ABSTRACT
This chapter explains testing and developing creative methods of teaching, drawn from the experience of the long-term work with teachers and teacher educators in mainstream education in Palestine. The discussion about relational, creative pedagogical practices draws on the whole of the period since 1995, from the first project which ran in Gaza and West Bank, and examines the ways that these have subsequently played out in different forms and educational contexts. Al Yamani contends that Palestinian political parties have focused on the political aim of liberating Palestine, they have not considered seriously enough the socio-cultural aspects of liberation from occupation, which must include cultural attributes. The conventions opened up spaces where opinions could rub against each other or collide, where there was no 'right' answer to the situation, and the teacher was not the only person able to validate the knowledge and experience: peers in the group, and 'others', were another possible source of validation.
