Teach Middle East Magazine Issue 1 Volume 7 Sep-Dec 2019

Sep-Dec 2019. VOL.7 ISSUE 1

M I D D L E

E A S T

WELLBEING IN THE UAE MOVING BEYOND LIPSERVICE

HOW TO BRING ORDER TO CHAOS MAKING SENSE OF WEB-BASED SUPPORT

REFORMING EDUCATION IN BAHRAIN LEADING THE VISION EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION IN THE UAE

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS AND COMMUNITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM TRAVEL ON A BUDGET TOP TIPS TO HELP YOU TRAVEL FOR LESS

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C L A S S

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08 WELLBEING IN THE UAE 10 HOW CAN WE MAKE RECRUITMENT LESS PAINFUL? 12 PEDAGOGY DRIVES LEARNING ENVIRONMENT DESIGN 14 HOW TO BRING ORDER TO THE CHAOS OF WEB-BASED SUPPORTS

28 HOW TO KICK START YOUR SEN DEPARTMENT 30 A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE DECLINE IN PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ABILITY IN CHILDREN 32 THE UPS AND DOWNS OF TAKING OVER AN OUTSTANDING SCHOOL

16 IMPLEMENTING TALK FOR WRITING (T4W) EFFECTIVELY

36 BUILD RELATIONSHIPS AND A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM

18 THE 5 Ts FOR EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS

38 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT CODING A SUCCESS STORY

20 COLLABORATIVE WORKING IN STEAM AND MAKER SPACES

40 DR HANA AL NASSER MALHAS: TRANSFORMING EDUCATION IN JORDAN

22 REFORMING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN BAHRAIN 24 EMBRACING A SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL YEAR AT FAIRGREEN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

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42 PERSONALIZED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING 44 LEADING THE VISION FOR EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION IN THE UAE

A F T E R

T H E

B E L L

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A MOMENT WITH

SHEHZAD NAJIB

50

48 A MOMENT WITH SHEHZAD NAJIB

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50 SECURING AND IMPROVING YOUR ENDOF-SERVICE BENEFITS 52 HOW CAN TEACHERS PREPARE THEIR MINDS FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR? 54 TOP TIPS TO HELP YOU TRAVEL ON A BUDGET

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PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE “ Wellness is the complete integration of body, mind, and spirit.

It is the realisation that everything we do, think, feel, and believe has an effect on our state of well-being.”

GREG ANDERSON

M I D D L E

E A S T

Teach Middle East Magazine® EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Welcome to the academic year 2019-2020.

I was very happy to see the number of schools across the region especially in the United Arab Emirates, that deviated from the “normal” ways of welcoming teachers to the new school year and adopted a new, and in my opinion better approach. Instead of a back to school week, packed with boring PowerPoint driven professional development sessions, teachers in many schools were treated to massages, yoga sessions, days out, among other more enjoyable options.

Returning to work after the summer holidays can be a very stressful time for educators, added to that, is the fact that many educators have moved schools, cities or even countries, so the last thing they need is to sit idly, watching someone read copious amounts of information from a PowerPoint. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against PowerPoints, but I strongly believe that the first interactions that teachers have with their schools at the start of the new academic year, should be something that invigorates them and fill them with hope and optimism to face the tasks they have in front of them.

As the quote above states, wellness is vital, but It takes work, and as educators, we have to be especially intentional about prioritising our wellbeing. As a mother and an educator, I know how difficult it is to take care of yourself while fulfilling all your other obligations, but you simply must. You have heard the saying; you cannot pour from an empty cup. This is especially true for educators who give of themselves to their students every day. Take time to refill your cup.

You have to decide what energises and recharges you, and when you know what it is, make a commitment

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to yourself that you will do it. Learn to use your no. Refuse to be on every committee, find hacks and technology which will save you time and energy.

By the time you are reading this magazine, you would have met your students, take time to talk to them about their wellbeing and things they can do to take care of themselves. The time spent helping students improve their wellbeing will pay dividends academically and in other areas. Let's make this the year we take care of ourselves and each other.

Now I know that I have said a mouthful but wait there is more. The pages of this issue of Teach Middle East Magazine is loaded with gems to help you have a fantastic school year, so keep on reading. Our writers, who are also educators from the Middle East and further afield, have provided articles to help you with teaching and learning, education technology, and so much more. We have also offered great articles to help you conquer life outside the classroom in the After The Bell section. Delve into the world of travel, personal development, finance and health.

You are invited to attend the upcoming Middle East School Leadership Conference, taking place in Dubai on October 8-9, 2019. For more information and to register, please visit www.schoolleadersme.com.

Please check out our social media platforms on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.,

I wish you all academic year!

Leisa Grace Wilson Editorial Director.

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an

amazing

Leisa Grace Wilson editor@teachuae.com +971 555 029582 ART DIRECTOR

Pandian thiruveera2007@gmail.com +971 50 5081 431 HEAD OF ADVERTISING

Richard Simapili Business Development Manager accounts@teachuae.com +971 55 8015 334 PUBLISHED BY

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All information in Teach Middle East Magazine is checked and verified to the best of the publisher’s ability, however, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any mistake or omission enclosed in the publication.

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Administrator's Corner

WELLBEING IN THE UAE BY: ASHLEY GREEN

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Administrator's Corner

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here is no denying that wellbeing is gaining traction in the middle east, particularly in Dubai. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) take wellbeing in education so seriously that they collaborated with the South Australian Government to create a Student Wellbeing Census, which has been disseminated through schools for two years so far; this measurement is set to continue in future. They also recognise the importance of adult wellbeing and more recently provided the staff in school communities with the Adults @ School survey, where participants gained access to an individualised action plan to support them in increasing their overall wellbeing at work. Positive Education is certainly coming into focus within the region, with many schools looking for resources and training which are the most suitable for their contexts.

Positive Education Positive Education is an integrated approach where children are taught skills for wellbeing, alongside academics, promoting mental wellbeing through a range of concepts which all have foundations in positive psychology. This can include character strengths, mindfulness, resilience and gratitude to name a few. Often held as the beating heart of positive psychology, character strengths are a fantastic way for schools to begin their wellbeing journeys. Although, without a true understanding of strengths, or having a suitable timescale and action plan, schools run the risk of ‘ticking a box’ or adding just ‘another thing’ to the already demanding to do list teachers face. When utilised effectively, character strengths can become part of the everyday ecology of the school, where not only students, but all staff, can use the same strengths and language throughout subjects, lessons and meetings to understand what is best in human beings, ultimately having the capacity to increase overall wellbeing.

Character Strengths The VIA Institute on (www.viacharacter.org) a

Character non-profit

organisation, consisting of 55 wellregarded scientists, led by Professor Martin Seligman and the late Professor Chris Peterson, worked for 3 years studying literature from as far back as Aristotle’s time, as well as studying people from all over the world, before coming up with a classification comprising of 6 virtue categories where the 24 character strengths are grouped.

The findings from this study can now be applied in a survey to determine the order of your strengths, with the top five being your signature strengths; currently, someone takes the survey across the world every 15 seconds.

How do strengths work in schools?

A simple visit to the VIA character website can open up a whole new world of information to any parent, teacher or school leader, but it can often be quite daunting when deciding where to start. Firstly, it is important to become familiar with the virtues and strengths themselves; find out what the strengths and virtues are. Before taking the survey, write down what you think your top strengths are, it can be fun to compare these with the results of the survey! Take the survey for yourself, it should take around 1520 minutes. Once you have received your results you can begin familiarising yourself with your signature strengths and learning more about each one.

It is possible for a whole school staff to complete the survey and compile strengths lists in departments or teams; imagine an environment where you can turn to your strengths to find solutions, focus on improvements by utilising people’s best attributes and turning away from ‘constructive criticism’ which often, is still perceived as criticism! Another wonderful way to increase strengths within the school is ‘strength spotting’, seeing someone use a strength, explaining it to them and showing appreciation for it; a wellbeing boost for both parties. Staff can then work together in teams to decide how strengths will look in

their context. For example, a whole school launch day (World Character day is an annual event on the 27th of September, www.letitripple.org), or picking out strengths of a fictional character during an English lesson or perhaps debating which strengths could be better utilised by world leaders during social studies – the possibilities are endless! Of course, this all begins with children learning the vocabulary and definitions over time, but this can begin right from year 1.

A pack of character strengths cards can be a tangible resource that primary teachers can use for children, especially the little ones, to begin learning the strengths language. The cards can be taken out at any given time during lessons and children can easily begin spotting strengths in their friends. Perhaps you can have a strength of the week or day displayed in the classroom where the children work collectively to deepen that strength. Children will amaze you with their insights about the strengths! The good news is, children from the age of 10 and above can take part in their own survey on www.viacharacter.org which can be a useful tool for teachers looking to personalise learning even further by knowing the strengths of their children.

It is an exciting time for education in the Middle East; not only is there research which supports the notion that academic performance increases in students when their wellbeing is given priority, but there is also a shift towards wellbeing becoming as valuable as academic learning and rightly so. The first thing any parent says when asked what they want for their children is; for them to be happy. Imagine a school where investment is made to support the wellbeing of staff and train them in positive education - staff engagement increases alongside lifesatisfaction, the children learn ways to manage emotions and improve their own wellbeing from a young age – beautiful isn’t it?

Ashley is a class teacher in JESS Dubai as well as wellbeing leader for the school. She is currently studying for a master’s degree in Positive Psychology and Coaching with plans to conduct research into teacher wellbeing in Dubai.

For Character Strength cards, resources and guided meditations, which are all suitable for classroom use, please visit www.mindfulteachinguae.com. Twitter @mindfulmissg Insta – @mindfulmissgreen

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Sharing Good Practice

HOW CAN WE MAKE RECRUITMENT LESS PAINFUL? BY: CATHERINE O’FARRELL

HOW CAN WE MAKE RECRUITMENT LESS PAINFUL?

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ecently the Irish minister of Education visited the UAE in a bid to entice home some of the estimated 2000 Irish teachers who have left their own country to come to the UAE. There are an estimated 15,000 British teachers abroad, many here, and the Guardian reports that “The English Education system is broken” Donna Ferguson, (October 2018) With approximately 1,400 US teachers here in the UAE and many more Indian and Gulf state teachers – what are we doing well to attract them?

Quality Recruitment! Many schools in the UAE excel when it comes to induction of new recruits.

As we welcome the start of a shiny new academic year, schools are faced

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with a brand-new cohort of “fresh off the boat” teachers.

For my very first post here, in Abu Dhabi 8 years ago, I remember touch down on Etihad full of fearful yet excited with anticipation, having never been in the Middle East. I was greeted off the plane by my new Principal and brought to a hotel where I was united with a team of new recruits to begin our induction week. This induction was a mix of work procedures, entertainment and ‘life in the UAE’. It was an excellent process, it bonded the team and set a seed of commitment to the school and company.

So, what works well in recruitment?

Take cues from other industries.

Educational Leadership magazine notes the value of looking to other industries and their procedures -

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aviation, IT, retail “very often teachers report frustrations with extensive application forms to complete, drawn out questionnaires and a myriad of documents to upload and very often they don’t get even a note of receipt!”

Looking at alternative industries we find a focus on simplifying the process of application, fewer forms and sometimes a simple video upload.

This ensures that potential candidates’ first impressions of the company are positive and engaging as opposed to frustrating and isolated.

Follow it up!

Once an application is received, we need to follow it up - don’t leave candidates hanging. Yes, it is a tedious job and HR are often burdened by huge numbers, but a standard email to acknowledge receipt followed up

Sharing Good Practice by a ‘next step’ or ‘not this time’ email can set a standard and create a good impression of the company overall.

SO, we have offered our candidate a post- what next?

It is very common for teachers to change their mind, find an alternative or simply not show up in the UAE and this is a major challenge for HR departments in all schools.

How can we limit this?

Engaging a new recruit on multiple levels increases commitment and reduces the chances of the candidate withdrawing their application.

“Commitment is an act- not a word” Jena-Paul Sartre Establish a point of contact where new recruits can easily get in touch with a particular person – email, WhatsApp or phone number and make sure it is active! Meaningful, personal and even inspirational interactions, in an age where we are automated at every step of online processes, can inspire loyalty, commitment and motivation in a new recruit.

begins. This will help the new recruit to settle in, give them ease of mind knowing that they have someone to look to for guidance. It also provides an “in” for meeting other staff members.

New recruits often get lost in the whirlwind of a new term - a mentor can be an anchor in the storm.

Don’t stick to work during induction!

Try to encompass all aspects of the new role - social life, cultural values of the school and possibly most importantly the mission. Why are we all here together?

Break up the induction training with some social activities - some team building active, games or a day out where new recruits can get to know the city from the safety of a knowledgeable group.

Provide an induction pack that has

the practical points about daily work - timings, locations of staff room, resources, toilets. Information about public holidays, dress code and any regular activities that happen, like Pink Thursday or Dress Down Tuesday.

Note “who to talk to” for specifics like HR, photocopying etc. These practical details can help a new recruit feel more at ease and familiar with their work space.

"Teamwork begins by building trust" Warren Buffet Trust is a key component in reassuring and building dedication in your new recruits.

By following these simple yet highly effective steps we can take away much of the fear and anxiety of joining a new school and often a new country.

It is often the small things that have the biggest impact!

Create a platform where new recruits can meet each other or their new colleagues, before the term starts, this can be a WhatsApp group, Facebook page or website chat. Send a group photo of the established team and note who is who. This will reassure the candidate as to who they will work with, help build bonds and increase buy in.

