi.org
Addressing the need for high quality, easily searchable K-12 Arabic language and Arab culture classroom materials, QFI launched Al-Masdar, a resource-sharing website dedicated to providing quality, open education resources (OERs) for K-12 educators on teaching the Arabic language, and Arab society and culture. In addition to teaching materials and resources, Al-Masdar features professional development opportunities, news, and events relevant to educators and students. On the site, teachers can create, publish and collaborate with their colleagues to showcase and share materials developed for their classrooms. In the Arab Society and Culture section of Al-Masdar, educators can access various resources and content that are categorized thematically: Individual and Communal Identities, Geography and the Environment, Science and Technology, Social, Religious and Political Institutions, Literature, Music and the Arts, Historical Figures and Events, and Current Events in the Arab World. QFI has created a series of resource collections within Al-Masdar to both feature and categorize groups of high-quality educator resources focused on a centralized theme. Collections are created to highlight resources related to contemporary or important issues related to the Arab world for educators to easily search, identify and use in the classroom. Explore Al-Masdar, at www.arabicalmasdar.org. Resource Collections QFI has created a series of resource collections within Al-Masdar to both feature and categorize groups of high-quality educator resources focused on a centralized theme. Collections are created to highlight resources related to contemporary or important issues related to the Arab world for educators to easily search and identify them for use in the classroom. Glimpses into the Arab World QFI developed a series of video vignettes focusing on various aspects of Qatari and Arab culture. The videos are featured on Al-Masdar along with a collection of engaging classroom content and resources relevant to each video topic for educators to explore the subject more in-depth. To watch the series visit arabicalmasdar.org/glimpses-arab-world.
Culture Kits A boxed collection of resources containing authentic items, both contemporary, and historical, from different countries throughout the Arab World, provided by QFI to teachers for classroom enrichment. These kits include items such as pottery and other handicrafts, clothing, currency, local newspapers and magazines, videos and cooking items from the Arab world. Kits include descriptions of each item and their historical and/or cultural significance to a country/region as well as lesson plans for their use in the classroom.
Thematic Teaching Aids A series of QFI-developed subject guides for educators seeking to teach about a specific topic related to the Arab World. These guides offer educators a framework for teaching a variety ranging from “Islamic Art” to “The Arab Spring,” and include outlines of major topics and subtopics as well as a comprehensive list of relevant resources for educators to utilize in their classrooms. These guides can be found on QFI’s resource-sharing website, Al-Masdar, at www.arabicalmasdar.org.
Tilemaker Application
QFI’s Mosaic Tilemaker is a web-based application that introduces students to fundamental concepts of Islamic art and architecture. Through the platform, users are exposed to the historical background of geometric designs in the art and architecture of the Islamic world. The application also allows for interactive engagement with concepts like tessellation, symmetry, and calligraphy in mosaics. Users can utilize the principles of geometric design learned through this application to create, save and share their own mosaic tile artwork at tilemaker.arabicalmasdar.org.
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