قام طلاب الدفعة السابعة عشرة منبرنامج إعداد معلمي المرحلة الثانوية (STEP) بزيارة في شمال لندن، وذلك في إطار ورشة عمل حول "التعليم والتعلم" تهدف إلى استكشاف العلاقة بين الطبيعة والتأمل والتعليم. ومن خلال الملاحظة والنقاش والأنشطة الحسية وكتابة شعر الهايكو، تناول الطلاب كيف يمكن للبيئات الطبيعية أن تُعزّز الانتباه، وتُشجّع على التفكير النقدي، وتُعمّق الفهم في مجالَي التعليم والتعلّم.
لا يقتصر التعلم على الفصول الدراسية فحسب. فالتعلم في الهواء الطلق يشجع على الملاحظة والتفكير والتفاعل المباشر مع العالم من حولنا. وتشكل هذه الأفكار منهج برنامج STEP في إعداد المعلمين بمعهد الدراسات الإسماعيلية، حيث يتم تشجيع الطلاب المعلمين على التفكير بعمق في كيفية ومكان حدوث التعلم الفعال.
في إطار سلسلة ورش عمل التعليم والتعلم للدفعة السابعة عشرة، اصطحب فهيم حسين الطلاب إلى كوينز وود، وهي غابة قديمة تقع في شمال لندن، ودعاهم إلى التوقف والملاحظة والتأمل في العالم الطبيعي المحيط بهم. ولم تكن هذه الجلسة مجرد استراحة من الدراسة، بل استكشفت كتاب "أدب المسلمين في الولاء والأخلاق" ضمن المنهاج الدراسي للمرحلة الثانوية في معهد الدراسات الإسماعيلية من خلال بيئة تعليمية مختلفة.
قدّمت كوينز وود ما لا يستطيع أي فصل دراسي أن يُضاهيه: التجربة الحيّة والمباشرة للتّرابط والتّكافل. فثمة أشجار صمدت لعقود، وشبكات جذور تُغذّي أنظمة بيئية بأكملها، وشواهد صامتة على التعايش في كل طبقة من طبقات أرض الغابة. لكنها في عيون المعلمين أكثر من مجرد ظواهر طبيعية؛ إذ تدفع إلى تأمل أعمق في المعرفة والمجتمع والظروف التي يزدهر فيها الإنسان حقًّا.
تأمّلات طلاب برنامج STEP
الآراء التالية كتبها طلاب برنامج STEP الذين حضروا ورشة العمل. يقدم كل منهم وجهة نظر فريدة، تشكلت بناءً على خلفيته وثقافته وخبرته. وتقدم هذه الآراء مجتمعةً لمحةً عما يعنيه أن تتعلّم — وأن تُعلّم — في رحاب العالم الطبيعي.
فرخندة جبين
من وادي ياسين، غلغت-بالتستان، باكستان
يمكن للفضاءات الطبيعية أن تجعل التعلّم أكثر نشاطاً وتأملاً وعمقاً. فرغم أنني نشأت في البيئة الطبيعية لغلغت-ياسين، نادراً ما تأمّلت الطبيعة بوصفها فضاءً للتعلّم. وخلال ورشة العمل في كوينز وود،راقبتُ وشعرتُ وتأمّلتُما كان يجري من حولي — وقد أسهمت هذه التجربة في تنمية فهم أعمق لديّ للعلاقة بين الطبيعة والتعلّم.
لقد جذبت انتباهي أصوات زقزقة العصافير، والهواء النقي بين الأشجار، والحشرات التي تتحرك هنا وهناك، والأوراق بألوانها المتنوعة، ولحاء الأشجار القديم الذي لا يزال قوياً. فقد ساعدتني هذه العناصر على فهم أهمية التعايش والترابط بيننا. كما جعلتني أدرك أن البيئات الطبيعية يمكن أن تكون من أفضل استراتيجيات التعليم والتعلم.
تظل الجذور خفية عن الأنظار، لكنها ضرورية لمساعدة الأشجار على الوقوف ودعم كل ما يحيط بها. وقد أوضح لي هذا كيف أن كل عنصر في الطبيعة يلعب دورًا مهمًا في الحفاظ على العناصر الأخرى.
تبقى معرفتنا محدودةً حين نحاول استيعاب التنوع الهائل للطبيعة. غير أن الطبيعة تدعونا إلى التأمل بصورة أعمق. فلو أردتُ أن أبحث عن إجابات لأكثر الأسئلة جوهريةً — من أنا؟ أين الله؟ — لما بحثتُ عنها بين أربعة جدران. بل كنتُ سأبحث عنها تحت ظل شجرة، أو وأنا أرقب النجوم في الليل، أو على شاطئ البحر.
وبالنسبة لكثير من الطلاب، غدت ورشة العمل أيضاً فضاءً للتأمل الشخصي والإبداع والتواصل الوجداني مع الطبيعة.