Share as much information as you can. Connecting the new candidate to the website, link to bios of the people they will be working with and sending information about accommodation, insurance and other necessary procedures and processes, will contribute to building their knowledge and connection to the company or school.

Assign a mentor. This is a person that the new recruit will work with closely every day. They should be matched accordingly, and the relationship fostered as soon as the placement

Catherine O’Farrell (PGCBA, BSc-Psych, B-Ed) is an experienced psychologist & consultant. She has worked in educational and medical institutions across Ireland, the UK, Australia and the UAE for over 15 years. She is currently Group Head for Athena Group in Dubai and Director pf Phase 2 for the Dubai Inclusion Network.

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Advertorial

PEDAGOGY DRIVES LEARNING ENVIRONMENT DESIGN BY: TIINA MALSTE

D

esigning learning environments requires balancing in preferences; with the curriculum as a map, and the pedagogical knowhow of teachers as a compass. Ideal learning environment arrangements are a source of inspiration for all in the school community.

Particularly within Early Childhood Education, the learning environment has been recognized as the third teacher, side by side with facilitating adults and peer learners. Why wouldn’t we take advantage of this perceptive finding at any level of education?

How the learning spaces of today can enhance the competences of tomorrow?

The competences required in order to manage well in the future cannot be achieved in schools designed for our parents. A core task of today’s formal education is to prepare the learners for life.

Modern learning spaces encourage subject integration with active and participatory learning. The environment supports the learners from knowledge assimilators towards community-based knowledge and content creators. All spaces are learning spaces!

Can everyone be a learning environment designer?

The jointly selected solutions create an innovation platform reinforcing students’ own initiative and inspiring them to find, try and create novel solutions together. This promotes students’ sense of agency and gives them the chance to show their strengths through choices.

At best, the learning environment

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Advertorial

reflects the curriculum framework in use and is tailored for the respectively operating school community.

Insights and ideas can be collected from existing examples through observation, but the entity should not be copied.

The four pedagogical cornerstones for learning environment design:

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1. In all decisions, focus on learning, instead of teaching.

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4. Prioritize solutions that promote students’ own activity and accountability.

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Tiina Malste (M.Ed.) is an experienced teacher, teacher educator, and education designer. Over her career, she has been involved extensively in developing new educational approaches to both Finnish and global schools.

Read more bit.ly/2ZkA1qp & contact tiina.malste@isku.com

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Sharing Good Practice

HOW TO BRING ORDER TO THE CHAOS OF WEB-BASED SUPPORTS BY: LORI BROWN

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recently found myself in a twit over Twitter. I was not getting along with Twitter because of the way it made me feel. My engagement with other educators on the international social media platform left me discouraged, defeated, and overwhelmed. Why? Because I didn’t have as many replies, hearts, or re-shares as others. I only had 100 followers, while other educators in my web-based professional learning community had 10,000, 15,000, or 50,000 followings. I wasn’t as popular as other educators on the platform, and – channeling my middle-schoolage self – my feelings were hurt. Then my adult self kicked in and I decided to feel differently about it; to be discerning and deliberate.

work with educators, but in the end, I used the resource to criticize, compare, and crush my own momentum and ideas. I let discernment turn to discouragement, before I knew what was happening.

The irony of this entire story is that I first turned to Twitter as a way to keep up with headlines, research articles, and current news, that would impact my

The role of an educator is already overwhelming, intense, and crowded with many needs, including student, staff, and stakeholder desires, opinions,

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Perhaps the volume of web-based resources, including social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, that can support your teaching or leadership initiatives has similarly left you feeling overwhelmed.

There’s too much to choose from, and deep exploration of one network or resource only makes you realize how much MORE there is to know and explore; adding stress to a full mind and schedule.

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and concerns.

The web-based resources we use to communicate with these groups, and/or to shape daily practice, should not add to our intensity. Instead, said supports are best embraced if they make our tasks easier and more fluid. To that end, it’s important for personal and professional health, wellness, and success, that we exercise caution and intentionality with Internet supports.

Let’s briefly consider how we can do this.

Principle 1: Be intentional about the time for and purpose of selected social media platforms Social media is helpful when it does not drain us of our time and mental energy. We’re all guilty of wasting far too much time reviewing our

Sharing Good Practice friends’ and family’s latest vacation or restaurant pictures, but when it comes to using social media for professional support, we cannot afford to waste time. We must be intentional about the time we commit to and purpose for its use. To do this, consider the following: 55 Select the platform of most support to your professional needs.

55 Understand the best use of that platform (is it reading quotes, skimming headlines, engaging in web-based, real-time chats, or sharing content with your professional network?)

55 Determine when and for how long each week you will elect to spend time on that platform. If you know, for example that someone you’re following engages in a Tuesday evening chat, that is helpful, then Tuesdays are the days you set aside a few hours to review content, engage in discussion, etc.

55 Finally, be intentional about who you follow, and why. If your primary goal with social media is to connect with other teachers of literacy, then don’t waste time following persons who post very cool and inspiring quotes that reveal nothing about teaching literacy well. It is acceptable to be selective and to keep your pool of people small.

Principle 3: Give and Take The best way to prevent feeling overwhelmed and “less than” all of the “experts” on your selected social media platform is to realize that you have as much to contribute as they do. You may have a different title or location and fewer years of service than the person(s) dishing out social media advice, but that does not negate the knowledge, experience, creativity, and understanding you bring to the platform. Be courageous and respond and react to shared web-based content. If you are using a platform to explore a potential new resource for classroom use, then be honest about its helpfulness, or lack thereof. If you’re engaged in web-based educational chats, let other people know what you think of their words/ideas, and how you might apply selected content.

Your thoughts, ideas, and vision are just as important and valuable as the next person, regardless of number of followers, likes, or publications.

Additional Ideas: If social media is not the thing for you, and your primary focus is selecting websites offering resources, tools, books, and other supports for your local classroom,

then create a written collection of core sites and check them regularly.

Also consider doing a google search, using such terms as “best web-based resources for educators” to identify the best supports for your target age group, grade level, or professional need. Most importantly, ask other educators who they follow, read, listen to via podcasts, or chat with through Facebook Live or Twitter chats.

Remember, it’s not important to follow 100 or 500 new educators, vendors, or professional journals each year. Just one site, resource, or platform can spark new ideas for your daily efforts, and focused attention to 1-2 resources is far better for our mental health than opening the laptop to hundreds of tweets, posts, podcasts, or daily headlines.

Final Thought: Your educational and professional value is not determined by who or what you know. Instead, it is determined by your efforts to impact learning. Be intentional and purposeful with web-based supports, and you’ll avoid the stress of being overwhelmed by the web or the shiniest of digital technologies. With intentional Internet habits, you’ll invest in a healthier and happier you.

Principle 2: Reflect regularly Each time you learn something new that supports your educational role, write it down and reflect on how you see yourself using that strategy or adopting an idea for your local setting. Also, consider reflecting about the success (or lack thereof) after you have implemented the new idea. Remember, what works for one school does not necessarily work for another school. It is OK to take the ideas and recommendations of others and personalize them to your setting.

Reflection serves a dual role in your professional growth. It helps you think critically about knowledge and the application of that knowledge, while simultaneously reminding you that other educators are not perfect. No one can implement new ideas and practices and expect perfection right out of the gate.

Dr. Lori Brown is the Director of Learning Solutions for Strivven Media’s VirtualJobShadow.com and President of Dawn Star Consulting LLC. She is a former teacher, administrator, and grant writer who continues to support global professional development. She lives in her hometown of Asheville, North Carolina.

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Sharing Good Practice

IMPLEMENTING TALK FOR WRITING (T4W) EFFECTIVELY BY: STACY MURTAGH

“

I

f a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn." (Ignacio Estrada).

This is a quote I came across during my PGCE training, seven years ago, and one that has been integral in every aspect of my teaching since.

When a child is not succeeding, I take a moment and just think... What can I do, right now, to ensure that this child flourishes? How can I trigger a sense of enthusiasm and love for learning?

This is exactly the scenario that faced me, this year, with a group of capable boys who were reluctant to write, due to a range of factors, including: a lack of determination, motivation and confidence. A challenge faced me and I knew I was going to love every second of it.

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Without question, the first idea that entered my head was, obviously, Pie Corbett's Talk For Writing (T4W); an approach to writing that I learnt back in my NQT year. I was adamant that these boys were going to be writing at length in no time and above all, love doing so. T4W captured these students and the result was incredible!

Let's take a closer look at their journey and the key aspects that showed these children writing wasn't at all as scary as they envisaged...

Firstly, I had to decide on a text to use as the hook in order to inspire these writers. Using the knowledge, I already had, alongside some very meaningful conversations, I grew to learn what my students were interested in (that

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week) and used that to my advantage.

Creating a text about volcanoes, ensuring it was full of action and excitement, was the easy part; drawing the T4W picture board to go alongside it, was another story, but I got there in the end; with my basic drawing skills.Â

The Imitation Stage: After completing a Cold Task (to assess prior knowledge and set clear, personalised targets for the unit), Week 1 was full of excitement and entertainment as we verbally learnt our model text together with actions. Instantly, I could see that the boys loved the 'no writing' aspect of their lessons- little did they know...

Sharing Good Practice Completely unaware, during this week, they had added 15 high level words to their vocabulary bank, identified the structure of an information text, were exposed to simple, compound and complex sentences and had learnt how to write with a passive and active voice.

The Innovation Stage: Week 2 began and the boys were constantly asking when our English lessons would be happening. All of a sudden, English wasn't so bad. Revisiting the text and new vocabulary, during this week, was imperative; through games and interactive learning the pupils were still completely engaged: Sentence Tennis; Mirror Recall; Class Battles; Musical Vocabulary and Splat, to name a few. During this week, the boys were given the power to change the text they had learnt to any natural disaster they desired. Using research and learning from week one, they began to build their very own information text using only pictures, actions and performance, in small groups. Out of nowhere, many of these pupils took lead in their groups from the onset and knew exactly what they wanted their text to look like. Engrossed in their learning they performed, to their peers with great pride and confidence. After a lot of hard work and perseverance, they had a final piece ready and could recite it easily.

Invention Stage It was time to break the news... This week, they would write. Dread filled my body as I believed this was where we would go back to square one. To my surprise, they couldn't wait to get pen to paper. According to them, it was going to be easy now: "I have so much in my brain right now, this is going to be easy!"

"Talk For Writing has given me the time to gather my thoughts and ideas, before I have to sit down and just write." " I loved Talk For Writing! It was so easy when I had to sit down and write

because I knew it all. It was in my head."

During this week, the children wrote their first draft. Using self and peer assessment, they learnt the true importance of editing and the positive effect it can have on our writing. They had the opportunity to change the text they had learnt, as a group, and completely personalise it and instead of this seeming like a daunting task, it was invigorating because they were already equipped with all of the skills they needed! At the end of this stage, all pupils sat down and took part in a Big Write style lesson, where they sat in a calm and inviting environment with soothing music, candles and a healthy snack to keep them going; the production of their Hot Piece was well underway. One of the most rewarding times for me, during this process, was watching these children, that day, as they just sat down and wrote. Not once did they take their pens from their papers. Witnessing the look of accomplishment and pride on their faces as they submitted their twopage piece of writing was a moment I won't forget.

As teachers, we work every day, thinking of ways to make learning fun and engaging so that your pupils love coming to school and leaving

at the end of each day with a huge smile on their faces; excited and intrigued for what's going to come next. I am not saying that one unit of T4W made every boy I've ever taught want to write every second of every day or become an author, but it did give them the confidence and ability to write four times a week without complaining. Four months later, I do however, have a little boy who smiles with excitement, every time I ask him to take out his book and write, and a parent who couldn't be prouder.

In my opinion, Talk For Writing is an approach to learning - not just writing - and has always risen standards in my classroom, year in, year out. Due to its transferable nature, I use it in all subjects: from learning the water cycle in Science; the life of a famous person from the past, in History; the characteristics of different triangles in Maths, to identifying where the names of each of the 7 Emirates originated from, in Social Studies - it's always a hit!

It's fun, engaging, active and lively; equipping all children with the skills and tools to access the curriculumwhat's not to love?! Teachers, all you need to do is turn up with an abundance of energy and enthusiasm and the rest slots into place.

Stacy Murtagh, Year 6 Class Teacher and English Leader at Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS), Arabian Ranches. With a true passion for teaching and learning, she is always finding and creating new and innovative ways to engage children in the classroom. (Twitter: @StacyMurtagh)

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Sharing Good Practice

THE 5 Ts FOR EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS BY: MEGEL BARKER

A

partnership can be legally defined as an agreement between two or more people to form an alliance for mutual benefit. Law firms are the most common examples of partnerships in a business sense. In this way, partnerships are legalistic and have clear protections afforded to each partner.

The concept partnership may be defined as a relationship that produces a benefit to each of the parties involved. The Latin phrase, est major summa partium eius, provides a way to consider a partnership; the sum is greater than its parts.

In education, partnerships range from a micro level to a macro level, as well as take many forms. This complexity manifests itself as an alliance, a union or a mutual partnership.

Teachers planning with other grade level teachers, teachers meeting with parents to address an issue with a child, connecting with the psychologist to identify and support students, heads of school meeting to develop emergency evacuation plans, aligning with a sponsor, are all examples of different partnerships in school environments. The reasons are varied and numerous, but with mutually beneficial outcomes.

