In the activities of its first day, the International
Teachers Forum "QUDWA 2017" hosted six sessions entitled
"Teachers Talk" organized in cooperation with the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The first session discussed the
future of self-education with the participation of Lisa Lewinstein, science and
arts teacher from the United States of America , Niall McGonigle, expert of
science and STEAM programs at Oaktree Elementary School, Richard Spencer,
teacher at Middlesbrough College in the United Kingdom, and the session was
moderated by Christina Sonmark, a consultant of "innovative education for
effective learning" at the Centre for Educational
Research and Innovation in OECD's Directorate for Education and
Skills.
The speakers discussed how to use self-education strategies
in future schools: "a number of subjects are usually considered to be
centered on memorizing information and following the teacher's instructions
without thinking, but I do always care about my students' understanding of the content,
when I teach my subject, I always seek to link what students learn in the
classroom with the necessary information related to their lives, as the aim of learning
is that children apply what they learn in school in real life", said Lisa
Lewinstein.
Niall McGonigle considered that each teacher must change
his/her interactive learning strategy on a regular basis, and identify the
educational needs of students weekly, through assessing their performance, in
addition the interactive methods and activities should be changed according to
circumstances.
Richard Spencer said: "we have to teach students how to
evaluate their information and share their opinions and ideas. Many students
are complaining about having questions outside the curriculum, when the exam
includes questions that require evaluation and analysis, so we need to encourage
students to analyze their information".
He also added: "we need to destroy the barriers between
us and the students, we are still learning too; we have to show them that we
are students and still learning, as this will encourage them to interactive
learning".
People of determination (special needs)
The second session of "Teachers Talk" was entitled
"Teaching Students of Determination", and included Armin Gevorgian,
teacher, Ananiya Chiracatsi, from Lyceum International School in Armenia,
Agiliki Baba from "I love Dyslexia" Institution in Greece and Yasser
Anas Sadiq Ahmed, teacher at Al Sadara School in the UAE.
The session was moderated by Tariq Mustafa, an analyst of
early childhood and school affairs at OECD's Directorate for Education and
Skills, and tackled the various benefits resulting from the inclusion of
students of determination in schools, especially with their increased number in
the world that exceeds 200 million students.
Armin Gevorgian, an analyst of early childhood and school
affairs at OECD's Directorate for Education and Skills, said: "there are
numerous learned lessons from the experiences of the inclusion of students of
determination in the same classroom of other students, most notably is the
importance that should be given to change students' perception of their peers
of determination, thus our efforts focus on trying to spread the culture of
adaptation to the presence of others who are different from us without thinking
of referring that to them, in order to avoid causing any moral damage for them,
moreover all students, regardless of their differences, should be integrated in
various school activities".
Agiliki Baba spoke about the most important challenges she
faced daily in her efforts to achieve inclusion process that benefits all
students, including the conflict with the officers and advocates of traditional
education systems, which impose a single approach in dealing with children with
special needs.
Yasser Anas Sadiq Ahmed said: "the ability to deal with
various types of disabilities and being aware of all its related curricula are
the most important challenges that we face in this field, as this matter is very
important especially during the founding phase for students of determination to
ensure their continuity of studying normally within regular classes".
Equal opportunity in Education
The third session of "Teachers Talk" included the
following speakers: Jaclen Kahura, teacher and Executive Director of LIBA from
Kenya, Maniel Mahargan, member of the Alumni Club (fellow 2015) Education for
Nepal, and Dr. Tawfiq Polhayr, English teacher at English Department of "Abdul
Qader Al Jazairi" School in the UAE.
The session addressed the challenges facing teachers with
students from deprived social environments, where the speakers discussed the
role of education in reducing social inequality if all students had equal
opportunities to learn and achieve their potentials.
Jaclen Kahura said: "I have many unfortunate students
whom I take the responsibility of their education and narrowing the gap between
them and other ordinary students. Despite my inabilities to resolve the issues
of these students, I always seek to understand the background of each student,
my role as a teacher goes beyond teaching the curriculum, especially with
students from deprived groups who need to be listened to and stand by
them".
Maniel Mahargan said: "I try to set an example for the
less fortunate students, especially those with special needs, including myself,
and I do seek to motivate them to overcome the barriers and difficulties".
Innovative Education for effective learning
The session that brought together Ibtisam Al-Shamaili, a teacher
at Al-Ruwiya school in the UAE, Sonofat Subramaniam, a teacher from Malaysia,
and Steven Ritz, Director of the Department of Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts and Mathematics in a number of 55 governmental schools in New
York, tackled alternative education methods to enhance students' spirit of
innovation.
