RJI provides online tools for teachers to create interactive digital classrooms, view each others' lesson plans, exchange supplementary curriculum and communicate experiences using RJI resources.
Curricular Application Ideas for Teachers - From RJI's Director of Educational Development, Jennifer Klein
Teachers' Statements - Discussing the impact of RJI in classrooms.
Taking IT Global - Custom virtual classrooms for teachers
View teachers' lesson plans - Understanding by Design: Utilizing educational benchmarks for curriculum development
Teaching the Middle East Conflict - Resources and Links

Curricular applications for teachers

RJI’s educational materials have been created by university students at An-Najah University in Nablus, Palestine, on themes the students wish to convey to an international audience, through varied mediums including video journalism, photography, radio and creative writing.  We encourage teachers to use these resources creatively, as you know best how to meet the needs of your own students.  RJI will actively help teachers develop new RJI units, will provide support in creating virtual classrooms, and will work directly with you and your students to develop curriculum which deepens the RJI experience; please contact RJI’s Director of Educational Development at Jennifer.Klein@ResearchJournalismInitiative.net for further support.  A virtual “Teacher Forum” at Taking IT Global will allow teachers to share ideas and successful lesson plans (http://rji.tiged.org/teacherforum); see Files for lesson plans and other educational resources.  We ask that you submit your own lesson plans after successful units, so that other teachers can benefit from your experiences.  RJI units can help teachers meet many educational benchmarks, including critical thinking, technological skills, visual literacy, and many more.

  • We encourage all teachers to view RJI’s introductory films with students at the start of any RJI unit, so that all participants understand the intentions of the project. Follow by discussing bias and why humans are willing to hear or believe some voices more than others.
  • We encourage all teachers to end RJI units with a live videoconference between American and Palestinian students for face-to-face conversation and deeper discussion (contact Jennifer to arrange dates and times; please give as much advance notice as possible).
  • View the short interview with Jihan, a young Palestinian used as a human shield whose story was not picked up by the Associated Press. Discuss whose stories we're willing to listen to and why.
  • View “The Alley,” a film on the economic impact of the occupation on vegetable sellers; discuss comparative global economics and concepts like sanctions, globalization, and economic occupation.
  • View photography by Palestinian students; discuss the nuances of culture, politics and daily life evident in the photos (expression, gesture, background, props and clothing).  Discuss impressions of the photographers’ experiences and lives, based on their photographic work. (See Visual Literacy Lesson Plans.)
  • View multiple photos of the same person and discuss differences in how he/she is portrayed; discuss how the photographer’s choices impact students’ impressions of the subject photographed.
  • Read poetry by Palestinian students; discuss nuances of culture, politics and daily life evident in the poems, as well as the individual stories and perspectives the poems tell.  Discuss impressions of the poets’ experiences and lives, based on their poetic work.
  • View artists’ statements (films) to deepen students’ personal connection to the photographers, poets and filmmakers whose work they’ve viewed.  Discuss the contrasts and similarities between the impressions their work gives and the information their interviews provide.
  • Listen to radio shows produced by Palestinian students; discuss the differences between the perspectives in these productions and those they hear on western sources such as NPR or BBC. (See Comparative Media Worksheet and Lesson Plans.)
  • Explore the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the primary resources produced by Palestinian students, learning to identify violations of the UHDR in personal stories and photographs. (See UDHR Lesson Plans.)
  • Take photographs and/or films of their own neighborhoods and homes in order to deepen their capacity to compare their experiences to those of Palestinian youth; create podcasts, radio shows and other artistic work in response to RJI resources.
  • Create a virtual classroom on Taking IT Global (http://rji.tiged.org); have students participate in blog discussions, and post creative writing, art, photography and podcasts in order to convey their own realities to students in Palestine.  RJI will facilitate the involvement of Palestinian students in these online exchanges (contact Jennifer Klein for TIGed codes).
  • View interviews with Palestinian experts (historians, geographers, poets, etc.) in order to contextualize Palestinian perspectives on the significance of these fields of study.
  • Explore Taking IT Global’s resources on other countries in the world in order to improve students’ capacity to compare young people’s experiences in different countries.
  • Create a class project which responds to social injustice, either in Palestine or in their own communities (see http://rji.tiged.org and explore TIG’s suggestions for how to become involved).
  • Invite a member of the RJI team to speak in your classroom, to share personal experiences traveling and working in the West Bank and other countries.
  • Join RJI on facebook to receive updates, participate in discussions and get involved.