Educational Trainings, Iraq

Adapting education strategies for refugee and IDP settings can present many classroom difficulties. Operation Mercy provides training for educators and administrators on classroom and school management, and other strategies for providing a productive environment for learning. Providing training for educators improves their capacity and the overall quality of education received in the camps. Through improving the education, we hope to transform Children’s lives and create long-term impact.

Operation Mercy arranges visits by highly esteemed professionals, such as Dr. Steve Swymer, an experienced member of the Global Training Network, to come to Dohuk and conduct trainings for educators working with displaced children. In the past, Dr. Swymer trained teachers working with the Norwegian Refugee Council as well as educators working in child friendly spaces with Samaritans Purse. The purpose of these trainings is to come along side our partners to support their efforts to invest in the quality of education available to the internally displaced people.

The trainings cover material such as the characteristics of good teachers, the communication between students and teachers and the process of setting realistic expectations. Some of the key takeaways are to listen to students' opinions and value them and their contributions. The training provides a safe environment for teachers to learn from each other and ask questions.

Operation Mercy plans to continue to support our partners to offer high quality training for educators in order to increase their long-term impact with displaced children.

All the participants rated the past training as good or very good in the post-training evaluation. Some of them commented on having learned to be more positive and encouraging as well as better at listening to their students as a result of this training. Some of their take away statements were: "I will respect students in class and be smiling with them" or “Be positive and encourage others that they will be successful.” Overall the participants feel encouraged and enjoy the time with Dr. Swymer. "You made us feel proud of being teachers/ educators", one of them said after the training. Our partners have expressed their gratitude for the support of Operation Mercy.