A lesson in nonviolent activism
Earlier this month, a Palestinian schoolteacher from the West Bank named Hanan Al Hroub was awarded the 2016 Global Teacher Prize for her innovative approach to helping children suffering from trauma recover and learn nonviolence through play. Pope Francis awarded the prize in a video recorded in Rome, and messages of support were sent from notables including Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, and Prince William. Ms. Al Hroub was inspired to help child victims of violence after her own children were left emotionally scarred by witnessing their father being shot by soldiers as they walked home from school one day. “My children were traumatized, and I had to take it upon myself to teach them how to cope with their trauma,” she explained in interviews after the Global Teacher Prize was announced. “I felt that other children besides mine would suffer from the same trauma. I felt they would get lost if I were not teaching them. So I changed my proficiency in university to education in order to get the qualifications to be a teacher.” Her play-focused, nonviolence-centered teaching approach, which has been shared widely at conferences and teacher training seminars, has delivered remarkable results. It has led