Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Throughout history, Palestinian women have set a bright and glorious example that has illuminated all fields. At all stages, they have made great contributions. They have achieved various achievements in resistance, medicine, science, research, and in all different scientific fields. Despite all the obstacles they faced, they proved themselves and achieved success.
When we talk about research in general, we single out supported scientific research, which is one of the most important indicators of the quality of the research proposal and its suitability to national trends that serve the issues of Palestinian society, making it a national priority for decision-makers.
Dr. Sofia Al-Rimawi, whose name has become prominent in the field of research, not only for her continuous work in this field only. In 2018, she won the “Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum” award in Dubai for the best educational research at the level of the Arab world, within the axis of distinguished educational performance, as well as the award Khalifa Educational Prize for the year 2014-2015 for the best educational research at the level of the Arab world, to achieve another success for Palestinian women to be added to their series of successes.
Who is Sofia Rimawi?
Al-Quds.com interviewed Dr. Rimawi, as she specializes in the educational field and has many researches that serve the community and a career full of work and giving. She is an educator who worked for 30 years in the Ministry of Education. She started as a teacher of physics and mathematics, then moved to work in the ministry and held many positions. Among them is the Head of the Department of Evaluation Studies at the National Institute for Educational Training, then Director of Equivalency of Certificates, Director of the Department of Program Development and Research, and her most recent position is Director General of the National Institute for Educational Training, and she currently works as an educational consultant.
She recently retired, but her interest is still in the field of research and educational fields. She studied a diploma in general sciences at Ramallah Teachers College, then worked on obtaining a bachelor’s degree in physics from Birzeit University as part of a scholarship beginning in 1993, to obtain from the same university a master’s degree in curricula and methods. Teaching science, concluding with a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Jordan.
Research and awards...
Rimawi says: I consider myself a lover of research and I love it very much. I have previously done a group of studies and research, including two research papers in which I applied. Each research was in partnership with colleagues of mine. The first research was in partnership with my colleague Hanan Jibril and was submitted to the Khalifa Educational Award for the year 2014-2015 in its second session. It won the award at the level of the Arab world in the general educational research category. The second research was submitted to the Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Educational Performance, and it won the best research at the level of the Arab world. It was in cooperation with an Emirati colleague, Dr. Qadriya Al-Bishri. This research was submitted for the Arab world. .
The importance of studies and research lies in the fact that their results provide indicators to draw upon when formulating decisions, especially when we want to develop the capabilities of individuals. It is necessary to link theory to practice in order for it to be based on practical reality and produce results, and all research in general aims to solve the problem and develop reality. As she said.
First search..
Regarding the research that won at the level of the Arab world, the first research was prepared during the period in which I was working at the National Institute for Educational Training under the title “The effectiveness of a training program based on learning with experience and tasks in enhancing the leadership and educational competencies of school principals and teachers.” The research dealt with the existing training methodology. On experience or learning, training is based on adult education, and training is different from education. There is a saying that training does not give its effect and is incomplete. This statement provoked me internally, which prompted me to think: Are there models that can be built and relied upon to follow methodologies that develop training practices to achieve the outcomes that we seek from Training.
She continued to say: During the work, we dealt with a training model based on the theory of learning by experience, and in fact with this research, the point of view of the practitioners themselves, and we actually found that as much as we link training to work and to the practices of the people who conduct the training, the trainees themselves can actually give what they learn in the field in reality, and this gives us an indication that we When we develop our training programs and the capabilities of individuals because they are a fundamental basis for developing the quality of learning and teaching, as they are the core of the goals and objectives of the Ministry of Education, because in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning, the quality of the leading teachers within schools cannot be surpassed. This was the first research on how to develop training programs so that we actually develop the capabilities of our teachers. Which is reflected in the field and ultimately reflected on the students who are our goal of liberation and liberation.
Second search..
As for the second research, which won the Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Educational Performance in 2018, it was completely different and dealt with the issue of self-esteem for children at a young age that did not exceed the fourth grade.
Rimawi spoke about it, saying: This research came as a result of observing a real problem among children regarding their self-esteem, because the concept of the self affects the child and his dealings with others, and because of the importance of strengthening this aspect among young people to build an integrated and sound personality. The idea of the research came through my teaching at Birzeit University in the College of Education. I noticed some students who did not have the courage to express their thoughts, and as a researcher I realize that one person affects the Palestinian context, so each of us must have a strong personality through which he expresses his thoughts and feelings to say, “I exist,” and from here was the beginning because when we look at the stage Early childhood and the lower basic stage are supposed to work on developing children's self-concept to enhance their personality.
She continued: We built a program on how to enhance the self-concept of children so that they are able to engage with a group of other children so that they possess leadership skills and prove their existence. We have found that these programs make a difference, according to the testimony of the teachers who were our supervisors in the study, insofar as we enhance the student’s self-concept and friendship relationships. And the concept of the other in children, you are able to refine his personality. These recommendations and results open the eyes of policy makers and decision makers to how, through our curricula, teaching methods and activities, we make interventions that are embedded in the classroom context to make a tangible difference on the ground.
Diversity of educational studies.
Researcher Rimawi seeks, through any research she submits, to identify an existing or tangible problem in order for its results and outputs to include a solution that contributes to building decisions that reflect positively on the decisions, to fill a gap that exists in reality, and to work on developing it until we reach the hoped-for reality that we desire.
She added: A person is part of his work and this work reflects his interests, so the last research I worked on was “Towards Professional Development for the Arab Teacher” to develop their abilities. I also worked on research on students’ reflection practices and how it enhances students’ learning in their learning so that they can evaluate themselves. Without waiting for the teacher to evaluate them through tests, this takes us out of the traditional evaluation style and scope to the authentic evaluation style so that there are new methods through which evaluation can be done because learning must be centered around the learner.
She added: In another study, it addressed the effectiveness of self-evaluation in enhancing student learning. One of the studies was titled “Towards a Model for Preparing New Teachers,” because no matter how much scientific and practical skills and knowledge they acquire while studying in the College of Education, when they work in the real world, they will discover that there is a gap. Therefore, it aimed to create a model that prepares new teachers, not only by focusing on training to prepare and empower them, and this study was published in Mu’tah magazine.
She continued: During the period in which I worked as Director of the Governance Program at the Ministry of Education, I prepared research on data governance, especially after the Corona period, because interest in technologies and distance learning increased, and the problem was the diversity and dispersion of databases and the lack of knowledge of their sources, so I prepared a study on the possibility of data governance in Educational systems and how to build a system for data governance in educational institutions. I prepared research on the strategy for preparing and qualifying teachers in Palestine and other various researches. Currently, I am focusing my interest on the subject of emotional and social learning among students and its effectiveness to enable them to find a healthy personality.
message ..
Through her diverse and numerous researches, the problems varied, whether for students or teachers, but the most prominent ones, according to Al-Rimawi, for students revolve around understanding what is read and expressing ideas, and this is linked to self-evaluation, whether verbally or behaviourally. On the other hand, for teachers, the most prominent ones are time and workload, so it is necessary Providing opportunities to build learning communities among teachers, promoting cooperation between them rather than competition, and giving students more time for reflection and self-esteem.
Then she sent an important message that serves society in which she said: Research must originally serve society through its contribution to making decisions and policies that affect our society, and the results of applicable studies and research must be taken into account to be formulated from them, within its conceptual papers, that which contributes to making decisions, and not to remain research and studies. It is placed on the shelf, especially with the presence of a research movement in our country, because the problem lies in how to employ research results to be the basis and basis for building policies and making decisions.
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Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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