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 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. Al-Hajri, assistant director of Talent Development at Qatar Foundation (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, cooperation, 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 and Legacy, for the unit cantered 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.

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.

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.