The Teacher's Forum
Welcome to The Teacher's Forum, hosted by David Harris, a veteran educator with 33 years of experience in private, public, and charter schools.
The Teacher's Forum explores the people, ideas, and issues shaping education and the world around us. Through conversations with educators, authors, researchers, students, and other thought leaders from across the United States and around the globe, we share diverse perspectives, inspiring stories, and practical insights that inform, challenge, and inspire.
Whether you're an educator, a student, or simply someone who loves learning, there's a place for you in the conversation.
Visit theteachersforum.org, follow @theforum1993 on X, connect with David on Threads and Instagram @dwharris1691, or email david@theteachersforum.org with your thoughts, episode ideas, or if you'd like to be a guest on the show.
The Teacher's Forum
Challenging the Narrative: Ismail Khalidi on Storytelling and the Palestinian Perspective
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In this episode of The Teacher’s Forum, David reconnects with his former student, award-winning playwright and screenwriter Ismail Khalidi, to explore identity, art, and Palestine. From growing up Palestinian in America (05:45) to the influence of family and education (11:53) and his journey to playwriting (17:42), Ismail or Sim as he is known, shares how storytelling becomes both art and resistance. The conversation touches on navigating the white gaze (35:30), the responsibility of educators in discussing Palestine (41:22), and the myths and realities too often erased in mainstream narratives (48:01), before looking to the future of Palestine and the role of art (56:21).
To contact Ismail Khalidi you can visit his website at https://www.ismailkhalidi.com/
To learn more about the history of Palestine checkout the following:
The 100 Years War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
Until I Return: The Selected Plays of Ismail Khalidi
Returning to Haifa by Ismail Khalidi and Naomi Wallace
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
"Dead Are My People" by Khalil Gibran
Pulitzer-prize Winning Poet, Mosab Abu Toha on the war in Gaza
Join the Conversation:
- david@theteachersforum.org
- @theteachersforum.bsky.social
- X (formerly Twitter) @theforum1993
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