"

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With so many competing priorities for time, capacity and resources, schools have to be cautious about who they strike partnerships with, as well as the immediate or long term benefits of forming partnerships. Huxham (2009) introduced the phrase collaborative advantage to mean an outcome that is only possible due to the collaborative effort of the parties involved. Exploiting the collaborative advantage present in partnerships is considered to be the goal of these relationships.

Armstrong (2015) found that partnerships have no direct impact on student outcomes in Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs). This research highlights

Sharing Good Practice for the partnership to deliberate and plan, and you have clear goals for the partnership, but you do not have the capacity to optimize the relationship.

Too often, schools jump head first into a partnership and then find out they do not have the resources to be successful One important resource that is overlooked is people. Is your staff able to add value to a partnership if they are overstretched?

Tactical

the importance of partnerships and their effectiveness. MATs are designed as formal partnerships, but the findings suggest that MATs are not successfully exploiting the collaborative advantage to impact student outcomes. Effective partnerships support better student outcomes (Gilbert, 2017).

Partnerships are magical when they are effective. In international school environments where competition is high for students, yet access to vital resources may be limited, partnerships are strategic means to leverage a school’s capabilities.

protocols for reporting and outline clear agreements for decision making.

Targets Goals are critical for partnerships to succeed. It is not required that the goals are common, however, it is important that these are agreed.

Targeting different goals in a partnership is normal as long as that is the agreement. When the targets are not explicit, partnerships lose focus and become unsustainable. It fizzles out.

The UAE is instrumental in the growth of international school worldwide, second only to China. With so many new schools emerging, numerous opportunities for sharing resources, capacity building and networks abound. Some of the schools are already in formal arrangements, as they are part of an established organization, others though, have to find partners and cultivate relationships. Effective partnerships provide great value, but what might be the conditions that sustain the value in a partnership?

How might partnerships be cultivated and nurtured?

Time

Trust

You have identified the goals of the partnership, you have created the time

Trust is critical to a partnership’s success. Without trust, partnerships disintegrate. Trust is fostered through clear communication, transparent practices and robust monitoring of milestones. One tip is to establish the

Time needs to be allocated to grow the partnership. Time is dispensed through meetings and activities directly connected to the partnership.

A partnership can easily fall apart if meetings are not being held or the time is not seen as creating value.

Regular monitoring meetings and time allocated to the partnership for work to happen is important.

Tools

A really effective partnership serves a purpose. Schools regularly conduct SWOC analyses, yet how might this information drive a decision to be part of a partnership? How might the opportunities identified be capitalized on with a strategic alliance? How might the weaknesses be addressed with a reciprocal, quid pro quo partnership with mutual benefits for both parties? How might the challenges be overcome by forming a union with other parties having similar challenges?

In business parlance, the word synergy is quite commonly bandied about. Truly effective partnerships are synergistic in nature, so they add value to each of the parties involved.

The parties involved though, must each be clear about why they are in the partnership and advocate for their interests. Failure to do so, can see a relationship that was intended to be symbiotic, evolve into a parasitic one.

Finally, school leaders should consider whether their moral purpose and values align and to what extent that would affect their decision to partner.

For further reading: Think piece Partnerships

Megel has been an educator for over 24 years garnering leadership experience.

Currently, he is the assistant middle school principal at ABA, an IB world School where he is responsible for the coordination of the MYP. Having worked in Jamaica, United Kingdom, and Oman, while serving in a number of leadership capacities, Megel brings real-world experiences to his talks focusing on job satisfaction, ethics, brain-based learning and technology in education.

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COLLABORATIVE WORKING IN STEAM AND MAKER SPACES

G

ratnells has been the leading manufacturer of Britain’s best known and most widely used school storage for over 40 years. Offering a wide range of storage solutions from trays to moveable units and trolleys, the company is committed to improving the classroom environment with innovative design and durable products.

Gratnells knows that school is a significant developmental stepping stone in a child’s life and recognises the impact and importance of the physical space around a child’s learning. With that in mind, they are constantly working to develop new ideas in the application of classroom design, digital technology, outdoor and STEAM learning.

Maker spaces are increasingly popular in schools across the UK

and worldwide. A maker space provides creative, hands-on ways to encourage students to collaborate, invent, design and build during their STEAM activities. Gratnells has launched a suite of maker inspired trolleys to aid the learning of STEAM in schools.

Gratnells MakerSpace Trolley The Gratnells Callero MakerSpace Trolley serves as a central focus for collaborative working, making it a reliable resource centre for all types of project work in STEM/STEAM education. It is configured with a variety of storage tray and insert options whilst storage bins, pegs and tool holders can be fixed to the backboard and side panels in many arrangements.

The trolley also features a robust steel

frame and large lockable castors. Easy cable management means electrical items, like Gratnells PowerTray, can be conveniently used on the work surface whilst Callero Rover makes the ideal companion trolley.

compatible with Gratnells standard F type trays.

The Callero Plus trolleys feature an enclosed metal frame, which reduces the need for cleaning as well as offering enhanced security.

StopSafe runners mean that the units are extremely secure and completely child friendly. The runners can be moved to accommodate both shallow and deep trays in one unit. Now available with optional STEM side panels, the Callero Plus trolleys can be accessorised with a variety of bins and pegs in many arrangements.

Gratnells MakerHub

Gratnells Rover

The Gratnells MakerHub is designed to be a multi-functional resource trolley that promotes collaborative working in STEAM activities in the classroom.

The Gratnells Rover, with its elegant and minimalist design, is easy to use yet designed to operate easily on rough terrain and can even manage heavy loads up and down stairs. The runner system can accommodate a variety of Gratnells trays meeting many storage needs.

A variety of Gratnells trays can be used in the MakerHub thanks to the flexible runner system in the base storage unit. Runners can also be fitted to allow for trays to be used on both sides of the trolley and there is even space on the recessed top for two Gratnells cubby trays.

The MakerHub is double sided, making it ideal for group activities and the industry standard boards (600 x 900mm) are instantly interchangeable – simply lift up and draw down to remove. Change between magnetic whiteboards, chalkboards and pin boards to suit most classroom activities. For added security, all standard boards are held safely in place between steel guides at the top of the frame and special stoppers on the recessed shelf. The MakerHub trolley can be secured in place with the two lockable castors.

Trays are secured into place with a handy strap to ensure no accidents when travelling around school.

Special inserts for added protection are available for the trays, as are lids to protect contents while in transit.

The Gratnells Rover is also compatible with the Gratnells PowerTray2.

Gratnells Callero Plus The Callero Plus range of trolleys is specially designed with STEM and STEAM learning in mind and is suitable for collaborative learning.

There are no sharp edges or corners and the ergonomic handles and 3� castors make manoeuvring the trolleys a breeze. All trolleys are

Available in double and treble width variations, Callero Plus trolleys are supplied in a durable silver colour finish. You can choose from a large selection of tray colours, including; royal blue, grass green and sunshine yellow. The Callero Plus range is versatile, modern, secure and is perfect for transporting supplies.

Sharing Good Practice

REFORMING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN BAHRAIN BY: AHMED A.KARIM

Why Was Change Needed?

In the twenty first century, education plays an increasingly important role in both preparing students to enter the workforce and providing ongoing opportunities for upskilling on their career path. According to the Higher Education Council, "the vital role of education is reinforced by the rapid pace of technological change, as well as global economic forces.

Within this context, the education and workforce development systems are critical for supporting human capital development throughout the life course and to helping Bahrain achieve its vision for 2030" (2012, p.

1). Faced with depleting oil resources and an increasingly competitive trading environment, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national strategy, Economic Vision 2030, provides a roadmap to sustainability through growth and diversification of the economy. It created demand for a more highly skilled labour force, identifying the need for educational reform to create

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"an effective education system, relevant to today's global labour market" (Soman, 2008, para. 4), as there were gaps between what the education system was providing and the skills required by employers. The mismatch between the job market and graduate capability led to high youth unemployment. However, as Al Daylami et al., (2015) explains, this problem is not unique to Bahrain, with the World Bank reporting that youth unemployment is a problem across the whole Middle East and North African region (The World Bank, 2013). As a consequence, Al Daylami et al., explains, Bahrain instigated a comprehensive series of national education reform initiatives across all sectors of education and at all levels: schools, vocational education and teacher training, aiming to ensure that appropriate standards are upheld and a vocational focus embedded into the learning process that would make Bahrainis the employees of first choice (ibid.).

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How Was it Done?

In June 2005 Bahrain’s Economic Development Board (EDB) initiated a study into the condition of the education system and the performance of students in the Kingdom. The study benchmarked Bahrain's education system and outcomes against international best practice in more than 20 countries and it reviewed ways in which other countries approached educational improvement (Economic Development Board, 2008).

A team from the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Ministry of Labour, the University of Bahrain, the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Supreme Council for Women, the EDB, and other stakeholders were brought together to develop a reform plan for Bahrain's education system.

They were asked to study the most successful reforms undertaken around the world, and use what they learned to develop a bold and comprehensive reform plan for the Kingdom. The

Sharing Good Practice team used a number of sources in the study including academic research on educational best practice, and benchmarking trips to five countries including Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland, Finland, and Switzerland.

The team also conducted meetings with local and international experts, workshops with 1500 key stakeholders in Bahrain, and it reviewed recommendations from international experts..

Findings and Opportunities The findings from this 'Diagnostic study' showed that students in Bahrain's education system were, in general, performing below international benchmarks and they were not meeting the expectations of the private sector (Economic Development Board, 2008).

The diagnostic revealed multiple opportunities to improve output from the education system: School: 55 Achievement levels in core subjects (Arabic, English, Mathematics and Science) needed to be improved across all levels of the system.

55 There was a substantial gender gap, with girls outperforming boys at all levels 55 There were two main reasons identified for low student achievement: oo The quality of teaching in schools, with particular emphasis on the need to improve the training of teachers and other school staff. oo The curriculum focus on knowledge acquisition rather than skills development.

Student Schools:

Outcomes

in

Bahrain's

In 2003, Bahrain participated for the first time in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). While the results contained some cause for optimism, as Bahrain was one of the top performers in the Middle East, Bahraini students performed poorly in comparison to

their international peers. Bahrain was significantly below the international average in both subjects, and ranked 37th out of 45 countries in Mathematics, and 33rd in Science.

Bahrain's students showed weak performances in core subjects compared to the international average.

Appendix 1.1 shows the Bahraini students' scores in TIMSS in 2003 and Appendix 1.2 shows the eighth grade Bahraini students' scores in TIMSS in 2007.

Performance Management: The quality of teachers explains much of the success of top-performing education systems, but similarly teaching quality may also be a factor in the poor performance of Bahrain's schools. The management system of the Bahrain education system was another factor affecting school performance – did the management system promote improvement in the quality of teaching?

In order for the Bahrain education system to perform better, the MoE stipulated that the following criteria had to be met: 55 Students, teachers and school principals need to have a clear picture of what good performance looks like 55 Students, teachers, and school principals need to understand how they stand relative to that benchmark of good performance; and 55 Students, teachers, and school principals need to be incentivised to improve (Ministry of Education Bahrain, 2010).

Bahrain's Vision 2030 requires an education system that is amongst the best in the world. Evidence from the MoE, international studies, and surveys of the private sector, suggested that much work needed to be done in Bahrain in order to create a world-

class education system, and hence the reform initiatives outlined in another article.

References Daylami, M. Al, Bennison, B., Coutts, C., Hassan, F., Hasan, J., Huijser, H., … Wali, F. (2015).

The Establishment of Bahrain Polytechnic: Assumptions Questioned, Myths Exposed and Challenges Faced. In Myths in Education, Learning and Teaching (pp.

114–132).

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Houndmills.

Economic Development Board.

(2008).

Education Reform in Bahrain. Making It Happen. Retrieved from http://www.bahrain. com/en/Pages/default.aspx Martin, M. O., Mullis, I. V. S., & Foy, P. (2007a).

TIMSS 2007 International Mathematics Report.

Findings from IEA’s trends in International Mathematics and Science study at Fourth and Eighth Grades. Boston.

Martin, M. O., Mullis, I. V. S., & Foy, P. (2007b).

TIMSS 2007 International Science Report.

Findings from IEA’s trends in International Mathematics and Science study at Fourth and Eighth Grades. Boston.

Martin, M. O., Mullis, I. V. S., Gonzalez, E. J., & Chrostowski, S. J. (2003). TIMSS 2003 International Science Report. Findings from IEA’s trends in International Mathematics and Science study at Fourth and Eighth Grades.

Boston.

Ministry of Education Development. Isa Town.

Bahrain.

(2010).

Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Gonzalez, E. J., & Chrostowski, S. J. (2003). TIMSS 2003 International Mathematics Report. Findings from IEA’s trends in International Mathematics and Science study at Fourth and Eighth Grades.

Boston.

Secretariate General of the Higher Education Council. (2012). Future Skills and Preparing Graduates for the 21st Century. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from Ministry of Education, Higher Education Council website: moedu.gov. bh/hec/UploadFiles/Reports/Future Skills.pdf Soman, B. (2008). Education Reform Project Underway. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from Gulf Daily News website: www.gulf-daily-news. com/Story.asp?Article=233610&Sn=BNEW&Issu eID=31229 The World Bank. (2013). Building Effective Employment Programs for Unemployed Youth in the Middle East and North Africa (D. F. Angel-Urdinola, A. Kuddo, & A. Semlali, Eds.). Washington, DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank.