Intisam Al-Shamaili referred that there are many schools that
do not apply alternative education methods and rely on tradition education, and
even though Emirati schools witness an advanced development, we still seek for
more results. She expressed her hopes to have new strategies of alternative
education that are applied successfully by teachers, especially that the extent
of alternative education's success is measured by the acquired skills of the
students and the availability of appropriate jobs for them in the future. She added:
"the alternative learning, which I hope to find in the UAE, is learning
based on virtual reality, where students interact more with the educational
content". The session entitled "Parents are Partners in Education"
of "Teachers Talk" included Anika Mir, a teacher from the Ottery
Primary School in the UAE and Fida Zaatar, teacher from Palestine, Yordan Hodziev,
Primary School, Bulgaria, and was moderated by Elizabeth Fordham, Senior
Advisor for International Relations at the OECD's Directorate for Education and
Skills.
The speakers discussed the teachers' role in engaging
parents in education and stressed the importance of strengthening the spirit of
partnership and cooperation between different stakeholders in education and
their impact on the harmonization of education with the need for specific
competencies in the future.
Lubna Al - Qasimi: Teachers as role models for students
H.E. Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Cabinet
Member, Minister of State for Tolerance and President of Zayed University, stressed
that teachers are a key element in the educational system as "our children
spend more than 17 years with them", moreover teachers are also the builders
of the future generation, as they take
the responsibility to educate and nurture generations through a sound
educational and intellectual upbringing. H.E. pointed out the importance of the
teacher in instilling moral values, such as tolerance and acceptance of other,
therefore teachers should be role models for their students in rejecting
discrimination, hatred, and intolerance in thought, education and behavior.
These statements were made during the participation of H.E.
in a session entitled "Meeting with a Role Model" within the
activities of the first day of the International Teachers Forum "QUDWA
2017".
H.E., who was interviewed by Emirati writer Sheikh Sultan Bin
Saud Al Qasimi, founder of "Burjil Arts", emphasized the importance
of the teacher's role in inspiring students to emulate them in reflecting the
core values that characterize developed societies.
In response to a question about how she became the first
female minister in the UAE, H.E. replied that she was the first graduate of the
Department of Computer Engineering in the UAE in 1981, then moved to work in a
private company and was the only working woman then within the company, and
then moved to work at the UAE University, then joined the Government of Dubai
for the management and supervision of technical systems, until she was
appointed Minister of Economy and Planning in 2004.
Lernes: Happiness and success are two sides of the same
coin
The International Teachers Forum "QUDWA 2017" hosted
the first session of "Panel with Experts" where Daniel Lernes
(bestselling author and a teacher in New York University, USA) was the main
speaker.
Under the title "How to make the classroom a source of
happiness?" Lernes reviewed the key elements of happiness and its role in
realizing success whether inside or outside the school, noting the importance
of positive psychology techniques to enable teachers to help students to succeed.
As an expert in positive and behavioral psychology, Lernes
discussed the dimensions of this modern science and the importance of its
adoption by teachers. He said that what separates happiness from success is a
fine thread, as they are two sides of the same coin, supporting each other to
achieve what one wants. Lernes explained that tension is the most prominent
social challenges affecting students and teachers alike, as the profession of
education is one of the most professions that are experiencing tension compared
with other professions, such as work in nursing and sales and others. He noted
that teachers' tension moves to students who are under pressure at many times
of the school year, and this pressure reaches its peak in the stages of
graduation.
He pointed out that spreading positive feeling is reflected
on students' performance in a positive way.
Horn: integrated education is the future
Michael Horn, the Co-Founder of Clayton Christensen
Institute in the USA, made a speech in the first day of the International
Teachers Forum "QUDWA 2017", in which he summarized the features of
education future within the context of technological innovations that
continually offer new channels of learning and knowledge acquisition.
In his speech, Horn focused on the integrated education that
allows teachers to develop their methods and use the Internet as a channel to
help students enhance their knowledge based on their needs and abilities.
He started his speech by saying: "there is no finer
profession than teaching, as teachers contribute in building minds,
personalities and future industry",
then he raised question regarding the effectiveness of the traditional
education system in today's world, where the educational needs of each student
vary from a stage to another, and traditional schools rely on a teaching system
that simulates the average abilities of students and does not take into account
differences in their abilities and interests.
Horn illustrated that
today students need an integrated education system that combines traditional
education with innovative learning through the internet, and meets the
different educational needs of the students; he considered that integrated
education is the future education.
08/10/2017