ICF Update: Write Our World

Cambodia Writers’ Club Off to a Fantastic Start! 

Submitted by Julie Carey, Write Our World.

For three weeks in September, Children’s Future (Posner Tenant) is implementing a bilingual ebook authoring workshop in collaboration with Write Our World (Posner Member) at it’s Learning Center in Battambang, Cambodia. 

Students aged 11-13 are developing ebooks that document some aspect of their culture. In pairs, they have chosen to focus on Khmer food, traditional dress, popular games and the national flag. The group of 14-18 year olds has chosen to write about people in their lives they consider good leaders, such as older siblings and teachers. Each book is unique and includes original photography, text written in both Khmer and English, and oral recordings of the author reading the text. Both teachers and students are very excited and engaged in this innovative project!

Write Our World is simultaneously delivering professional development. In the mornings, teachers who run the Cambodia Writers Club debrief the session from the previous day and prepare for the upcoming session that afternoon. This type of learning, one based on the completion of a creative project, introduces a new type of pedagogy for the teachers. They are eagerly trying new strategies and becoming comfortable with the process so they can continue to create ebooks in the future. Write Our World has also been asked to extend the existing project by designing and conducting a training with the entire Education staff on student-centered learning to increase engagement and academic achievement for their students.

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The completed ebooks will be celebrated and shared with the whole school on September 23rd, then added to the Write Our World library, thereby growing its inventory to 75 books in 18 languages! Visit the library then to enjoy these new contributions of authentic learning and creative expression by rural Cambodian children. 

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