Dr. Ahmed A.Karim, an international consultant in the quality of education, and the founder & the Chief Executive Officer in Quality House Consultancy, is an internationally renowned consultant in school quality improvement towards excellence in education. He is one of the first to have contributed to the establishment of the School Review Unit in Quality Authority for Qualifications and Quality Assurance of Education and Training (QQA), where he was the Lead Reviewer.

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Featured School

EMBRACING A SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL YEAR AT FAIRGREEN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

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Featured School

A

ll schools should ensure that they are embedding green practices in their school operations, however Fairgreen International School Dubai is taking this one step further by launching six new initiatives for students and the community to embrace a new and sustainable school year. These green initiatives will continue to encourage everyone in the school community and beyond, to help to contribute to protecting the planet and overall health and wellbeing.

About Fairgreen International School Fairgreen International School, founded by Esol Education, is the first sustainability-focused school in Dubai, incorporating sustainability as an integral part of its educational programme. A purpose-built campus that utilizes solar power for all of its energy needs, recycles all of its water for agricultural use and implements waste separation and wind energy generation.

With a purpose-built campus, the school follows the Esol Education’s 40-year tradition of establishing exceptional schools worldwide, with certified, professional and caring educators, experienced leadership and world-class facilities.

Located at The Sustainable City (TSC) Dubai, Fairgreen International School is an International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum school offering the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), Diploma Programme (IB DP) and Career-related Programme (IB CP).

Fairgreen & Etuix Fairgreen will be the first school in the world to partner with sustainable and eco-friendly fashion bag designers Etuix. Etuix is a Dubai based organisation that reuses and recycles old banner ads from the roads of Dubai and repurposes them into everyday bags. Etuix has designed and will be making school bags for all students from September, this will also include, laptop bags, book bags, small and large backpacks and P.E. bags.

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Fairgreen & Simply Bottles Fairgreen will be running a plastic collection programme on the campus.

While they are a single-use plastic-free campus, they are asking students and teachers to bring in any water bottles, milk bottles etc. from home and put them into one of the student-designed recycling bins.

These are then donated to Simply Bottles who in turn, work to repurpose this plastic into t-shirts that can be worn. It takes about three plastic bottles to create one t-shirt, so we will be collecting all year.

The Fairgreen Teacher and student allotment Fairgreen is introducing an after-school activity where teachers and students can cultivate and nurture their crops in an allotment patch set up on the school campus. The teachers have taken it upon themselves to learn how to grow crops and harvest produce that can then be shared with the school and wider community.

Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019

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Featured School

Fairgreen healthy food The students from Pre-K through to MYP, as well as the teachers, have created tower gardens throughout the campus, that allow them to grow lettuce, basil, kale, coriander, just

to name a few. Last year, the MYP students visited the community pizza restaurant where they turned their school grown basil and mint into a marinara sauce and fresh lemonade, that was shared at the school’s Million Solar Stars Solar Race event. This year

with the new food-technology labs being put in place, the school is aiming to further enhance the student’s engagement with healthy eating and the awareness of food wastage.

Fairgreen’s Sustainable Art department The art department works tirelessly to make sure that all of the projects not only align with the IB curriculum, but also to sustainability. The Art teachers make sure to only use reclaimed, resourced and reused materials from homes as well as the beach and the community. This year they are encouraging students to bring in several items to help encourage minimal wastage and recycling.

Million Solar Stars Last year, Fairgreen’s Science teacher Adam Hall, introduced the Million Solar Stars programme to the students. The students built small working solar panels that were presented to adult audiences in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The students then replicated these solar panels into solar-powered cars that they raced on the school roof. They presented their idea for scaling solar power into panels for international school roofs, with an aim to power all schools in the world by the power of the sun.

“As the region’s first fully sustainable school, Fairgreen’s educational programme is driven by academic achievement and innovation, offering a curriculum that incorporates sustainability in all its forms. The school’s campus in Dubai’s Sustainable City provides the ultimate learning environment for future generations to play a leading role in building a sustainable future. Designed to have a minimal environmental impact, the school is powered by solar energy, recycles water for agricultural use and utilizes the community’s biodome for health and wellness learning experiences.” Graeme Scott, School Director.

For further information on Fairgreen International School visit www. fairgreen.ae

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EDUCATION HOUSE FINLAND PARTNER NEWS learn@educationhousefinland.com

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HOW TO KICK START YOUR SEN DEPARTMENT BY: DEBBIE HAMILTON BOGUES

3. Check resources - if you have resources form last year, check to see if they are still intact and if you have acquired new ones, you might have to train the members of your department on how and when to use them.

4. Check your student register. Some students might have left over the summer break and new ones enrolled for the new academic year.

Speak with your registrar about any enrolment updates and find out all you can about the new student/s.

5. Get all the information you can on your new student/s and disseminate to the appropriate staff.

I

f I recall well, it seems as though it’s only a couple of weeks ago that we were saying ‘Happy New Year’ to our family and friends, both near and far, to welcome 2019. And here we are, now saying, ‘Happy New Academic Year 2019 - 2020!’ Where has the time gone - so quickly and how? I hope that on reflection, it has been an exciting and successful journey, and that, as you embark on yet another New Academic Year, It will even be a more exciting and successful year!

In reality, many things have remained the same, as educators, motivation has to be intrinsic, for us to remain and continue or complete what we started.

Who will always be with us? All our students, old ones from the previous year/s or grade/s and new ones too.

To get things started there are a few things that we will have to do to kick start our department:

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Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019

1. Do you have the same staff members in your department as you were at the close of the year? If you do thumbs up! If you have new members, you will need to begin to orient them: introduce them to the SEN Policy so that they will become familiar with the procedures, expectations and be prepared for the arrival of the students.

2. In your initial departmental meeting, share with the staff members your plans, projections and expectations for the year, at least for the first term to begin with, then everyone will have the same understanding.

6. In fact, there is a strong possibility that you may have new teachers as well, consequently you will have to share the register and previous Individual Education Plan (IEP) with them, along with any pertinent information. This may include teacher journal about what worked well, potential learning or behavioural challenges etc.

7. If you are a new SENCO, you will have to learn the ethos of the school, hit the ground running, get to know your students and parents, embed best practice as you go along and place your mark.

8. Over time, keep an eye for students who might be falling through the cracks from regular teacher reporting/meeting. We have high expectations for all students, and none should be left behind.

Ashley is a class teacher in JESS Dubai as well as wellbeing leader for the school. She is currently studying for a master’s degree in Positive Psychology and Coaching with plans to conduct research into teacher wellbeing in Dubai.

For Character Strength cards, resources and guided meditations, which are all suitable for classroom use, please visit www.mindfulteachinguae.com. Twitter @mindfulmissg Insta – @mindfulmissgreen

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Has edtech been overlooked in maths departments?

John McGowan, Product Manager, Texthelp

It’s ironic, isn’t it? While education technology is rapidly transforming teaching and learning, it sometimes seems that maths has been left behind in the rush.

Multiple advantages One of technology’s biggest benefits is its ability to provide pupils with an array of options for expressing and articulating their learning.

Despite initial negative reactions from educators, pocket calculators were essential for every child by the 1980s. Skip forwards to the modern classroom: it’s not hard to see how technology has provided new ways for pupils to collaborate, apply critical thinking, problem-solve and be creative.

More than in any other subject, insight into mathematical concepts comes to pupils in penny-dropping moments. A fun interactive game or a simple diagram can make frustrating barriers to understanding vanish in a moment.

But mathematics has stubbornly resisted many attempts to digitise classroom pedagogy. So what’s going on?

A different language I’ve spent much of my time both teaching and helping other educators effectively integrate technology into their lessons.

But we always got stuck on how to bring technology into mathematics lessons.

And that’s because when it comes to maths as a subject, we’re dealing with a whole different language.

Originally designed primarily for text entry, a keyboard and mouse isn’t the most intuitive way to input fractions or long division.

As a result, the whiteboard – plus good old pen and paper – have remained default choices for teachers and pupils to scribble formulae, graphs and other maths expressions.

Indeed, there’s strong evidence to support the notion that all pupils can benefit from the visualisation of mathematical concepts and the ability to interact with them in real time.

Moreover, digitising maths brings other benefits for schools. Tech offers a huge leap forward for accessibility, allowing diverse learners to engage with content in ways that are easier – whether it’s a simple screen reader function or more flexible, comfortable ways to input and manipulate expressions.

Progress, together It’s the real-world application of new technology to collaborate, share, and learn in the way that works best for pupils that holds so much promise. Whether they’re an English language learner or have another exceptionality that hinders their ability to learn in a traditional lecture-style model - there’s a new opportunity.

Let's create a new way of learning maths; let’s help students learn with context, and in ways they’ve never had access to before.

To find out how EquatIO can help digitize your maths classroom, visit text.help/TeachME_September.

Sharing Good Practice

A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE DECLINE IN PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ABILITY IN CHILDREN BY: DARLENE KOSKINEN

I

presently run a professional karate dojo in Finland and teach both karate and recreational gymnastics to children of all ages and abilities.

Six of my karate students are now on the Finnish National Team. Over the years I have observed the physical development of hundreds of children, from as young as three through to adulthood, and have learned how to teach skill-focused movement successfully.

is both alarming and heartbreaking to see that the level of physical ability in children has deteriorated so rapidly.

Their basic body movement, spatial awareness and understanding of movement instructions is poor. This results in the children being moody, harder to inspire and lacking the enthusiasm to achieve.

Over the past few years I have noticed a remarkable decline in the physical capabilities of the children who start classes with me. I am talking about their general body awareness, core strength, overall muscle tone, flexibility and even the ability to follow verbal instructions about physical movement.

Due to this lack of experience in the children’s early years, I find myself having to teach them the fundamental core movement skills, before teaching gymnastics or karate. I am talking about simple skills such as how to balance on one leg, how to run in a straight line, how to do a long jump or even how to throw and catch a ball.

These skills should be learned in the early years and they should be taught diligently, purposefully and joyfully.

As a sports instructor and educator, it

By the age of seven children should

be physically prepared for learning more complex sports and hobbies as well as for academic learning. From my perspective and experience, many early-years childcare centres are not paying enough attention to physical development, without which, holistic development is not possible.

The demanding workload and responsibility that teachers have to reach curriculum goals means that movement is not always considered a priority in early-years environments. It is not uncommon to find that children who have learning difficulties may also have poor body coordination. This is incredibly worrying, as it is through play and movement exploration that children become normal selfregulated people who are a joy to be with. Physical literacy should come first through regular movement and the academic learning will naturally follow.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE DECLINE IN Children learn best when they are having fun!

Practicing spatial awareness skills with beanbags

Practicing locomotive and social skills by hopping over ropes in groups

Giraffe walk

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Sharing Good Practice There is also increasing pressure on our children, to learn to read and write before their brains and bodies are ready. Premature academic learning also affects their social and emotional well being, too. Sitting still for long periods of time is not natural for young children. It really is true that children learn best when they are having fun.

Intentional movement, especially in early childhood, is vital for cognitive development. Learning the fundamental skills such as balance, axial stability, locomotion and spatial awareness is directly correlated to the brain’s capacity for language development, pattern recognition, organisation, memory retention and many other functions.

Motor-skill development creates the physical structure and neural plasticity in the brain to sequence patterns for academic learning. The vestibular system in the inner ear controls balance and spatial awareness. This corresponds to placing letters in the correct order to form words and to put words together to form sentences.

Movement in specific patterns, such as in hopscotch, enhances the brain’s ability to code symbols and for the eyes to track visual fields.

I am really trying to stress how important it is for children to learn and to practice “skill-focused” movement in the early years with an observant and encouraging teacher. This gives a solid foundation for physical and academic growth. It also allows for early detection of physical and cognitive problem areas that can be acted on and rectified before a child starts school and delves into more focused academic learning.

Daily movement ideas:

Teaching:

55 Write a list of animal movements that the children can do while walking in a line.

55 Teach with energy and find ways to make even the simplest movement activity fun.

55 Incorporate one stretching activity a day into your morning circle time.

55 Inspire your children to move well and move together with them.

55 Introduce a daily balance challenge using different body parts.

55 Encourage creativity.

55 Get active outdoors with long rope skipping or ball games.

55 Be observant.

Challenge the coordinated and encourage those who are not.

55 Play Simple Simon Says: an excellent activity that is easy to do at any time.

55 Play Musical Movement: moving while the music plays and a balance when it stops.

Planning: 55 Take stock of your equipment.

55 Consider adding balls, beanbags, hoops and ropes for each child.

55 Consider changing the furniture around to provide more space for movement.

55 Find some fun music tracks.

55 Plan movement ideas for each day.

55 Allow time for movement in your daily and weekly schedules.

play

and

55 Use your voice to direct and inspire.

All children, no matter their age, love to move and need to move. It is up to the adults who share their days to inspire them to move often, and with joy and confidence! Please make the commitment to get your children moving more and then watch them flourish as they become physically confident, coordinated and strong.

Here is a chart to give you a clearer understanding of the basic fundamental movement skills and the activities that support them. Please do consider whether your children are practicing activities that support each of these types of movement.

THE FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS SPATIAL SKILLS STATIC BALANCE

STABILTY

DYNAMIC BALANCE

BENDING

TUMBLING

TWISTING

STOPPING

TURNING

DODGING

BALANCING

SWINGING

LANDING AFTER A JUMP

FOOT

STRETCHING

A Simple Solution Implementing structured movement opportunities throughout the day takes a little planning and creative thinking, but it is the single most effective way to increase the physical ability and fitness of young children.

