What began as a one-week workshop in the Middle East evolved into a three-year partnership between Samford University in Birmingham and The Baptist School of Amman (ABS) in Jordan.
Since the partnership’s inception in the spring of 2005, ABS, a private Christian school situated in the heart of Muslim territory, has incorporated new strategies for teacher education through an Optimum Learning Certificate Program for its teachers and administrators.
For the Samford community, the partnership has brought a forgotten part of the world a little closer to home.
Samford President Thomas E. Corts said part of the appeal for establishing the partnership was his own interest in the Middle East.
“I have long cherished the idea that a forgotten part of the world to most Americans is the Middle East, which includes the Arabic world but also Iran and the Islamic world,” he said. “Americans and evangelical Christians, because of their obvious identification with Israel, tend to look right past the Arabs of the Middle East.”
“As I have reflected upon the subject of global awareness and how we help our students understand the nature of global citizenship in the world to come — ‘Spaceship Earth,’ in the view of Barbara Ward Jackson — it has occurred to me that Samford should try to give students an orientation to the Middle East, at minimum,” Corts said. “And wouldn’t it be great if students could have firsthand experiences in the Middle East?”
As part of the agreement, Samford sends faculty to Jordan during fall and spring breaks to provide consultation and on-site training, emphasizing practical methods of improving student learning.
John Harris, director of special projects and Orlean Bullard Beeson Professor of education, has been instrumental in getting the project off the ground and coordinating these efforts.
“ABS teachers and administrators are engaged in workshops emphasizing hands-on learning so that they leave with plans and materials they can use immediately in their classrooms,” he said.
Over the past year, ABS faculty has adopted most instructional strategies Samford faculty presented in on-site workshops.
Samford faculty members are also gaining a deeper understanding of issues affecting Jordanian Christian women through Ruba Abbassi, director of Arab Woman Today Ministries in Jordan, who is working with Carol Ann Vaughn, director of Samford’s Christian Women’s Leadership Center.
Another component of the partnership includes providing Suha Jouaneh Shahin, principal of ABS, with a master’s degree in education administration from Samford.
“The program here at Samford is very practical and has helped me in evaluating our current practices and how to plan for the future,” she said. “I have already started implementing many practices that I have learned.”
Through the partnership, Samford faculty has developed an appreciation for Christian believers living in a Muslim culture. In the Middle East, children are identified as either Muslim or Christian. In Jordan, only 3–4 percent of the population is “Christian” by birth certificate. ABS is opening doors to share the gospel where other efforts have failed.
“Thirty-seven percent of the ABS students are Muslim. They participate in Christian devotions each day and rub shoulders with fellow Christian students and are taught by believers,” Harris said. “Some become believers, though in most cases they have to keep it a secret.
“In countries where it is difficult or even impossible for active missionaries, Christian education sends a powerful message.”
“Those who have been able to make trips to Beirut (Lebanon) and Amman have been personally blessed,” said Carol Dean, chair of teacher education at Samford’s Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies.
“In turn, our faculty and, hopefully, our students will benefit from observing their processes and the ways that teachers and administrators interact with students and parents. We are still learning to be inclusive; they have been practicing inclusion for thousands of years.”
“My passion really began when I met the people and learned firsthand how welcoming and gracious they are,” Dean said. “The opportunity we had in the fall to travel throughout the country of Jordan and experience the beauty firsthand was humbling. Now I can’t get enough.”
The partnership between Samford and ABS will continue through spring 2008. “We are very hopeful that we can build upon the excellent experiences we have had,” Corts said. “We all gain when we all understand each other better. That has been the greatest benefit of our work together.”
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