Dr. Salma Waly
I am an educator who strongly believes in the power that education can play in developing communities.
I started my career as a special education teacher; an experience that helped me realize the paramount importance of education and the huge impact it has on improving lives especially in communities in crisis. My vast experience helping children made me realize that education brings stability to children and takes them to a place of comfort in times of conflict / tension.
I then started my master’s program in TESOL through which I began to teach refugees from Asia and Africa along with adults and undergraduate students in the MENA region. I prepared Arabic-speaking groups of students to study internationally and trained professionals in multiple fields to work in multicultural and multilingual settings.
Throughout my teaching career, I developed programs to cater for the needs of various groups of learners in the US and internationally including learners from Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Japan, South Korea, China and South America.
In March 2015, I completed my PhD at the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
PhD, Instruction and Leaning, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, PA
MA, Educational Leadership, Queens College, NY
MA, TESOL, The American University in Cairo, Egypt
BS, Special Education, Dar Al-Hekma Univertsry, Jeddah, KSA
Currently living in NYC, I teach and supervise New York City public school teachers to prepare them to work with diverse learners, immigrants and refugees. Passionate about international education, I am also a consultant for non-for-profit organizations where I create literacy programs and curricula for refugees and communities in conflict and crisis.
I have presented my work in many reputable conventions inside and outside the United States and published my research work in renowned academic journals. I have also designed workshops for a wide range of audiences including schoolteachers and administrators, university faculty, researchers, practitioners, policymakers and stakeholders. I have been proudly offering services to public, private and religious schools in addition to universities, training institutes, NGOs and aid organizations and religious programs.
A bilingual speaker of Arabic and English who lived and studied in different parts of the world. I always look forward to working with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