Here are a few strategies and ideas to help you add more physical activity into your days.

pretend

LOCOMOTIVE SKILLS

MANIPULATIVE SKILLS

GALLOPING HOPPING

PUSHING PULLING LIFTING KICKING STRIKING THROWING

JUMPING LEAPING RUNNING SKIPPING WALKING

BOUNCING CATCHING DRIBBLING ROLLING VOLLEYING

SPATIAL AWARENESS

POSITIONING DIRECTIONAL AWARENESS GAUGING TIMING

Darlene Koskinen is the founder and CEO of the MoovKids online physical education curriculum. She has 30 years experience teaching physical education to early learners, including 13 years with special needs of all ages. Originally from Zimbabwe, Darlene now lives in Finland and has a passion to share her knowledge of skill-focused physical education with teachers and parents of early learners.

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Sharing Good Practice

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF TAKING OVER AN OUTSTANDING SCHOOL BY: IAIN COLLEDGE

I

n 2016, I was delighted to be offered the role of Principal at Raha International School in Abu Dhabi.

The school was a rapidly growing and high performing school, offering all three IB programmes. It had also just been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (as it was then called) making it one of only a small number of schools with this highest accolade. Everyone at the school and its parent company, Taaleem, was deservedly very excited and proud of this huge achievement, which was made particularly impressive, as the school had only been in operation for nine years. When I accepted the job, the school with an enrolment of about 1,650 students, with many grades over-subscribed, was in the process of planning for its 10-year anniversary celebration.

had been given to the school prior to my arrival, but whilst I was delighted for the team, it left me with a feeling of unease and a continual knot in my stomach. I couldn’t help but ask where it left me. The rating had been achieved without me, so how could I possibly show improvement under my leadership? ‘Outstanding’ is the highest rating given by the Department of Education. I worried that the only way forward was to either just maintain the status quo or go down in ratings. Even though I am

You may have expected me to be delighted and perhaps even somewhat relieved that the ‘Outstanding’ rating

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quite pragmatic about these things, the ‘Outstanding’ rating really did feel like a weight around my neck because I had to ensure we received the same rating again two years down the line.

I knew that in an environment where inspections were becoming more rigorous every year, this was never going to be an easy task.

I decided to make moving ‘beyond Outstanding’ my core focus during the run up to and during the first few months in my new role. This mission

Sharing Good Practice became the driving force behind the birth of ‘Raha’s Exceptional Journey’. I was very fortunate to have an incredible team of senior leaders and teaching staff, who enthusiastically bought into the concept of moving Raha from Outstanding to Exceptional. The team recognised the need for continued forward momentum, instead of resting on their laurels. Like me, they were dedicated to working hard towards continued improvement to ensure the highest learning outcomes for our students. But it was more than that.

When I took over the school, it was obviously doing very well, however, it went about its business quietly and without much fuss. I wanted to change that, put the school on the map and make the entire community even more proud of the school. Our exceptional journey has now been adopted as a permanent, lifelong journey for the school, providing the vision for continued excellence beyond the regular school inspection framework. We have also gone so far as to change our mission and values to incorporate our relentless drive towards being exceptional. We are now three years on from the start of this initiative and can look back at how we started and where we are now.

We began by letting parents know our core aim to move from Outstanding to Exceptional (we realised one year in, that this was the wrong way to label our vision, but I will come back to that). We wanted to emphasise our intention to never take our foot off the pedal and to ensure continued

improvement. I’m not ashamed to admit that the psychology of telling inspectors two years later that we are on a journey beyond outstanding was a more difficult thing for them to argue against, but let’s keep that secret between ourselves for now!

Once the parents knew about our plans we spent a considerable amount of time, a full year in fact, creating what is now labelled Raha’s Exceptional Journey. This process involved the entire breadth of stakeholders, including students. We looked at what we already did very well and what could be improved even further. This didn’t have to have anything to do with inspection frameworks, and even now you will see that there is nothing in our journey relating to attainment or progress, or even teaching and learning. As a school we already knew we did this very well so we looked at where we could go beyond these areas to offer more to our students and wider community.

Towards the end of the year-long process we began to have parents ask us about what the chances were of us actually achieving ‘exceptional’ in the inspection the following year. It took us a while to realise that parents were under the impression that ‘exceptional’ was an official rating, so we changed

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Below are a few pointers to help other schools on the journey to exceptional: 55 Don’t make the next steps all about the inspection framework. Think of the students only and look to put the cherry on top of the icing, on top of the cake.

55 Let everyone in the community be part of the process. Create focus groups and gather us much input as you can to ensure maximum ownership.

the name to ‘Raha’s Exceptional Journey’ to avoid this confusion.

We now have staff and students regularly referring to the term ‘exceptional’ during the normal school day. They consider what it means to be exceptional and staff regularly contemplate what we have achieved on the journey as we progress through the school year.

In order to showcase the achievements, we make on the journey, we have footprints for everything that fit within each of the journey statements. These are printed and cut into real footprint shaped visuals around the school. At the time of writing we have achieved 52 footprints, and these are being added to all the time. Much of what we achieve is not necessarily new or revolutionary, but because it is beyond the expected, it makes the strategy successful.

as anyone that we are able to achieve outstanding yet again. I can’t say this is all down to the creation of Raha’s Exceptional Journey, but I sincerely believe that developing a strategy such as this, one which galvanizes the entire community, ensures we never take our foot off the pedal, and nurtures our support for the community and not just our students. This approach has played a major part in getting us where we are at now.

The exceptional journey is never ending because perfect schools don’t exist. There is always room for improvement. Accepting this fact and working towards a common purpose of continuous improvement, is what Raha’s Exceptional Journey is all about and we are excited to continue this lifelong journey well into our future.

55 Be willing to take constructive feedback. Really listening without getting defensive is essential to finding areas of improvement that you might not even be aware of and is one way effective change can happen.

55 The journey to exceptional should be never-ending. Don’t set too many finite targets, see it as a continuous development programme. Plan for a review every few years to ensure the targets are still relevant and accurately reflect what the school is trying to achieve.

55 Celebrate successes.

Publicly showcase steps on the exceptional journey, so that the whole school keeps the sense that the goals are not just talk, but concrete and achievable.

55 Whilst working towards exceptional, it is still important to not take your eyes off the framework and make sure you show inspectors that you are already working beyond outstanding – it’s quite difficult for inspectors to push back on that one!

I am delighted to say that six months ago we again received an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) and we are now the only K-12 school in Abu Dhabi to receive this judgement twice.

In addition, we have been voted amongst the top ten schools in Abu Dhabi, top 5 Secondary schools and the only outstanding IB school in the UAE at this time.

During the past two years my fears of taking over an outstanding school have greatly diminished. I now know what makes the school tick and have gotten to know the amazingly talented staff and students. I feel as confident

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Iain has been Principal of Raha International School since 2016. Raha is an outstanding IB school in Abu Dhabi, with over 2,000 students. After beginning his teaching career in England, Iain has lived in the Middle East, Asia and Central Europe and has over 20 years’ experience of 3-18 international school leadership.

Iain is a qualified inspector for Ofsted and also regularly inspects schools in Dubai.

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Recruit and retain talented teachers by offering UK accredited leadership qualifications TELLAL Institute is delighted to announce that we will be working with Best Practice Network to deliver the British Department for Education (DfE) accredited leadership qualifications NPQML and NPQSL. National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are recognised across the UK and globally as the gold standard in British educational leadership CPD. They provide recognition of leadership development and professional achievement.

The qualifications include: • 3 face-to-face days hosted in Dubai by experienced local leaders and education experts • 3 online learning courses – Strategy & Improvement, Teaching & Curriculum Excellence and Managing Resources & Risk

NPQML is suitable for recently appointed middle leaders or anyone aspiring to middle leadership, including: • Key Stage leaders • Curriculum leaders • Subject leaders NPQSL is suitable for recently appointed senior leaders or anyone aspiring to senior leadership, including: • • • •

• Moderated online debate with peers and colleagues • An assessed school improvement project whereby the candidate seeks to a) reduce variation in student progress and attainment and b) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching, either across a team or across a school Furthermore, each candidate is assigned a personal online tutor to assist with all aspects of the qualification.

TELLAL trains and develops teachers and school leaders in the GCC to an international standard, meeting the growing global demand for quality learning and decisive leadership in schools. Best Practice Network is one of the largest NPQ providers in the United Kingdom and a pioneer of international NPQ delivery.

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Heads of Dept Deputy Headteachers SEN Coordinators Assistant Headteachers

Sharing Good Practice

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS AND A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM BY: SALLY BURNS

divide according to other criteria e.g. girls/boys, “Those who…

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS AND A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM

“

T

eachers who know how the parents and grandparents of their pupils live and think will understand them better and be able to work efficiently with them.”

These are the words of Hopi educator Polyingaysi Qὅyawaym, also known as Elizabeth Q. White (Carlson, 1964).

They are especially relevant to today’s classrooms and should be the starting point for the new school year.

The first time we meet our students is key to how the year goes with them and to building community in our classroom. This article will outline a number of strategies that I have used successfully to do this.

Knowing each other We (and it is important to include yourself, the teacher, in the community) need to get to know each other, to find out who we are, where we are from, how we came to be here, our languages, our interests, our skills, our strengths; in short, the more we know about each other the more likely we are to understand each other and feel we are a community. We also need to know and recognise the values that guide us and will take us through the next year.

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55 come from the host country 55 belong to a religious community 55 speak more than one/two/three language/s 55 enjoy a particular type of food/sport 55 play a musical instrument 55 are good at drawing and painting 55 have relatives overseas.

Ask the students to take the lead: what else they would like to know about each other?

A great starter activity is Mobile Maps.

You need an open space for this. In a school where most of the students are from the country you are in, you need to display a map of the country with key towns marked and markers on the ground showing the names of these in the correct locations. With a more diverse student body, you might want to display a map of the world and simply indicate the cardinal points: north, south, east and west. You give the following instructions: I am in XXX… This is north (pointing), south, east and west. (Point out a few towns/countries.) Place yourselves around the area to show where you live now… Now move to where you were born… your mother was born… your father was born… one of your grandparents was born…

Remind students to watch their classmates to learn more about them.

Having learned something about our geographical background, let us learn more about each other. Which Community? is a great way to do this.

Ask the students to move physically into sets. For example, students of this school, then students of this class. Of course, they will all then be in one set or community. Now ask them to

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It is important to observe the similarities and differences within their new community.

Individuals in community The next activity I bring in here is Potatoes. You need as many potatoes as there are students in the class and a largish container to hold them.

Sitting in a circle, give each person in the class a potato. Ask them how they know it is a potato. How do they know it is not a carrot, a banana? Now ask them to look carefully at their potato and really get to know it well. When they are ready, collect all the potatoes in a bag, give it a shake then empty the potatoes out on to the floor or a table. Ask the group to pick out their own potato from the pile. Everyone invariably manages to find their own potato. Here are some questions you might want to discuss: 55 How easy/difficult was it to find your potato?

55 What made it easy/difficult?

55 What does this tell you about potatoes?

55 What can we learn from this about groups of people?

Sharing Good Practice What really needs to be brought out here is that within a group which shares certain characteristics that make them a group (in the case of potatoes, brown, roundish, knobbly), each individual is nonetheless unique, having qualities which mean they can be identified in a crowd. It is important to remember this when we are thinking about communities of people with different belief systems and different cultural backgrounds from our own. In relation to the community of the class, we need to recognise that, while we have a class identity and are developing as a community, we are a collection of unique individuals, each distinct from the other.

themselves into the future to when they are 854, looking back on their long life. Encourage them to think about the qualities or values that have guided them through their life and to focus on the three most important of these. Bring them back to the present in the classroom and ask them to write each value on a piece of paper.

A student then reads out one of her values and anyone who has the same value puts it with hers in a pile on the floor. Repeat this until all the values are in piles in the centre of the circle.

These are then identified as the class’s values.5 They can be displayed as they are or, if time allows, translated into statements based on, “What does it

look like when there is honesty?” This forms a credo or set of maxims for the class to live by over the year together.

They might like to make it into a poster, adding a photo to it and signing it to indicate their commitment to it.

These activities are simple to do, require little preparation and minimal materials, but their impact is profound.

They set the tone for a positive and fruitful school year and help lay the foundation for trust and openness in the class. We are beginning to learn how our, “pupils live and think” and starting to “understand them better and be able to work efficiently with them.”

As a follow-up to this activity, I ask them to reflect on who they are in this new community; I might use the One Minute Mediation1 to do this. Ask the group to sit in silence…. what are your strengths, your talents, your skills, your best subjects at school? Of which communities are you a member?

I give each person a paper plate and ask them to decorate it to show their communities, their strengths, talents, skills and best subjects.2 3 The plates are shared in a full circleshare, if the class is not too large.

Alternatively, have the students sit in groups and share. It is important to stress that, while one student speaks about their plate, the others must give their full attention, listening with their ears, their eyes and their heart.

Questions may only be asked once the student has stopped speaking. The plates are then displayed in a cluster to represent the class. If the students are working in teams, the plates can be combined into shields or crests with the team name on.

