Palestinian teacher Hanan Al Hroub has just been awarded the $1 million Global Teacher Prize. Her victory was announced by Pope Francis via a video message introduced by Salma Hayek and Akshay Kumar in a ceremony Sunday at the Atlantis Palm Hotel in Dubai.
The ceremony had its fair share of distinguished guests, from Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to Parineeti Chopra and Fareed Zakaria, as well as Matthew McConaughey and Abhishek Bachchan . There were also plenty of video messages from Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and Britain's Prince William.
Hroub, who teaches at the Samiha Khalil High School in Al-Bireh, was presented with the prestigious award for her work in helping children learn through play. She documents her work in her book "We Play and Learn," in which she shows the technique that she developed.
Hroub grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp and was motivated to become a teacher due to her experience as a mother of children who have been traumatized by the war. Through integrating playing into learning, she hopes to create a non-violent atmosphere for learning that is fun, welcoming, and social - everything that children lack in times of war.
According to Arabian Business, as she accepted the prize, Hroub dedicated her award to "all teachers in general and Palestinian teachers in particular." She also said that she would be using some of the money to spread her technique of teaching and support other teachers in the Palestinian area.