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Campus News
IC NEWSLETTER -
SUMMER 2009
24
Dr. Raouf Ghusayni, Director of ERC,
retiresafterservingICformanyyears.Dr.
Ghusayniiscreditedwithre-establishing
theERCasaleadingcenterforprofessional
development through launching an
extensive in-service program for IC
faculty on campus and abroad and
establishinganactiveOutreachProgram
for the professional development of
teachers in public and private schools
throughout Lebanon. He led IC twice
throughtheprocessofaccreditationby
the(European)CouncilofInternational
SchoolsandtheNewEnglandAssociation
of Schools andColleges. He identified
and introduced to IC the pedagogical
approach of Performance-Based
Learning and Assessment (PBLA) and
theCritical Skillsapproachtoteaching
andlearningknownasSPEC(Student-
centered, Problem-based, Experiental
and Collaborative learning). His other
contributions included supervising
thewritingof CurriculumGuidesby IC
teachers,initiatingasetofteacherstudy
groups who hold monthly seminars
throughouttheschoolyearandrunning
aTeacherExchangeProgrambetweenIC
andinternationalschoolsinEurope,the
United States and the Middle East.
Do you remember your first day at
IC? Can you tell us about it?
Actually, in my case, there were three
“first days:” One was when I joined
the elementary school as a student.
The school was located in the current
preschool building, and the Office
Manager was none other than our dear
friend Samia Sullivan, whom we then
knew as Miss Khalaf. My first teacher was
Fouad Haddadwho came frommy home
town of Baakleen and who gave me big
support and encouragement. We later
spent several wonderful years as faculty
colleaguesinthedepartmentofeducation
at AUB and are still life long friends.
Another “first day” at IC for me was
when I started teaching here. I was
only 21 then, and some students
looked bigger than I was. It was
thrilling to become a colleague of
my own teachers – Alfred Khuri, Musa
Sulayman, Atif Karam, Yacoub Haddad
and many others.
The third “first day” was when I joined
IC as director of the ERC in 1995
after a long career at AUB and the
International School of London. The
exciting challenge was to re-activate
the ERC after it was dormant for a
period of time during the civil war.
I received a warm welcome from
then President Gerrit Keator and
great support from Deputy President
Edmond Tohme as well as all the
directors. My working years with Mr.
Tohme were wonderful indeed.
Whatareyour fondestmemoriesat IC?
My memories center around the
life long friendships I made with
classmates, students and colleagues.
Whenever I see one of them, an image
from the past flashes.
I was once admitted to the emergency
room at AUH, and there was to receive
me a former student, Dr. Shawki
Kanazi. His presence made things
much easier for me. At Stanford where
I was studying for my doctorate, my
best friends were Eddie Tohme, a
classmate, the late Muram Shammas
a former student, and Marwan
Ghandour, another former student
and later an AUB Colleague.
One scene I remember vividly as a
student was an annual ritual where
our principal, Mr. Leavitt, would have
me stand in front of Rockefeller Hall
with my friend Maroun Kisirwani and
take a picture of the two of us to send
to the students of a U.S. private school
who were raising funds to cover our
annual scholarship. The picture would
go with a thank you letter from each of
us describing our year at IC. Later as a
teacher, I worked with Mr. Leavitt and his
successor, Mr. Schuller. They both were
great men of commitment and vision.
What will you miss the most at IC?
As you know, my work at the ERC has
mainly dealt with the professional
development of teachers. I can
testify that the teachers of IC
are persons of high professional
commitment and are in constant
search for new educational ideas
and practices. What I will miss most
are the numerous occasions where
I saw such commitment in action:
in deliberations of the Professional
Development Committee, in in-
service and outreach workshops, and
in discussions within the Educational
Forum and the Teacher Study Groups.
I will also miss the scene of hundreds
of teachers from all over Lebanon
flocking into Rockefeller Hall on an
outreach professional development
day. Equally, I will miss the trips with IC
teachers on outreach days to various
parts of the country from Akkar in the
north to Nabatiyeh and Marjayoun in
the south. Above all, I will always miss
the ERC atmosphere and the special
people with whom I worked and lived
all those years: Zeina Dayya, Nayla
Hamadeh, Joelle Abdelahad, Connie
Hadba and Hussein Farhat. I feel they
are so much a part of my life.
What are your plans after retirement?
Please note that I will be retiring
from IC but not from the service of
education in Lebanon and the region.
I plan to continue teaching at AUB as
well as provide consultancy services
to institutions which might wish
to benefit from my experience. As
president of the Lebanese Association
for Educational Studies, I will continue
to support efforts for educational
research and reform in the country.
Above all, I hope to have more time
to read and write. There are dozens
of books in the ERC professional
collection that I want to read, and there
is a host of educational issues that I’d
like to write about, particularly in the
area of curriculum and instruction.
Q & A
with
Raouf Ghusayni