What matters to us

1. Thich Nhat Hanh; the script for this in Values and Visions 2. The plates were created by students on the Takatuf Scholars summer residential programme, 2019

Knowing who we are, it is now important to focus on our values, both individually and as a class. When You’re 85 is one way to do this. Have the students sit in a circle, give each one three pieces of paper and a pencil to put under their chair then invite them to close their eyes and go into stillness. Talk them through projecting

3. The shield was created by students on the Takatuf Scholars summer residential programme, 2019 4. There is a script for this in Values and Visions 5. This credo was drawn up by students on the Takatuf Scholars summer residential programme, 2019

Sally Burns is one of the authors of Values and Visions. She is a teacher, a trainer, a writer, a researcher and a linguist. She has been working in education for thirtyeight years in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors in both private and public establishments. To find out more about Values and Visions visit values-and-visions. com, go to our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter #VandVLearning.

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Sharing Good Practice

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT CODING - A SUCCESS STORY BY: HSING-WEN WANG

M

any countries have paid increased attention to the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Several countries have also raised the flag about potential shortages in STEM professionals [1]. In the past decades, computer science (CS) has driven innovation in all STEM fields. Computing has become a fundamental part of our daily life and almost every occupation in the modern economy. However, limited K-12 CS programs are implemented worldwide. In US, only about 35% of public high schools teach CS [2]. State and local school districts are now aggressively adopting CS policies [3]. In UAE, a K-12 CS standard was published in 2015 and the Emirati School Model was announced in 2017 to recognize

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coding and computer skills as one required skill for any kid to succeed in life [4].

While the CS policy and implementation helps address a lack of access to CS, a lack of engagement to CS or programming/coding could also be problematic. CS is traditionally viewed as being boring [5]. Code.org Advocacy Coalition also recognizes that establishing these policies does not guarantee student success. Great teachers and leaders, as well as access to the devices and network, are also needed [6]. It is important to change K-12 students’ views about computer programming, and at the same time motivate and engage them to start learning text coding, as well as necessary computer management

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and knowledge.

Many companies/institutes have developed graphic programming products such as Scratch, invented by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, so that children could have fun while learning “computational thinking” at an early age. However, to move students into more serious programming or a CS track, textcoding skills are necessary. Text coding is the basic skill of most professional programming and is believed to require a high degree of rigor. Usually it is not common to teach coding until high school, and often only for students who express an interest in pursuing computer programming as a career or option in higher education.

Sharing Good Practice This article aims to provide empirical evidence about how middle school students were capable and enjoyed text coding, specifically HTML/CSS and some JavaScript coding, as well as providing an example how to integrate both hard and soft skills [7]. This evidence is based on three years of teaching at a well-established American school in the Middle East. In total, approximately 200 students took the class. The student engagement rate was more than 95% regardless of gender. Student gender ratio was close to one to one.

At least three positive learning phenomena were observed. Firstly, all students appeared to be very comfortable in taking online courses (CodeCademy in this case), although there was a wide range of learning speeds. The classroom formed an ideal learning environment, quiet but mentally stimulating. Students asked for help whenever they had a problem, and with a teacher at hand, students enjoyed a personalized learning experience. The teacher provided short lessons whenever needed to address common mistakes. Because of the wide range of learning speed, setting deadlines to accomplish each stage of lessons was mainly for students who had a slower pace or a passive learning habit. Students with a normal to speedy learning pace, were encouraged to accomplish required and advanced mini-projects/problems so that they could apply learning to the final project in depth (i.e., write codes for their designed website). Secondly, students were fascinated to learn how to build a website from nothing.

They were amazed to see the change when they played around with CSS commands in designing the layout, color pattern, text font, etc. They were encouraged to ask questions about features they liked in other websites such as how to have music played when the website is launched.

And then when they found out, how they could have such features incorporated into their projects.

During these “research” and “selflearning” processes, the third positive phenomenon became evident. The students were happy to share and exchange their findings. Students also enjoyed presenting their websites and

talking about their respective learning adventures. The 21st century soft skills in communication & collaboration, critical thinking & problem solving, are naturally blended in. These positive phenomena significantly contributed to the high successful learning rate of this course.

In terms of course content and technical hard skills, HTML/CSS languages are relatively easy to understand compared to JavaScript for most of grade 7 and 8 students. This helped build up student’s confidence in text coding and motivation in engaging the course before JavaScript was introduced. However, students were weak in two aspects: computer and network knowledge and concept understanding through on-line learning. Firstly, students did not understand many basic Internet and computer management skills.

For example, they did not know the difference between Internet and their own laptop environments. They are used to the fact that Google saves everything, and they lacked the habit of saving their works while using other software. They did not understand the nature of file structure, type, size, and storage location. They applied single method to transfer file regardless the file size, which affected the transferring speed. They often looked for missing pictures/photos when they ran their code the second time because they trashed the files after their first successful execution of the code/ program and thought “somebody” would remember that. Secondly, students were able to pass the tasks/ quiz in CodeCademy for each learning concept. However, that didn’t mean they fully understood the concept. This phenomenon was significant when learning JavaScript, where common computer programming concepts like variables, loops, conditionals, and computing were introduced.

Therefore, the teacher needed to write up specially designed questions or tasks to test their understanding.

A follow up lecture was needed to help clarify students’ confusion or misunderstanding.

Clearly, making the course relevant to students is the key to make students successful, while learning necessary skills along the way. A case study, example at Georgia Tech, has shown the impact when the same course was redesigned to become relevant to students. Georgia Tech required all students in Liberal Arts, Architecture, and Business majors to take a CS course [8]. They created a new course called Media Computation by having students to manipulate digital media as a way to learn loops, conditionals, and computing. Students not only produced creative art works in their Media Computation course, but also passed this Media Computation course in significantly higher numbers (85%), improved from below 50% in the former CS course. It is hoped that similar levels will be observed at the K-12 education.

In conclusion, inviting students to start learning text coding is recommended and students could start as early as 7th grade. During the process, students should not only learn text coding, but also learn necessary computer and networking knowledge and management skills. In addition, students should have chances to practice 21st century soft skills such as communication/collaboration and critical thinking/problem solving.

Online learning is natural for this digital generation. However, a student’s understanding of the concepts may not be accurately assessed by online tasks/quizzes, so a teacher’s attention is required. Finally, tasks and projects need to be relevant to students to promote their successful learning and a high level of engagement. This approach encourages students to switch from being passive to active learners, who take charge of their own learning, collaboration, participation, discovery, reasoning and creativity.

Hsing-Wen Wang received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University. She has taught and conducted medical research at University of Pennsylvania, National Yang-Ming University (Taipei), and University of Maryland (2006-2015). Since 2015, she is an independent consultant/researcher and teaches technology in American Community School of Abu Dhabi.

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Featured Teacher

DR HANA AL NASSER MALHAS: TRANSFORMING EDUCATION IN JORDAN

D

r Hana Malhas is a Jordanian citizen with a PhD in Educational Psychology from the Arab University of Amman for Higher Education, an MA in Education from the University of Eastern Michigan, a Diploma in Special Education from the University of Jordan, and a BA in Philosophy and Psychology from the Arab University of Beirut.

Dr Hana founded Mashrek International School together with her husband in 1992, before that she cofounded the Private Schools Council in 1989 and chaired it for three years.

She took part in establishing the Children’s Human Rights Center of the Jordan River Foundation and The Children’s Museum of Jordan. Dr Hana is a member of the Injaz Social Leaders Program for youth in public schools, and in 2013, the International Baccalaureate (IB) appointed her as a member of the IB Africa, Europe and Middle East Regional Council. She was later elected as president for the Middle East IB Association (MEIBA) in 2017. In 2018, the National Center for Curriculum Development in Jordan appointed her as a member.

With over 35 years of involvement in education, of which 15 years were spent teaching children with special needs, she has nurtured a strong passion for teaching and learning.

In this issue of Teach Middle East Magazine, we chat with Dr Hana and find out more about her work in helping to transform education in Jordan.

Describe your school: Mashrek International School (Mashrek) is a private, bilingual, co-educational IB World School recognised by the Jordanian Ministry of Education. It was established in 1992.

Mashrek offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) for grades 11 and 12, the Middle Years Programme (MYP) for

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Featured Teacher

grades 5 to 10 and the Primary Years

strengths as a principal?

Programme (PYP) for PreK to grade 4. Mashrek is the first fully authorised school in Jordan to offer three IB programmes. In 2018, the school was accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS).

Being authentic and genuine, visible and approachable by students, parents, teachers and staff. Having one on one relationships, helped pave the way for our community to grow from good to great.

Mashrek’s progress and success have grown from years of dedicated work and a series of ambitious goals. The founders' vision and values, along with the support of the staff have taken Mashrek from its modest beginnings in the opening year, with 172 students and 28 employees in a small campus in Amman-Jordan, to become one of the leading schools in Jordan and the region, with 1,450 students and 350 employees prompting the relocation to a larger, more spacious colourful and bright campus, boasting numerous facilities in the suburbs of Amman, surrounded by hills of acorn and oak trees.

I am a “walking principal” with a heart full of love and joy towards education, highlighted with open channels of communication within and outside our community. My role is not limited to Mashrek, it transcends beyond, contributing to the educational system in Jordan and the entire region. Opening our doors at Mashrek to all schools and educators to present a model of educational quality, is essential to being a strong support system.

What makes your school unique?

Since 1992, Mashrek has been catering to students’ emotional, social, physical and mental welfare. The wholeness of the child’s wellbeing is the pillar of our mission, with a focus on each human reaching his or her full potential, rather than just emphasising on grades and immediate results. We aim to give personalised attention and care to each student so that they can grow to become constructive and proud citizens of Jordan and the world.

What makes Mashrek unique is that we embrace a journey of learning that is comprehensive, including; students, parents and staff, all together that is empowering to create a life-long learning community that will be proactive in the Jordanian and global society. We all aspire to turn Mashrek into an inclusive organisation.

Our journey through implementing three IB programmes, took 15 years of challenging experiences of change and innovation, which strengthened our community by bringing everyone’s minds, thoughts and beliefs together, that was and still is the centre point of creating a sense of togetherness.

Share three of your major

My faith in the students and staff are the backbone for my commitment to education. I believe that this passion, along with patience and perseverance, have taught me that the potentialities and opportunities are limitless when we believe in the human capacity.

Share two ways in which you motivate and encourage your staff The first thing would be to find one positive attribute in one or more teachers or staff members every single day, to commend and praise, no matter how small or large it is, this will make a tremendous difference in their career.

I always like to include teachers and staff members in the decisionmaking and planning processes, making them active participants in the development; to have ownership of the change that caters to the best interest of the school, while achieving and maintaining its mission and vision.

This is established through dynamic interactive intellectual participation in the new educational direction, as they are a crucial part of its creation and development.

How do you encourage creativity, innovation and risk-taking among your staff?

I like to create an environment that

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is safe and conducive for staff to take initiatives and risks. I encourage my teachers and staff to voice their ideas while being supportive of bringing these ideas to life. In addition, as a principal, by practicing resilience, confidence and motivation towards innovation, I give the community a positive example as a role model.

What are the three major goals that you will be working on with the staff and students of your school in the academic year 20192020?

When we started planning for Mashrek’s new strategy, we had a good understanding of the road ahead; we identified opportunities to enhance, strengthen and build our school, over the next three years (2019-2022). Today we are poised to lead innovation and positive change in education. We are in a position that enables more dynamic learning opportunities that will engage students in intellectual and creative inquiry.

Mashrek will start a new chapter of educational change in Jordan that will begin as a model in the primary years. The focus of this concept will be aimed to establish a leap in teaching and learning to become a model school in Jordan and eventually, the world. This model embraces an open space environment where teachers, students and parents will witness a revolution in space and time. This open learning space concept will encourage all students, teachers, parents and professionals to create and discover their own knowledge. It is an intricate process with many different people involved with different skills coming together to capture elements of their space and learning processes and experiences.

We will continue to guide and encourage our middle years students towards learning that is advanced and relevant to real-life in this 21st century. Finally, we will enrich our communication and connection within and outside the school community. We have a responsibility to serve each other and share experiences and good practice.

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Sharing Good Practice

PERSONALIZED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING BY: KEVIN SIMPSON

PERSONALIZED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

“

P

rofessional learning will become more personalized with educators creating opportunities that they need through networking, collaboration, and relying more on colleagues rather than external experts.” – Deb Delisle, President and CEO of Alliance for Excellent Education By: Rashenah Walker, Ashley Green and Kevin Simpson What is the future of professional learning? In a blog post published last year, we posed this question to three leaders. What emerged was the need to be personal, flexible, and open to new ways of delivery. What are some ways we can personalize professional learning for educators and leaders in the MENA region? In this article we

42

Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019

will share some models and resources to consider and explore as you launch into the new academic year.

Every August the school year for teachers starts out the same way, with an intensive “welcome week” of professional learning that consists of a speaker, PowerPoint, and a full staff listening idly for several hours.

With the increase in demand on schools to push student performance to meet international expectations, this may rarely leave time for followup throughout the school year.

So how do schools keep up with teaching, curriculum pacing, as well as meeting the development needs of a diverse staff? Ever consider Flipped Professional Learning (PL)? Similar to Flipped Class, this method will allow schools to differentiate, customize and

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innovate professional with easy follow-up.

development

Flipped PL can be designed very simply using pre-developed tools from Teaching Channel, TeacherTube, Khan Academy or other resources.

These websites offer videos on several topics that cover teaching strategies, subject specific content, and other material, with most offering video transcripts, discussion topics, and/ or comprehension questions. Using a school-wide platform such as Edmodo or Google Classroom, videos can be posted with comprehension questions or an online quiz to check understanding.

