The 1001 Nights project consists in the implementation of the 1001 Nights Life Skills and Civic Education Program – a 36-lesson academic curriculum covering civics, conflict resolution, and general life skills – in 150 schools across Lebanon.

This October teachers in Teach For Lebanon (TFL) partner schools and Catholic School Network (CSN) schools received 9 online training sessions designed to help them better implement the program in their classrooms, share best practices drawn from several months of pilot sessions, and showcase lesson plans for a variety of teaching subjects. TFL’s 1001 Night team led training sessions in Arabic, English, and French. They were supported by TFL Fellowship alumni, who led the bulk of the French sessions, and by current TFL fellows, who served as facilitators throughout. Since the pilot phase for the program kicked in last March, about 220 teachers from TFL and CSN partner schools, in addition 65 TFL Fellows, have been trained to implement the 1001 Nights curriculum in their classrooms.

After attending the training sessions this month, participating teachers from North Lebanon gathered in Tripoli at Cohort 9 alumni Fahd Jamaleddine’s Inspiration Garden to share experiences from the pilot phase and prepare for the full-scale launch of the 1001 Nights program. Rose Abou Haidar, art coordinator at École Notre Dame des Dons, explained why she thinks the program is a constructive addition to her school’s curriculum (the following is translated from French):

“The 1001 Nights program allows us to consider notions like the tension between reason and emotion, the interaction between values and knowledge, and to do this through varied, entertaining lesson plans that aim toward social, emotional, and psychosocial learning … It’s a priority for our school to teach students to become citizens whose moral values will lead to a better Lebanon.”

We’re proud to announce that the 1001 Nights project has officially launched full-scale this week! We’d like to thank everyone who has worked relentlessly to organize and conduct the 1001 Nights teacher training program and events, as well as the participating teachers who by attending have demonstrated their commitment to improving the education Lebanese students receive and to instilling the right values in them.