TAMAM: A School-Based Reform Model
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TAMAM is an educational Movement in the Arab region that resulted from a memorandum of understanding between the Arab Thought Foundation (ATF) and the American University of Beirut (AUB). TAMAM’s name derives from its purpose: it is an acronym from the initials of the Arabic translation of the phrase “school-based reform” [Al-Tatweer Al-Mustanid ila Al-Madrasa]. In Arabic means good or perfect.
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TAMAM was initiated in 2007 as part of a memorandum of understanding between the Arab Thought Foundation (ATF) and the American University of Beirut (AUB). Through continuous funding, TAMAM has transformed into an educational Movement that spans 9 Arab countries, comprising more than 1000 practitioners in 72 schools collaborating with 32 researchers from 12 different universities, 42 coaches and numerous policymakers to design and implement impactful school-based improvement.
TAMAM aims to address four key concerns:
(1) the absence of a culturally-grounded research based body of educational knowledge that is in line with international best practices and capable of addressing the challenges of Arab educational practitioners; (2) the lack of agency and preparedness among school based practitioners to lead innovative school improvement; (3) the compromised quality of professional development programs offered to Arab educational practitioners; and (4) the lack of accountability and evidence-informed decision-making at all levels of the educational system.
TAMAM was fully directed by Dr. Rima Karami since 2015 with a Steering Team of 11 researchers, designers, and consultants leading the research and development activities of TAMAM.
TAMAM vision
TAMAM is an educational Movement in the Arab world that promotes transforming schools into self-renewing institutions, with broad based leadership capacity for change working in a concerted effort through strong partnerships with research universities, policy-makers and community members toward enhancing the transformative role of schools to graduate the next generation that leads innovation and change in their society.
TAMAM educators are leaders of change enacting their collaborative expertise to generate knowledge that is grounded in the cultural fabric of the Arab region and that triggers innovative practices for sustainable school-based improvement.
TAMAM mission
TAMAM operates as a research lab adopting emancipatory collaborative action research to produce practical knowledge that can inform and refine the process of leading sustainable school-based improvement towards schools that are proactively engaged in their community. As action researchers, the TAMAM Steering Team develops research-based designs to build the leadership capacity of teams of educators to initiate, plan, monitor, implement and evaluate innovative initiatives while concurrently supporting them as they acquire Competencies needed to lead sustainable school-based improvement. These research-based designs also encompass strategies to build partnerships with students, the school community, research institutions, ministries of education, donors, and training centers and to empower Arab educators to influence educational policy in their countries
TAMAM Student Profile
Student learning is at the heart of TAMAM work. TAMAM is committed to providing the school climate and capacity needed to remove the barriers that inhibit students from developing to their full potential.
TAMAM’s model adopts the term “student leadership” for acknowledging and valuing students as contributors to the teaching learning process and to their societal advancement. In this respect, a student profile was generated that encompasses a set of values, skills, and capacities that a TAMAM graduate should embrace stemming from the notion of student leadership. This profile was developed through a collaborative process that included educators from all its partners, schools and educational institutions. The “TAMAM student profile” is organized under three main categories:
– A responsible Citizen
– A balanced and moral individual
– A lifelong Learner
To get information about TAMAM’s unique contributions, press on more
Capacity Building Program
The “TAMAM Capacity Building Program” is the first research-based design that the TAMAM Steering Team generated and refined through iterative cycles of inquiry and action.
The program aims at building leadership capacity among lead teams of practitioners at schools while setting the stage for building broad based leadership capacity encompassing students, parents, and partners from the larger community. Implementation of this program spans over 3-4 years and follows an evolving plan approach which facilitates customization of the program to the unique conditions and sociocultural context of educational institutions.
The TAMAM Capacity Building Program is detailed and documented in the form of a resource book that is designed to be shared to support TAMAM coaches while working with school teams in the different countries.
Research Lab
TAMAM promotes research methodologies based on collaboration with educational practitioners who are actively engaged in leading transformational change aimed towards social development in their schools.
TAMAM uses emancipatory collaborative action research to generate research-based designs while capturing the best practices at educational institutions, building on strengths and honoring the sociocultural context of the communities they serve. This methodology allows for continuous refinement of the generated designs through an iterative process of experimentation informed by international research and the experiences emerging from the practices of Arab educators. As such, the main contribution of TAMAM’s research goes beyond introducing internationally accepted practices to Arab schools and towards triggering a paradigm shift in how reform is conceived, implemented and researched in the Arab region.
With that, TAMAM aims at contributing to a contextually-grounded knowledge base on effective school improvement practices that can inform educational policies in the Arab region.
