Building bridges in the classroom: How the Social Cohesion Toolkit is transforming schools in Lebanon

To truly thrive at school, young people need more than academic knowledge; they need spaces to connect, listen, and grow together.

In Lebanon, where classrooms often reflect broader societal divides, creating spaces of inclusion and dialogue is not a luxury; it is essential.

Public schools welcome students from diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, including refugees from Syria and Lebanese children who have been internally displaced as a result of conflict or economic hardship.

Many of these children face the daily challenges of inequality and instability. Meanwhile, teachers and administrators are stretched thin, trying to meet academic goals while working around the complex social dynamics.

In this environment, tensions can surface both inside and outside the classroom. Conflicts may arise due to perceived differences or feelings of exclusion, sometimes amplified by stress, overcrowding, or limited support. This, in turn, can reinforce harmful dynamics and make it harder for schools to serve as spaces of safety, connection, and trust.

Taking first steps to improve social cohesion in schools and beyond

Teachers and schools need tools and frameworks to address these issues – not only to improve social cohesion in the classroom, but as an act of broader peacebuilding. Supporting inclusion and unity among students helps build more resilient communities, fostering trust and understanding that can ripple far beyond the school walls.

This is where a new Social Cohesion Toolkit comes in. Developed to help schools meet these challenges, the toolkit is grounded in a simple yet powerful framework: build relationships, foster trust, and empower agency. With 18 activities for each of the three school cycles: primary, intermediate, and secondary, the toolkit offers practical, evidence-informed strategies for engaging students, supporting teachers, and involving communities.

Across Lebanon, many schools have already started using the toolkit to transform not just classrooms, but school culture as a whole.

Turning classrooms into spaces for collaboration and growth

At the heart of every socially cohesive school is a classroom environment where students feel seen, respected, and empowered. That is why the toolkit begins with students.  The student-centred activities aim at building relationships among the students, fostering trust through collaboration, and giving them agency in shaping their school environment through activities, such as setting up a school student council.

Through hands-on group activities and structured dialogues, students begin to build relationships, challenge assumptions, and develop a shared sense of belonging.

For example, the toolkit has an Identity Bracelets activity, which helps students to explore their personal and shared identities by making bracelets and sharing these back with their classmates. Each student chooses beads with colours or symbols to represent traits they value in themselves – such as being kind, creative, or determined – and explains them to the group. This process helps students reflect on who they are, celebrate differences, and identify common values with peers. Put into action, this has helped students to feel comfortable openly sharing their stories and find common ground with others.

By progressing from simple introductions to deeper collaboration, the toolkit helps students learn what it means to be part of a learning community: one that values empathy, inclusion, and cooperation.

One teacher in Beirut shared the following:

Students who used to avoid each other now work together and exchange ideas. The toolkit completely changed the classroom atmosphere.

Strengthening connections between schools and families

As the culture inside classrooms begins to shift, so too do relationships between schools and families. The toolkit encourages schools to actively engage parents and caregivers.

Activities invite caregivers into the learning process, offer skill-building workshops, and create safe spaces for dialogue with school staff.

One parent reflected:

For the first time, I felt included in what’s happening at school. These activities brought us: parents, teachers, and students together and made me feel like part of my child’s learning journey.

This kind of engagement turns schools into community hubs, where trust is built not just between individuals, but across generations. In doing so, the toolkit reinforces a shared responsibility for student well-being and success.

These shifts in classroom and community dynamics have a tangible impact on students’ academic and emotional well-being. By combining academic support with psychosocial activities and inclusive group work, the toolkit helps students feel more connected, more capable, and more motivated to stay in school.

Empowering teachers to lead social change

However, none of this is possible without strong, supported educators. That’s why the toolkit provides teachers with tools and training to lead this work confidently and compassionately.

Teachers are equipped with strategies for creating inclusive classrooms, managing conflict sensitively, and responding to discrimination or exclusion. As one participant put it:

The toolkit gave me new ways to manage discussions around sensitive topics. It helped me create a space where every student feels heard and respected.

These approaches don’t just enhance classroom climate—they build teacher agency. Hundreds of educators across Lebanon have now received training through the toolkit, growing a network of teachers who see themselves not only as instructors, but as community leaders and peacebuilders.

This wide-scale reach was made possible through the formal endorsement and active support of the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE). In close collaboration with the Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD/CRPD) and the Ministry’s Department of Guidance and Counseling (DOPS), International Alert worked to embed the toolkit within existing teacher training mechanisms, ensuring educators across all governorates could access and apply it. Rather than being a stand-alone push by an NGO, the rollout was integrated into official structures, coordinated with national education priorities, and delivered through MEHE’s recognised training channels. This institutional partnership helped sustain the toolkit’s relevance and credibility within Lebanon’s public education system.

To ensure these changes are not only meaningful but lasting, the toolkit’s approach is now influencing national education policy. International Alert is working closely with the MEHE and CRPD to embed social cohesion into Lebanon’s broader education strategy.

This is not only helping schools today; it is laying the groundwork for a more cohesive, resilient generation tomorrow.

A toolkit for peace, a vision for the future

The Social Cohesion Toolkit is more than a collection of activities. It is a mindset shift. A call to action. A practical framework for transforming education into a force for peace.

And perhaps most powerfully, it reminds us that every classroom can be a place where bridges are built and futures are changed.

Learn more and get involved

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