Discussion can take place online or in department meetings with skill specific observation to follow. If transcripts are available, they can be translated to ensure all

Sharing Good Practice staff are able to participate in PL. For the more advanced and adventurous in developing PL, videos can be designed using iMovie (for Mac users), Movie Maker (PC users), Adobe Premier Elements, or Lectora. Videos can be made from pre-recorded teacher lessons showing best practices or imbedded from Teaching Channel and other resources. Comprehension questions or a quiz should also be included to check understanding with discussion taking place online or during meetings.

The platform used to implement Flipped PL should be one that has a management option which can be monitored by school leaders.

Edmodo and Google Classroom work well as they both allow groups to be created to differentiate PL topics and departments, in addition to allow members to interact with each other through chat and let group admin create quizzes and monitor activity.

may ask questions, access available resources, and receive feedback and coaching. Evidence of their competence will be gathered and submitted to a trained assessor. The assessor will evaluate the evidence shared from the educator. Samples of evidence could be a classroom observation, student work, lesson plan, audio or video from the classroom, or reflections from student or teachers.

Once the micro-credential is earned, a digital badge will be awarded.

The following organizations are focused on providing microcredentials to educators.

Digital Promise https://digitalpromise.

org/initiative/educator-micro credentials/ Bloomboard https://bloomboard. com/what-are-microcredentials/ MISIC. http://misiciowa.org Edraak: https://www.edraak.org/en/ Learn more at: ASCD Webinars: http://www.ascd.org/ professional-development/webinar The Teacher’s Guild: www.teachersguild.org

Using Flipped PL will create 21st Century professional learning that is easy to create, track, and improve teaching and learning in schools.

While personalized learning has increased for students, the same should be for educators when it comes to professional learning. One pathway is micro-credentials. This digital certification allows for voice and choice based on interest of the learner who work towards demonstrating competence in a specific skill. Microcredentials offer a way for schools to both recognize the existing skills of teachers and administrators. In this digital form of certification, educators and leaders learn by doing. They can be earned as a digital badge or bundled into courses that may be eligible for your licensure renewal.

A micro-credential is a badge that represents the skills that the teacher or administrator has been proven to possess.

So how do micro-credentials work?

Educators review requirements and select the micro-credential they would like to earn. This is usually based on needs and interests. Next, educators engage in their learning and put it into practice. While learning, the educator

KDSL Global is an education consulting company launched by Kevin Simpson in 2016 in the USA and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Simpson and his team have served thousands of schools, organizations, educators, and leaders worldwide in over 20 countries. The majority of this work in education has centered on American curriculum schools.

Rashenah Walker is an international curriculum specialist and educational trainer.

She holds a Master’s degree in Education majoring in Instructional Technology and is a dual major Doctoral Candidate in Educational Leadership and Curriculum Design. Rashenah began her career in the United States as special education and Advanced Placement teacher. Since then, she has worked in the areas of curriculum design, educational administration, organizational needs analysis, and teacher development.

Ashley Green’s passion for global education has led to her teaching in classrooms and collaborating with teachers from all over the world. Her desire to become a global educator began when she taught students in England, and had the chance to make connections between the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program and Common Core standards. Since then, she’s honed those skills in Dubai; in both Elementary and Middle school settings as a full-time classroom practitioner.

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Sharing Good Practice

LEADING THE VISION FOR EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION IN THE UAE BY: TIM LOGAN

‘

B

rothers, I think it's time for a new form of government...

We should lead for the future and build our people's ability to make their own living, provide financially for their families. We should think about tomorrow, today.' Sheikh Maktoum bin Butti bin Suhail, 1833 (quoted in Weir, 2015) It is clear from the history of the UAE, that its leaders have long been driven by a visionary and voraciously ambitious focus on the future possibilities for the country. From the building of the souk at Dubai Creek as a hub to expand trade in 1833, to Majid Al Futtaim's risking of everything to construct the Mall of the Emirates 25km from central Dubai in the early 2000s confident in his vision that it would soon be one of the most visited and lucrative shopping centres in the world. Today, the Dubai Future

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Foundation and the iconic Museum of the Future are emblems of this continued vision. While governments and businesses around the world are planning for the technological and ecological upheavals of the next decade, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum are envisioning and preparing for the UAE's position at the pinnacle of every metric imaginable in five decades time.

From my perspective as an educator and school leader, what is particularly significant about this hugely determined commitment is the critical role that is being attributed to education in translating it into reality.

'More than any other time, we need to boost innovation among young people, build nurturing environments in our society, and encourage our

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schools and universities to equip our youth with skills in research and discovery m etho dolo gie s .'

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, 2014 'An advanced education system enhances a nation’s capacity to innovate and create…' The UAE National Innovation Strategy, (UAE Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, 2015) This is far from a universal realization.

As Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD, recently highlighted: 'Innovation remains a marginal policy agenda in most education systems.'

Just as start-ups need incubators such as Area 2071 to thrive, the school cultures and structures necessary

Sharing Good Practice

to grow innovators’ mindsets in our students require conducive policy environments in which to flourish, in education we often assess and evaluate that which we value. If one was to sample the types of assessments most routinely being designed and delivered to our students, would they currently demonstrate the value we place on innovation, open collaboration and cognitive flexibility?

Most likely not.

However, encouragingly UAE's Knowledge and Human Development Agency (KHDA) has taken significant strides to evaluate that which it values, in order to foster innovation in schools.

The UAE School Inspection Framework (2017) makes clear and unequivocal commitment to the importance of education for innovation and the aptitudes and dispositions that bring it about in our students. The Dubai Future Foundation and the Future Accelerators facilitated an important discussion at Area 2071 on 'The Future of Education' with four key questions: 1. What is the role of technology and design in creating an education system that matches the requirements of the 21st century?

2. What are the structural and curricular changes required in order to allow integration of transformative solutions?

3. How can educational institutions empower 21st-century learners for the future of work through exploring innovative data architecture?

4. How can we enable a transparent and collaborative ecosystem between academia, the industry and government to allow for better knowledge sharing/decision making/positive change? (Dubai Future Accelerators, 2019) It is my contention that there is another

highly complementary driver within the UAE educational environment that will also be instrumental in bringing about this shift.

the Dubai Future Foundation mission of making UAE the global hub for educational innovation that is so required.

Since 2014, the KHDA have fostered a strong relationship with the Commission on International Education at the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

NEASC International is leading the way within the global international education sector in building a new model of transformative accreditation. Its ACE Learning protocol is already proving its tremendous value in supporting schools throughout their shift to becoming future-focused learning environments that nurture among our young people the necessary ways of thinking, ways of working and skilled use of the tools for working to drive innovation.

Adam Pisoni, one of the founders of Yammer, uses the metaphor of bridges and islands to describe his experience of innovation within particular sectors.

Islands are out there on their own, but they stand as examples of how innovative transformations can be fully achieved in practice; they are trail-blazers and thought leaders.

For Pisoni, Yammer was an island within the enterprise social network sector. However, after Yammer, Pisoni sidestepped into US K-12 education, where he is now building 'bridges'.

While not as radical, there is a value in bridges as they start from where school is, and they can find immediate footholds in the middle of the market as they address critical challenges that schools are facing right now. Bridges also build towards the vision of what is possible.

By foregrounding the necessity of a school's strong commitment and deep conceptual understanding of this notion of vision-driven modern learning environments, NEASC International is using its significant leverage as an accreditation agency to facilitate significant transformations.

In addition to this, providing frameworks for impact design, guidance and support, ACE Learning is also supporting the development of schools' capacity and competence, to achieve their ambitions.

The strengthening of the strategic partnership between KHDA and NEASC International will, in my view, be hugely productive in achieving the aspirations set out in the National Innovation Strategy, Vision 2021 and

As a new academic year begins, and as you consider this year's strategic goals and your accreditation timelines, I would encourage you to think about the future challenges facing our young people. We need islands of innovation to inspire us. But we also need bridges to lead schools towards this vision, and to build them we need useful tools like inspection frameworks and transformative accreditation protocols.

This way, in the coming years, all international schools in the region can contribute to the development of UAE as a hub of outstanding innovation in global education that would make Sheikh Maktoum bin Butti bin Suhail proud.

Tim Logan is a freelance consultant supporting schools in UAE to use accreditation to drive innovation and school transformation. He is also a doctoral student at the University of Bath studying the role of evaluative tools in 'measuring' schools' impact on 21st century skill development.

Twitter: TimLogan_FLD; Email: tlogan@futurelearningdesign.com

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A moment with

A MOMENT WITH SHEHZAD NAJ

A MOMENT WITH

SHEHZAD NAJIB

T

eaching is ever-evolving.

When I began my career, I can remember sitting for hours at nights and on weekends writing progress reports and end of term reports to send out to parents.

Today, teachers have the opportunity to offer real-time feedback and data to parents. There is an increasing number of apps which are making it possible for teachers and parents to seamlessly share in their children's learning journey from kindergarten to university.

Kinteract is one such app, leading the charge of fusing intuitive design, robust analysis and instant communication, so teachers and parents can work efficiently in helping students to reach their full potential. I caught up with Shehzad Najib, Co-founder of Kinteract, to learn more about him and his work at Kinteract.

Shehzad was born and raised in the fields and streets of Keighley in West Yorkshire. He attended Highfield Middle School in Keighley where he earned a scholarship to Ermysteds Grammar School in Skipton, North Yorkshire. He gained a first-class degree in Education and Sociology from the University of Warwick. After finishing university at the age of 21, he was given the amazing opportunity of setting up an independent school just outside of Oxford. this makes him one of the youngest persons to ever set up a school in England. He continued in education, and setting up schools/ nurseries, globally for several years, but later switched to managing education technology platforms in Pearson’s learning technology division. He has enjoyed a varied career with his last role before Kinteract being VP – Digital Strategy at Barclays in London.

Take a moment to meet Shehzad and learn about Kinteract.

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After the Bell

JIB

A moment with

Who was your favourite teacher?

Why? My favourite teacher was Mr Tillitson at Highfield Middle School, who was my form tutor for Year 5. Mr Tillitson pretty much enacted the whole story of the Hobbit to us throughout the year. His passion and energy, along with his literary prowess, made a huge impact on me. He didn’t care about teaching us “stuff” or assessing us at the end of the term; instead, he was passionate about instilling a love for learning in all of us. As a result of his passion, I am able to recall his "lessons" from 30+ years ago, vividly!

Who or What inspired you to start Kinteract?

I was working at Pearson in London on two major initiatives; first, the Efficacy Framework that was being iterated and second reviewing our EdTech product portfolio as well as competitors for the new strategy.

Whilst undertaking the above, two main questions formulated; Why are most apps in the edtech space merely presenting academic data for students with no focus on skills and competencies; and why are most of these apps historical recorders in nature and not making use of data to inform on future progressive steps?

This inspired me to spend time researching and talking with colleagues and teachers. I then got together with my co-founders, Alex and Nahiem, to developed Kinteract.

After spending time with educators in the inception and design phase, we learnt more about; how EdTech products are age/stage/curriculum specific with no portability of the records moving with students as they move within the school, let alone

between schools. We also discovered that the assessment process in schools is broken and not fit for the 21st century. In many cases, assessment was merely a tick box process, and the data was all over the place. There was no aggregation and comparison between stages or assessment types.

Kinteract was developed to ensure this does not continue to be the case.

Share two major challenges that you faced when you started. How did you overcome them?

In the initial stages of introducing kinteract to schools, we had to work on shifting the paradigms of teachers.

Teachers were previously trained to use EdTech tools in one way, at Kinteract, we were introducing an entirely new way, so we faced some resistance. I am happy to say that, in the face of resistance, we stuck to our plans and it paid out dividends. We can now see paradigms shifting, and teachers are beginning to reap the benefits of using Kinteract in their schools.

The second challenge, that all three founders faced, was the fear of leaving established and well-paying careers, to enter the unfamiliar and uncertain startup world. The transition was interesting, to say the least, but extremely rewarding thus far and has enabled us all to grow in multiple dimensions. In hindsight, it was the best decision ever and more importantly, we're just getting started in delivering our mission to positively impact the lives of millions of learners.

What are the key things that every school should know about how Kinteract can help to make their processes easier?

First, we offer a product that is agnostic to age/stage/curricula and thus allows

After the Bell

the teacher to have continuity and portability of record. Kinteract enables a holistic view of the student.

We value teacher time and through 3 (that's right just 3) quick workflows; intelligent curriculum suggestions; hashtags; auto-grade indicators; data aggregations and iterative assessments, we save teachers many hours per week/term/year.

Kinteract provides live feedback. No one does real-time communication between teachers, students and parents the way Kinteract does.

How can schools prepare students to face the future?

Schools can assist students to prepare for the future by having a fluid approach to meeting individual students’ needs. The child has to be at the centre of everything the school does. The job of the school is to help to create “solid” human beings.

As Dorothy Sayers remarked in her seminal essay “it’s about the process of learning and the tools for learning and that’s where the focus should be”.

What are three fun activities that you do to relax and take your mind off work?

I’m a keen sportsman and thus leisure time is divided between playing golf, football and archery. I volunteer for an Oxford-based education charity where I manage the development of a handbook on delivering communitybased holistic education.

I am working on overcoming my phone addiction. Over the next academic year, I am also focused on improving my Arabic from basic to at least intermediate level.

Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019

49

con1nuing to increase, whilst the payments shrink further.

