QF schools use football as a teaching and learning tool
In the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, educators across Qatar Foundation (QF) have found creative ways to leverage the global sporting event in the classroom to teach both physical and social skills, and to bring their lesson plans to life.
“Recent studies have shown that students learn more deeply and comprehend lessons when the educational materials – language, symbols, and signs used – reflect the environment as tangible and intangible heritage and events in which they live and belong,” explained Sara H alHajri, assistant director of Talent Development at QF’s Education Development Institute.
“Students benefit enormously when we’ve incorporated football into learning at Qatar Foundation schools because living in the host country of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is one of the most defining moments in their young lives at the moment.
“Apart from encouraging them to partake in the physical aspect of the game, it’s the perfect opportunity to teach social skills, such as team spirit, fair play, respect for rules and others, co-operation, discipline and tolerance. These are all essential skills for future participation in group activities and professional life, and can build social cohesion within communities and broader societies.”
At Renad Academy, QF’s Pre-University Education (PUE) school that helps children with autism, teachers will be using the Accessible Toolkit materials created through Tamreen, that has been developed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, for the unit centred around the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The topics include learning about the event, the sport of football, stadiums and how they link to Qatari culture and heritage, and the positive impact the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will have on the local community. Classes will also be designing and creating a sustainable legacy football bench to commemorate the landmark year.
At the heart of the activities are friendly football matches organised to simulate the match experience where students will engage as either football players or spectators. They will create cheers for their favourite team, use a match ticket, and purchase refreshments to mirror the experience at a match.
Qatar Leadership Academy (QLA), QF’s PUE residential school for boys, has been exploring football through the lens of Global Citizenship. Learners have been reflecting on the cultural similarities and differences of the participating countries in comparison to their own.
“We’ve leveraged on having the FIFA World Cup in our own backyard by using the opportunity to reflect on different cultures because we believe that one of the goals of sport is to bring people together and narrow the gap among different cultures,” said Khalaf S al-Merekhi, lead teacher at QLA. “At the heart of the World Cup and sports education are lessons of tolerance, global mindedness and respecting other cultures which we are trying to impart on our students by using football as a tool for learning.”
Football in Qatar Academy Sidra, also a QF PUE school, has been embedded in the curriculum across the age groups to teach subjects like geography, art, writing, and math in creative ways. For example, grade 4 students are using maps to determine the distances between stadiums and are calculating how many spectators they may hold while grades 11 and 12 analyse FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 posters designed by Bouthayna al-Muftah, who also visited the school.
The activities extend to the library as well with a competition engaging students to redesign the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 trophy using recycled materials. Football is discussed in the Units of Inquiry at Qatar Academy Wakra Primary School, another QF PUE school, by asking students to consider the football through the lens of ‘Who We Are’, ‘How We Organise Ourselves’, ‘How We Express Ourselves’ to better understand its impact on and value in their lives.
Qatar Academy Msheireb (QAM), also part of QF’s PUE, has organised Football Fever, a series of events that have been taking place in the lead up to the World Cup designed to build on existing curriculum to support learning outcomes in physical education, performing arts, visual arts, language, and innovation. The school has organised a QAM World Cup Football Tournament – a one-day round series of matches for students in grades 2 to 5, and on Thursdays, the school cafeteria serves food from a country participating in the World Cup.
At Qatar Academy Al Khor (QAK), part of QF’s PUE, a football unit in physical and health education teaches boys and girls in grades 6 to 10 about football history, and explores the impact that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has had and will have on Qatar. The application of football as a learning tool at QAK also extends to interdisciplinary studies. Students will explore both geography and art as they create digital canvases and collages that include FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 participating countries.
Students’ engagement and enthusiasm surrounding the mega-event is evident. Fatima Saad Mohannadi, a grade 10 student from QAK, said: “Everyone is pumped up and excited about the World Cup – it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and there are so many exciting activities being linked to it. And when we also have it included in our day-to-day learning, it just makes school that much more fun and something that, like the World Cup, we all look forward to.”