Jamiya Project Catch-Up: Reflections, Research, Ideas & Iterations
Despite the momentary radio silence, the Jamiya Project team has been working hard to lay down the groundwork for the next phase. After the conclusion of our pilot course and the evaluation and reflections that followed, we buckled down to build organisational capacity and conduct research in order to determine our next steps post-incubation at the Alexandria Trust. We’re excited to fill you in on what we’ve been up to:
Before we catch you up on our activities over the past months, let’s refresh your memory on Jamiya’s prior endeavors. In early September of 2016 the Jamiya Project launched a pilot course in Jordan in both Amman and Za’atari Camp. We had 35 students initially enrolled, gathered 46 Syrian academics willing to contribute to the project and matched 19 Syrian academic mentors with 22 students. Following the pilot course the team took the time to comprehensively map out our lessons learned, conduct and reflect on an external evaluation, and head to the field to carry out ethnographic and student-centred research throughout Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.
Update 1:
We’re excited to introduce you to the newest members of the Jamiya community, our Board of leaders and experts in their respective fields to help guide Jamiya Project’s future endeavors:
- Frances Guy, our chair, is currently UNDP Regional Gender Advisor in Amman, a former career diplomat in the UK Foreign Service and has held previous posts in the Middle East including her role as the former Head of Middle East for Christian Aid in London.
- Francis Campbell, the current vice chancellor of St Mary’s University, Twickenham has served as a member of the UK Foreign Service and on the staff of former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
- George McNamara, the director of policy, research and innovation at Fight for SIght in the UK has extensive experience working in the charity sector with previous leadership roles at the Alzheimer’s Society and British Red Cross.
- Sarah Broad, the finance advisor to the board, is currently chief operating officer at New Philanthropy Capital and is a qualified chartered accountant having completed her training with PwC.
Update 2:
Over the summer months of June and July we began a process of iterative design and testing with students. This consisted of discovery research, ideation and prototyping where we conducted small low-cost tests. While we came up with an array of ideas, including a peer to peer content advice platform called ‘Labeeb’, we eventually landed on the two projects we’re currently working on:
- Co-designed foundation courses: Understanding that disruption to refugees’ education means that students have lost foundation knowledge, we’re developing a foundation course with remedial academic knowledge, learning skills and confidence to succeed at university that will be co-designed with students and the community.
- Dardachat Stories: ‘Dardachat’ or ‘chit-chat’ in Arabic is an audio series — also co-created with students — formed from the need for social support among refugee university students to mitigate feelings of isolation and create a space for students to express themselves.
We started testing these initiatives in August and are excited about the results, response, and insight that we’re beginning to see. We look forward to keeping you in the loop as we continue our work and be sure to stay updated via the Jamiya community newsletter here.
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