The AMQF Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP) organized, on Saturday, May 20, in the Palestine Red Crescent Society HQ in El-Bireh, the first of a series of workshops on the subject of Animation in Education that will run for a full year.
The workshop was attended by 20 participants and led by ERDP researcher Kifah Fanni. This first event of the series was meant as an introduction to puppet making; participants learned how to make puppets and figures from wire and putty and received a two-volume guide issued by ERDP on animation. In the next phase, participants will be divided into smaller geographical groups to work within their areas.
This advanced series targets a majority of new participants, as well as those who have previously worked with ERDP in animation, and others with experience in the same field. The series aims to produce a puppet exhibition, a number of sceneries and a picture gallery from the Programme’s archive. It also seeks to build two sets for filming mini-scenarios and to prepare a team capable of effectively using the room dedicated to the animation programme in the AMQF new building.
Nasser Shobaki, a teacher who took part in the event, led the work at one of the workshop stations, thus sharing his previous experience in the field with other participants. Shobaki first joined the animation programme at ERDP in 2011, as a trainee. He later became a trainer, then a supervisor to other trainers in the same field. Shobaki produced many films with his students at the Jalazon School for Boys.
“What pushed me to apply to this series was the benefit and fun that animation had given my students throughout my years of work in the field,” said Shobaki. “It makes a real difference in my students’ education, because I train them and, together, we produce films on many educational subjects that are of interest to them.”