Palestinian Woman Wins $1 Million for Teaching Non-Violence

Palestinian teacher Hanan al-Hroub won the Global Teacher Prize for teaching non-violence to children.

Palestinian woman Hanan al-Hroub won the Global Teacher Prize for teaching non-violence to children. (Photo: AP screengrab)

Hanan al-Hroub won the prestigious educational award for the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize.

She says:

Really, I can’t describe my feelings. On one hand, I am very happy and on the other, I feel sad for the difficult situation that Palestinians are facing. I am happy for this achievement and this is a victory for Palestinian teachers.

She has got this far in the competition because of her specialist approach to teaching.

Palestinian classrooms can be tense environments due to the behaviour of children traumatised by the conflict they have witnessed. But Al Hroub embraces the slogan ‘No to Violence’. She has developed a teaching style that focuses on developing good relationships with students and emphasises the importance of literacy.

The techniques are detailed in her book ‘We Play and Learn’ and her approach has led to a decline in violence in schools.

With around 8,000 nominations from 148 countries, just making the shortlist was a massive achievement.