The progress and outcomes of TAMAM research are documented in a series of papers and technical reports some of which are published in regional and renowned international journals and/or on the TAMAM website.
In addition, TAMAM lead teams document their school-based improvement experiences in the form of reports that provide sequential narration of their improvement projects based on the TAMAM School Improvement Journey.
TAMAM research outcomes are also disseminated through participation in regional and international conferences.
Our Community
The TAMAM community includes participating public and private schools in nine Arab countries that lead sustainable school-based improvement in partnership with researchers and coaches from various collaborating universities: Al-Ahfad University for Women, American University of Beirut, American University of Cairo, Arab Open University in Jordan, Assyut University, Princess Noura Bint AbdulRahman University, Qatar University, Sultan Qaboos University, and The Lebanese University.
Three self-sustaining TAMAM country hubs are established in Lebanon, Jordan, and Oman. They are led in collaboration with the TAMAM Steering Team by Country Hub Coordinators.
Link for the Facebook Post
As part of the Education Forum lectures and webinars, the Department of Education – AUB cordially invites you to attend an Education Forum with Dr. Julia Mahfouz, titled “Prosocial Leadership for School Flourishing and Improvement”.
The lecture will take place On Friday March 3rd at 6:30 PM beirut time, in person at the Asfari Institute Conference Hall and virtually through ZOOM (see attached announcement for QR code).
We look forward to your participation and encourage you to disseminate the announcement within your network of colleagues.
Overview
Based on a corpus of research studies, this presentation investigates how we could rethink educational leadership in an attempt to answer the following question:
How can recent research and primary perspectives enrich our conception of and solutions for leadership development and school improvement in the current realities of our world through prosociality.
Link for the Facebook Post
On Wednesday 15 February 2023, Ms. Yusra Khattab delivered a presentation during the Comparative & International Education Society #conference (CIES 2023) that was held online under the theme “Improving #Education for a More #Equitable World”.
The presentation shared the experience of the TAMAM project steering team in developing a school-based #improvement model based on the experiences of six Lebanese public schools that participated in TAMAM since 2015. The model disrupts the status quo, #transforms educators to be better prepared to adapt to emerging disruptions, lead #innovation, and educate students in various contexts and conditions offering them the needed learning environments and opportunities they deserve. The model aims at transforming Lebanese public schools into self-renewing #community schools that can sustain #equity and #excellence with the support of community partners.
Link for the Facebook Post
On Wednesday 15 February 2023, Mrs. Nidal Jouni delivered a presentation during the Comparative & International Education Society conference (CIES 2023) that was held online under the theme “Improving Education for a More Equitable World”.
The presentation is based on a paper Mrs. Jouni and Dr. Rima Karami are working on which presents an exploratory description of the #leadership practices of two successive principals running a public school in a rural Lebanese area before TAMAM project’s contribution, showing how the project helped move the concept of inclusive #education from individual advocacy to school reform phenomena to achieve #sustainable school #improvement. This paper will help practitioners, especially school principals of the marginalized students address the challenges to social justice and equity by transforming schools into inclusive ones through a deep school reform process.
Link for the Facebook Post.
On Wednesday 15 February 2023, members of the TAMAM project steering team participated in the CIES-Comparative and International Education Society (CIES 2023) that was held online under the theme “Improving Education for a More Equitable World”.
Link for the Facebook Post.
Dr. Rima Karami, Project Director of TAMAM, participated in a report of the Carnegie Middle East Center in which she spoke about TAMAM as a promising development initiative in the Arab region. To read the report, you can use the following link
Testimony from Katia Dabaghi, Preschool Academic Coordinator, Hariri High School II, Lebanon, 2020.
TAMAM took me on a transformative journey of professional reflection. It empowered me with the skills I needed to translate and channel my passion to teaching/ learning into professional practices. The growth I experienced with TAMAM made me realize that educational leadership is
To know more about the testimony from Oman, please click the following link
We admire people like you, change makers, who focus their energies, sacrifice their time, and commit their full powers to making our corner of the world a better place. Dr. Sally Al Turki, Chair of the Advisory board, Al Dahran Ahliah School, KSA, 2018
A testimony from Al Ahfad School in Sudan related to the impact of the TAMAM. Please click the following link
A testimony from Al Ithar School in the Sultanate of Oman related to the impact of the TAMAM project and its uniqueness.
Mailing Address:American University of Beirut P.O.Box 11-0236 / Department of Education Fisk Hall/ Room 245 Riad El-Solh / Beirut 1107 2020 Lebanon Phone: 00961 1 350000 Ext: 3116
Dr. Rima Karami: ra10@aub.edu.lb
Rola Katerji: rk14@aub.edu.lb
