My love of teaching stems from my passion for learning and my desire to contribute to better understanding ourselves and our society.
Academic Teaching Experience
LABORATORY TEACHING ASSISTANT, 1988 – 1990
Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY TEACHER, 1990 – 1992
Gulliver Academy, Miami, FL, USA
ADJUNCT LECTURER, 2004 – 2005
Suffolk Community College, NY, USA
MEDICAL SCHOOL LECTURER, 2006 – 2010
Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in Bahrain
Educator Experience
HOME EDUCATOR, 2011 - 2024
Bahrain, Ireland
BAHRAIN COOPERATIVE PLAYSCHOOL COFOUNDER, 2011 - 2013
Bahrain
UNLIMITED COLLABORATIVE LEARNING FACILITATOR, 2017 – 2020
Bahrain
Home Education
Initially, home education was simply an extension of being curious about the world which children do naturally. I formed a cooperative playschool with another family and invited other families to join. When my daughter was 5, she wanted to go to school which she did for almost a year. She was enthusiastic and excited initially, however as the year progressed she became quiet and withdrawn and reluctant to go. We decided to take her out of school because it was important that she have a life-long love for learning.
We continued with a passion-driven learning or unschooling approach since the tradition academic approach was so aversive. While we did follow her interests, I also ensured that she was developing
1. academic intelligence: critical thinking, how to evaluate reliable sources of information, note taking and summarizing.
2. emotional intelligence: ability to name emotions, age-appropriate self-regulation, self-awareness.
3. social intelligence: how to navigate social interactions and relationships with respect, acceptance, and inclusion.
4. ecological intelligence: an understanding of nature and our relationship & responsibility to Earth.
When she was 10, she decided that she wanted to go to college and insisted on following a formal curriculum. We explored different ways of doing this – from designing our own curriculum based on the U.K. standards to switching to a hybrid-online U.S. curriculum school (Oak Meadow) to an IGCSE online school (Kings Interhigh) when she wanted to attend a brick and mortar school. While the transitions were challenging at times, she did catch up in the areas that she was behind in and the move to the IGCSE online school was navigated with ease. Her transition to a brick and mortar school proved seamless and is excelling academically and is navigating the social environment with ease.
Image by Andrew Ebrahim
@sdb_sjbc on UnsplashCooperative Playschool
I formed a cooperative playschool with another family that expanded to include 10 – 12 families who would meet at least weekly. We loved the experience of learning together and sharing our discoveries with other families. There is some extra special in learning from each other and having the input of different perspectives and approaches to learning. The Cooperative Play School was a wonderful learning and social experience.
Image by
Ben McLeod on UnsplashLearning Collaborative
When I returned to Bahrain from Ireland, I wanted to continue group learning in a group and learning from members of our community. I loved the idea of mixed age, collaborative learning and so I facilitate this ad-hoc exploration that was open to the community and welcomed ideas and inspiration from group members.
We explored science (cooking, fermentation, food preservation, DIY cleaners), natural dyes, dinosaurs, remedies and potions, the life & art of Vincent Van Gogh, local (natural) history (souk stories, pearling path, dhow building, triny jam making & horticulture, Hawar Island). We are indebted to Mr. Mahmood Al Baklawa, a passionate historian, for his generous sharing of knowledge and artefacts from the Ancient Civilizations of Bahrain.
