The
third edition of Qudwa - a forum that seeks to elevate the teaching profession
in the UAE and improve the future of education - is scheduled to be held on 6th
October at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi.
The
forum, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed
Forces, will bring more than 40 local, regional and international speakers, 600
UAE teachers, as well as experts and decision-makers, to highlight
internationally-recognised best practices and teaching methods that teachers in
the region can adopt in the future.
Held
under the theme of "Teaching for Global Competence", Hussain bin
Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, will express the significance of
Qudwa as a platform that facilitates dialogue between teachers and
decision-makers in the education sector to discuss the future of teaching.
Organised
by the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, Qudwa
connects teachers with decision-makers to discuss the educational practices
that will have the greatest positive impact on students in the UAE. It is an
important part of the UAE’s forward-thinking, multicultural educational
environment, and of its ambition to become a global leader in education with a
future-ready education system.
Al
Hammadi will be joined by other UAE speakers, including Talal Al Hashemi,
National Director of Special Olympics UAE. Also scheduled to speak at the Forum
is Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice in
International Education and Director of the Global Education Innovation
Initiative and of the International Education Policy Programme at Harvard University.
Reimers is a renowned researcher and author of 27 academic books and more than
100 articles exploring ways children and youth can achieve educational growth
and prosperity in the 21st century.
Furthermore,
Dr. Juha Kaskinen, Director of the Finland Futures Research Centre at the
University of Turku, will participate at the Forum. Throughout his career, his
main interests have been enhancing the subject area for futures studies and
adding valuable insights to national and international projects in teaching.
Pam
Grossman, Dean of the Graduate School of Education and the George and Diane
Weiss Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, will also
participate in this year’s edition.
Other
speakers include Loretta Claiborne, Chief Inspiration Officer and Vice-Chair of
the Special Olympics International Board of Directors, who has also competed in
Special Olympics since 1970. Claiborne has won several medals in 26 marathons.
Gilda Scarfe, Founder and CEO of Positive Action UK, an innovative and
pioneering company in applied research for developing, implementing and
evaluating mental strength in schools, will also participate in the Forum.
Thea
Myhrvold, Founder and CEO of a number of award-winning and internationally
recognised startups, will also speak in a session. Thea is widely known for
accelerating knowledge transfer skills and enabling businesses and social
bodies to take on digital transformation and global expansion.
"Such
a distinguished list of speakers further confirms the forum’s vital status as
one of the most important UAE platforms that raise the teaching agenda,"
Mohamed Khalifa Al Neaimi, Director of the Education Affairs Office at the
Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, stated.
Al Neaimi noted that the
diversity of speakers’ backgrounds and nationalities validates the value of the
forum, and aligns with its efforts to become an impactful event. Qudwa
consolidates Abu Dhabi's position as a global leader in education and aligns
with the objectives of the Abu Dhabi Accelerated Development Programme
"Ghadan 2021".
12/09/2019