“Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher,” celebrated the graduation of eighteen male and female teachers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), who participated in the first cycle of the Award and who were identified as being distinguished, achieving the best results in the first cycle of the competition. The graduation of the eighteen teachers took place after they finished the specialized training program held in Singapore. The specialized training program was designed to enhance their skills, strengthen their job performance, developing their talents and capabilities in innovation and creativity. As a result of the training program, participants will be able to translate their newly acquired skills into classroom practices. The training program achieved the Award's goals and vision of sustainable education, which recognizes teachers as the most influential factor in the teaching and learning process.
Her Excellency (HE) Sheikha Khulood Al Qassimi, Vice Chairman of the Awards Technical Committee, and Dr Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki, the Awards Secretary-General, accompanied by UAE ambassador to Singapore Mohammad Omar Abdullah Belfkih and Professor Alan Chan, Vice President of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore, participated in the ceremony organized to honor the teachers, at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in Singapore.
This training program emerged from the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher” future vision mandate. This aims to promote educational knowledge and practices that contribute to empowering the characteristics of distinguished teachers from participating GCC countries. The Award targets a group of high performing teachers who were selected based on their efficiency and professional performance during their participation. These high performing teachers are offered an opportunity to join a personalized specialist-training program that reformulates their conceptual teachers' frameworks and strengthen their abilities, skills and outcomes.
The training program titled “Innovative Teaching Methods,” took two weeks. It aimed to achieve a range of pedagogical objectives that focused on introducing the participants to the pedagogical principles in Singapore. These principles enrich the stimulation of students’ critical thinking and research skills. These principles also empower participants to transfer knowledge gained back to their schools and integrate them into their teaching methods. Moreover, the acquired skills have enabled the participants to develop innovative educational projects and strategies. The training also allowed participants to explore the most recent pedagogies, methodologies and techniques that align with the rapid futuristic changes of the twenty first century. The participants were also provided with practical training on the design of educational models through the usage of three-dimensional drawing techniques, and the implementation of practical projects through the usage of structural stimulation models of Instructional Design Solutions.
Her Excellency (HE) Sheikha Khulood Al Qassimi
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Dr Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki
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Dr Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki
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Amina Al Rumaihi
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Mr Rashed Ali Hashim
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The teacher, Mansour Abdullah Al-Mansour |
The training program included a presentation on lesson planning best practices of Singapore’s educational system. It exhibited the various effective inquiry-based learning and teaching methodologies, discussed various examples of model lessons and strategies that support the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, participants were provided with clear instructions and information on theoretical foundations. This enables them to comprehend fundamental changes in the educational system and the process of choosing and implementing the appropriate strategies applicable to school environment assessment.
The training program explored the theoretical and practical aspects related to the methodologies used to teach small groups. This involved the facilitating student groups activities covering research skills and problem-solving methods to support student active learning methods.
HE Sheikha Khulood Al Qassimi, Vice Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Award, confirmed that the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher” has created generous opportunities to enable a solid educational ideology in the school community, by developing teachers’ skills, abilities and learning styles and through the provision of sophisticated well-designed training system aligned with the Award’s expectations. HE Sheikha Khulood Al Qassimi has also stated that the Award has provided opportunities to promote teachers’ development at various levels. It has also expanded teachers’ educational horizons, guiding them towards increased creativity and innovation, inspired by their participation in specialized training courses in the finest international education specialized institutions. Her Excellency emphasized that the Award has provided all the support needed to ensure smooth delivery of the aforementioned opportunities. It has promoted creative competitiveness among teachers and highlighted their achievements, talents and creativity.
HE Sheikha Khulood Al Qassimi said “the training program that the teachers have completed, has resulted in positive outcomes that has enhanced the teachers as constructive elements. They look forward to self- and career development, in which each teacher satisfies their ambition to excel in proficient, contemporary teaching methods and modern educational skills. The latter, reflects the importance of the Award and its educational philosophy in empowering teachers and strengthening their leadership position.”
Her Excellency stressed the importance of the Award, and the depth of its educational objective, which stemmed from the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. HE Sheikha Khulood Al Qassimi said “HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has consistently given wise directives to achieve the highest quality in the education sector and His Highness has bestowed attention and care upon the education sector, enabling the UAE’s education system to become one of the most advanced and modern systems in the region.“
Dr Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki, Secretary-General of the Award, commented that the rooting of excellence, creativity and innovation in the education sector, is the mission and vision of the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher”. Today, “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher” constitutes the cornerstone for teachers looking for appreciation and achievement. Additionally, this Award is recognised as a suitable platform to reinforce the role of the teachers in educational. The Award is guided by best tools to elevate each teacher’s noble status. The Award makes the educational arena a place for competitiveness, focused on the development of best educational practices and policies that invest in teachers’ capabilities, leveraging tangible outcomes at both local and regional levels.
Dr. Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki added that the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher,“ follows global steps and standards, that place teachers as the pillar of educational renaissance. Teachers are the role model and key pillar of the educational process. He added that the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher” is comprehensive, integrated and is an essential future dimension in establishing competitiveness. Also, the Award has played an important role in galvanizing teachers in GCC countries to become an active participant in the building of future generations through investing in the teachers’ promising potentials. Dr. Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki added that teachers are the pride of our societies. We need to highlight them, demonstrate their pivotal role in nurturing future generations, and focus on improving their performance and honoring those who deserve to continue progressing towards leadership.
Dr. Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki has confirmed the unique role that the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher,” plays through its focus on developing teachers’ knowledge and skills. This is achieved through their participation in training programs that are global in nature, in order to learn and take advantage, from best international educational practices.
Dr. Hamad Ahmed Al Darmaki praised the significant support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces that had provided for the development of this comprehensive Award, to promote education in the Arab Gulf region. These provisions affirm that education and the teacher, have received considerable interest and patronage of His Highness and strengthened the importance of achieving developmental leaps in the education system, not only at the United Arab Emirates, but also across the GCC region.
On a related matter, Mr Rashed Ali Hashim, a teacher from the United Arab Emirates, expressed gratitude to “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher”, since it has provided him the unique opportunity to be introduced to the best practices from Singapore's education system, which focused on the educational process and the role of the teacher. He stated that the teaching profession in Singapore, compared with other professions, enjoys highly prestigious status.
The teacher, Amina Al Rumaihi from the Kingdom of Bahrain praised the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher” role in enhancing the skills of teachers through the Singapore training program, had helped her to learn about best practices in education through prominent activities that emphasized twenty first century skills, community partnership, humanitarian values and active citizenship.
The teacher, Mansour Abdullah Al-Mansour from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said: "Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher is considered a leading pedagogical platform that provides a greater range of possibilities in the future." He praised the training program, which took place under the guidance of a pioneering educational country. He also praised the significant progress that the participants made through interviews with learning and teaching specialists. Mr. Mansour added that visiting schools in Singapore enabled them to acquire knowledge about the best teaching methods and to exchange experiences with other teachers.
The teacher, Ahmed al-Maliki from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expressed his sincere thanks to the “Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher”, which is becoming more glamorous and distinguished. He stated, "The Mohamed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Award for Best GCC Teacher is responsible for developing and training teachers”. He further stated that the Award really made a qualitative leap by being the first Award of its kind in the GCC, and the Arab world, that designs a unique training program for the participating teachers. Mr. Ahmed pointed out that the specialized training program is an essential milestone in the teacher's designated work, by consolidating achievements through lectures, specialized workshops and schools visits.
16/09/2019