Abidah Nasreen
From Hunza Valley, Pakistan
What I value most about being a STEP student teacher is that learning is never confined to classrooms or books. It extends into spaces that allow us to feel, reflect, and simply be. The outdoor workshop at Queen’s Wood was one of those rare experiences that stayed with me long after it ended.
As someone who finds comfort in nature, the woodland felt like a familiar refuge. Yet sharing that space with my colleagues gave it new meaning. In our first activity, we stood together, holding hands. In that moment, I felt the warmth of human presence — fragile, fleeting, yet deeply connected. It reminded me that we are not separate from nature; we are part of it.
Stepping away from the noise of uncertainty… the workshop offered something quieter: space to think, to feel, and to create.
In that stillness, I found myself writing a poem again, something I had not been able to do for a long time. That moment of reflection felt deeply connected to a teaching from Imam ʿAlī’s Nahj al-BalāghaLit. ‘the way of eloquence’. A well-known collection of letters, sermons and sayings attributed to Imam ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 661 CE), compiled in its present form by al-Sharīf… — a reminder that nature is not only something to observe, but something that reveals meaning.
Brown fallen leaf speaks
From dust I rose, dust I am
Heights were never mine
Wind returns me home
Youth and colour fade
to truth Near You I am whole
The workshop encouraged students to engage with nature in different ways through movement, sensory exploration, reflection, and creative practice.
Nairouz Razouq
From Salamiyah, Syria
At first, I wondered what the point was of travelling so far just to walk once we arrived. I soon realised it was not simply another place — it felt like another world entirely. In the middle of urban London, there existed a forest that seemed untouched by human hands. The only sounds were birds singing, the soft movement of the wind, and the quiet presence of creatures hidden among enormous wild trees.
We moved through a series of activities, each opening a different way of experiencing the world. One group explored the forest blindfolded, guided only by touch and sound, discovering how deeply human sight shapes our understanding of the world. Another explored the woodland through scent — comparing layered smells, noticing the memories they carried. A third moved through the forest with cameras, connecting what they saw to ideas from their course modules.
Experiencing this reflection in nature was completely different from discussing it in a classroom; it felt more like a lived spiritual experience.
Later, sitting in a clearing where light fell through the clouds, we wrote poetry — first alone, then in pairs, weaving each other’s words into something new.
Through the poems, we gained small glimpses into how each person viewed the world. Some wrote about hope, others about love, escape, and longing.
The workshop encouraged students to engage with nature in different ways through movement, sensory exploration, reflection, and creative practice.
Anooshey Abid
From Lahore, Pakistan
The outdoor workshop at Queen’s Wood forms part of our teaching and learning course, which provides a contextual framework for bridging content and pedagogy. Walking through the woods, we explored nature as an entry point towards learning. Some of the activities asked us to take a deep dive into ourselves, wandering through thoughts and emotions in search of the kind of stillness that is difficult to find elsewhere.
What struck me most was how the limitations of the outdoor setting — the unscripted, the unfamiliar — became an invitation to go deeper.
The poetry task connected directly to our MA module on literature in Muslim societies and made something clear: creativity is not an extra. It is how learners make meaning.
Every learner brings their own emotions, perspectives, and experiences into classrooms.
Nature also highlighted the importance of balance and well-being. Outdoor learning can create opportunities for students who may struggle in traditional classroom settings — allowing them to engage through creativity, movement, and discussion. As educators, this experience encouraged me to think about how we can create more inclusive and meaningful opportunities for our students.
The workshop also encouraged students to reflect on spirituality, memory, and the emotional dimensions of learning.
Faten Ghaibour
From Tartus, Syria
The workshop offered a very different learning experience from what we usually associate with education. Through walking in nature, observation, silence, discussion, and poetry writing, the session encouraged us to slow down and experience learning through reflection and presence rather than information alone.
One moment during the walk stayed with me deeply. As I looked through the sunlight passing between the branches, I was reminded of my childhood. I remembered sitting on a swing beneath the trees, speaking to God and imagining His presence around me. During the workshop, I unexpectedly felt that same sense of calmness, closeness, and wonder again after many years.
The experience also reminded me why STEP feels meaningful as a programme. Watching my classmates connect with nature in deeply personal and different ways showed me that learning does not happen in only one form or environment.
As educators, we often focus on developing the mind, but meaningful learning must also create space for reflection, emotion, spirituality, and human connection.
The workshop encouraged me to think about how I can carry these ideas into my own teaching practice and create spaces where students feel able to reflect, connect, and learn more meaningfully.
Learning beyond the classroom
What these reflections share is something that no syllabus can fully capture. Each student arrived at Queen’s Wood with a different story — different landscapes in their memory, different questions in their minds — and each left with a deeper sense of what it means to be both a learner and a teacher. Nature did not give them answers. It gave them better questions.
This is precisely what STEP is designed to do. The Secondary Teacher Education Programme does not simply train teachers — it develops thoughtful, reflective educators who understand that learning is a living process, shaped as much by wonder and observation as by knowledge and instruction.
If you are a member of the Ismaili community with a passion for education and a commitment to the next generation, STEP may be the programme for you.
