On 23 May 2019, Reem Manna from the Ahel Organization showcased how they are training and coaching women teachers to overcome repression and lead the Stand Up with the Teachers Campaign to guarantee their labour rights in Jordan.
The experiences of women teachers in Jordan’s private schools sparked the campaign in 2015. Most paid less than minimum wage, often deprived of annual leave, coerced to resign just before summer break, losing their contracts if they are pregnant, women teachers are using community organizing and public narrative to achieve pay justice, improved conditions and a stronger education system overall. The campaign has faced the challenge of most women teachers being afraid to join, women who have become used to the repression in schools, just as they got have got used to it in their homes and in society at large.
Watch the video with Reem, the Lead Coach for the campaign, who explores how:
- the coaching process builds the power of women in the midst of repression and the impact it had on the teachers’ leadership and lives;
- How collaborative and distributed leadership was introduced when the culture of collective leadership is absent;
- How they were able to organize in a closed space that limits freedom to associate, unionize or organize.
Watch the recording below, then join in on the ongoing discussion in the comments below.
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