Finance

Other sources of funding for re1rement will typically come from either employment-rela alterna1vely, individually funded savings plans. Teachers based in the UK would par1cipate in Teachers’ Pension Scheme, but this no longer applies once you become an expat and for thos GCC, it is typically replaced by the end-of-service gratuity instead. In the UAE, this is worth 2 every year worked, rising to 30 days pay for every subsequent year, beyond the 5th year annivers

SECURING AND IMPROVING YOUR END-OF-SERVICE BENEFITS BY: PHILIP ROSE

F

For most expats, the gratuity has o;en been seen as a nice “leaving bonus”, but it doesn’t o;en

or many, the prospect starting to save as soon as possible For most expats, the gratuity has often in the context of being a significant contributor towards re1rement planning. For those on short of retirement may seem and the graph below demonstrates been seen as a nice “leaving bonus”, sufficiently far off and distant the differences for a range of scenarios but it doesn’t often get considered this is not ul1mately a big disaster, but the longer you stay abroad without any addi1onal plann that we don’t need to worry where the contributed amount is in the context of being a significant about it too much today, after all, there the same, but the time when the contributor towards retirement the bigger the hole in the re1rement fund becomes. There are also a lot of expats whose 3 year are plenty of other matters that might contributions were made varies planning. For those on short term seem more pressing, such as paying between those that “start early”, take postings, this is not ultimately a big turned into 10 years plus (this author included)! the rent or mortgage, changing the a “mid-term break” or just “start late”. disaster, but the longer you stay abroad car or perhaps where to go on holiday without any additional planning in next? Fundamental to the final outcome, is star1ng to save as soon as possible and the graph below Graph 1A support, the bigger the hole in the retirement fund becomes. There are 55 “Early investor” – contributes AED but the the differences a range scenarios where the contributed amount is the same, The reality is that our future for financial alsoof a lot of expats whose 3 year plan 10,000 pa for the first 10 yrs only wellbeing and self-sufficiency are somehow turned into 10 years plus then stops contributing. contribu1ons were made varies between those that “start early”, take a “mid-term break” or jus of increasing importance and (this author included)!

55 “Midterm break” – contributes AED unfortunately, cost, but they do not 10,000 pa for five years, stops for 10 tend to get as much of our attention Fundamental to the final outcome, is Graph 1A yrs, then resumes for 5 yrs. as they probably should. Given that state-provided retirement benefits and health resources around the world Graph 1A: THE BENEFITThe benefit of star1ng sooner OF STARTING SOONER are already strained by an ageing population and rising medical costs, 300,000 saving extra towards our retirement has never been more important.

150,000 For example, the retirement age for a UK state pension is steadily increasing and (subject to your date of birth) may be as high as 68 already, whilst its value has dropped to the equivalent of AED 3,400 per month. It would also be fair to presume that over the next couple of decades, as the demographic profile ages further, that the pressure on such benefits will only grow. So, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to expect to see the retirement age continuing to increase,GRAPH 1A whilst the payments shrink further.

•

0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Early investor

Mid term break

Late investor

“Early investor” – contributes AED 10,000 pa for the first 10 yrs only then stops contribu1ng.

Other sources of funding for retirement will come from • typically “Midterm break” – contributes AED 10,000 pa for five years, stops for 10 yrs, then resumes for 5 yrs. either employment-related savings or, alternatively, individually funded savings plans. Teachers based in the UK would participate in the UK based Teachers’ Pension Scheme, but this no longer applies once you become an expat and for those based in the GCC, it is typically replaced by the end-ofservice gratuity instead. In the UAE, this is worth 21 days’ pay for every year worked, rising to 30 days' pay for every subsequent year, beyond the 5th year anniversary.

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Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019

After the Bell

GRAPH 1B Finance Gratuity vs Savings Plan Value over GRAPH 1B: GRATUITY VS SAVINGS20 Years PLAN VALUE OVER 20 YEARS

55 “Late investor” – contributes nothing for 10 yrs and then AED 10,000 pa for last 10 yrs.

500,000

55 All assets assumed to be invested at an average return of 6% per annum.

250,000

There are two main reasons why 0 sole reliance on the gratuity is not 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 to be advised and the first is that a recent survey* found that 87% of Gratuity Savings Plan

UAE companies do not “provision” or “set aside” the funds for it, relying instead on monthly cash flow to cover GRAPH 1B - Assump1ons: 20 year 1me period with a salary of AED 15,000 PCM with a contribu1on rate of 5.8% ( payments as and when staff leave.

DIFC has indicated that it expects The Dubai International Financial This is 8.2% (> 5 yrs service). The growth rate on gratuity contribu1ons is nil, and on savings, plan assets are 6% per annum possible because whilst there is an all-in cost (including underlying Centre (or “DIFC”) is first out of the a legal obligation to “pay” the gratuity, investments) for their official savings blocks, having announced its intention there isn’t a reciprocal obligation plan of up to 1.5% per annum, whilst to replace gratuities with an employerto ensure it’s “funded”. This could other well known international funded savings plan for all 23,000 become an issue should an employer jurisdictions, such as Jersey in the plus DIFC based employees from 1st find itself in financial distress, and this Channel Islands, can offer schemes Jan 2020. Not to be left behind, the can happen even in the education for less than 1% per annum. Both Federal Authority of Government HR sector**. In all such situations, any of these outcomes are a significant have also submitted proposals to the individual or creditor of a company in level below what traditional expat UAE Federal Government, supporting default would find the money owed to individual savings plans cost and this broadly similar aims in the rest of the them to be at risk of non-payment. reduction in fee load, results in higher UAE, although any potential outcomes

However, there are changes underway to the gratuity system which will benefit expats ac moves towards the idea of replacing it with savings plans instead. A “savings plan” is sim version of a “pension”. Due to an absence of income tax, there is no relief on contribu1on but on the flip side there are then no restric1ons on accessing the funds (such as a minimum

The Dubai Interna1onal Financial Centre (or “DIFC”) is first out of the blocks, having announ net returns to investors. from their recommendations are not yet known***. replace gratui1es with an employer-funded savings plan for all 23,000 plus DIFC based emp From an employer perspective, these changes can also be viewed positively Ultimately, this could be good 2020. Not to be le; behind, the Federal Authority of Government HR have also submi<ed pr and whilst there is no legislative push news for expats, on the basis that outside of the DIFC yet, an increasing the security around end-of-serviceFederal Government, suppor1ng broadly similar aims in the rest of the UAE, although any number of companies are already benefits would dramatically improve starting to consider both ring-fencing by ensuring that the benefit becomes from their recommenda1ons are not yet known***.

Secondly, the maximum value of the gratuity is fixed by years of service and the link to salary. However, if the same level of contributions were to be invested, it would be expected that over time they may benefit from additional growth, resulting in an amount in excess of the sum of the contributions. This is shown in the next graph where in both cases the contributions put aside are the same, but in the savings plan it is presumed they achieve an average 6% per annum growth, whilst in the gratuity scenario there is no source of additional return.

both "funded" and "ring-fenced", safe from any employer interference or risk.

At the same time, employees may also benefit from investment growth in the value of the assets too.

the funds for existing gratuity benefits and offering savings plans to staff. For those that choose to engage in such schemes, it will also, likely, help with both recruitment and retention and enable further differentiation in what is already a competitive market for staff.

Overall, expats across the GCC should be encouraged that end-of-service benefits are making progress towards the broader legislative agenda and improvements are on the way.

Ul1mately, this could be good news for expats, on the basis that the security around end would drama1cally improve by ensuring that the benefit becomes both "funded" and "ring any employer interference or risk. At the same 1me, employees may also benefit from inv Using an employer-sponsored savings plan can also be more efficient than the value of the assets too. if individuals choose to go it alone

GRAPH 1B - Assumptions: 20 year time period with a salary of AED 15,000 PCM with a contribution rate of 5.8% (< 5 yrs service) rising to 8.2% (> 5 yrs service). The growth rate on gratuity contributions is nil, and on savings, plan assets are 6% per annum net.

and such a plan can be used as an alternative to gratuity or, as an interim step, could simply be structured to help facilitate employees to save on a voluntary basis, funded by deduction from salary. In either scenario, the employees benefit from lower charges than an individual savings plan would incur, such as financial adviser charges and bank transfer fees, whilst the corporate savings plan can also be more inclusive by removing minimum monthly contribution limits that might otherwise exclude lower earners.

Using an employer-sponsored savings plan can also be more efficient than if individuals ch and such a plan can be used as an alterna1ve to gratuity or, as an interim step, could simp References: help facilitate employees to save on a voluntary basis, funded by deduc1on from salary. In

However, there are changes underway to the gratuity system which will benefit expats across the GCC, with moves towards the idea of replacing it with savings plans instead. A “savings plan” is simply a more flexible version of a “pension”. Due to an absence of income tax, there is no relief on contributions into the scheme, but on the flip side there are then no restrictions on accessing the funds (such as a minimum retirement age).

*Willis Towers Watson, End of Service Benefits in the Middle East, 2018 ** Khaleej Times, “School in Dubai to shut down, over 200 students affected”, 27/06/2019 ***FAHR Press Release, “FAHR considers mechanisms for creating a savings fund for expatriate employees”, 09/05/2019

Philip Rose has worked in financial services for over 20 years and is the founder and a director of Halwyn (www.halwyn.com), which builds and distributes both retail and corporate savings products. Halwyn is licensed and regulated in the UAE by the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority (license number: 301040) and also in the UK by the FCA (license number: 816564).

After the Bell

Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019

51

Personal Development

HOW CAN TEACHERS PREPARE THEIR MINDS FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR? BY: LISA FÁTIMAH

Mind Ready.

In Motion.

From Ocean To Ocean.

I

want you to do something right now. Please write one (1) sentence that conveys how you are feeling at this very moment.

Take a moment to close your eyes. Listen to the wind inside of you. When you are ready, speak and write the words that describe this very moment. Please tell the truth. Use whatever adjectives come to mind. Share with yourself.

Now, clench your fists very tight.

Tighter. Slowly inhale and release. As you release, visualize how you would like to feel throughout the school year – throughout your life. Remember, I said, “feel,” not “do” or “accomplish,” feel.

Lately, feelings have gotten a bad rap.

Feelings are viewed as inconsequential,

rhetorical, mindfulness mantras with little value beyond social media clickbait. However, without being in touch with our feelings (the conduit for our thoughts), we become robotic, and at times, toxic. Be aware of the things, thoughts, people and ideas that give and take away your oxygen - your energy.

“EVERY THOUGHT WE THINK IS CREATING OUR FUTURE,” said Louis L. Hay. This you can do and will do either consciously or unconsciously.

Let’s choose to think positive thoughts and create dynamic futures.

BEFORE the mountains of paper work, rules, syllabi, textbooks, lesson plans, supply purchases, schedules and location changes inundate your life, DECIDE how you want to feel during any unforeseen personal or professional crisis.

Affirm: “I will lead. I shall succeed.”

We awaken our platinum powers by acting as if we have already achieved what we desire.

One way for you to do this is to create your own algorithms that will help you to anticipate challenges and chaos and address the unknown. This is not selfish, this is self-preservation. We know that outcomes cannot be fully predicted, nor can we determine the behavior of others. What we can do is to have solution systems in place, for ourselves.

Computational neuroscientist Dr. Frances Chance, principal member of the technical staff in the Data-Driven and Neural Computing department at Sandia National Laboratories, is currently examining ways in which dragon flies can help improve missile defense systems. Based in California and New Mexico, USA, Chance’s research explores the accuracy of dragonflies to catch their prey. In an interview with Tech Xplore, Chance states, "I try to predict how neurons are wired in the brain and understand what kinds of computations those neurons are doing, based on what we know about the behavior of the animal or what we know about the neural responses.”

As dragonflies reportedly catch 95% of their prey, being able to anticipate how their behaviour, the neurons in their brains are wired, may help Chance to apply this same knowledge to defense systems.

Imagine being mind-ready and being able to predict 95% of what could happen at the schoolhouse? How much more prepared, relaxed or ready would you be if you’re able to detect and visualize deflecting difficulties with aplomb.

I believe you can, by being mind-ready and flexible. Seasoned and freshman

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After the Bell

Personal Sharing Good Development Practice

educators can prepare by pulling their platinum powers centerfield.

Visualizing and creating countermaneuvers will help when addressing multiple intelligences, behavioral opportunities (?), yep!, and handling complex demands. The answer lies in simplicity. Simplicity is key.

Choose to be positive. Choose to see the lessons in ALL experiences.

Choose not to be stressed by increased demands from work, students, parents and family. Choose to be flexible.

Choose to take GREAT care of yourself.

Choose to SCHEDULE nap times.

Choose not to consume yourself with anger due to someone else’s ignorance. Choose to forgive yourself when you’re not being your best self.

“In the next moment, I shall be better. I release the negativity of this situation.”

Choose to say “NO” when needed and with no explanation(s). Choose NOT to be afraid to make mistakes. Choose to think the thoughts that will help you to feel and be who you were born to be. Choose to be patient with yourself.

For worry truly is like a rocking chair, it will give you something to do, but it won’t take you anywhere.”

Award winning Aerospace Engineer and NASA Rocket Scientist Olympia LePoint shares that “every decision that you make reshapes your brain. Our thinking defines our life. When we can take hold of our thought and see it for what it is and change it and transform it to convert it into an energy that unleashes a brain power that allows us to change the situation, that my friend is how we change our lives and that’s how we change everyone else’s.“ " Negotiate a river by following its bends. Enter a country by following its customs." Cambodian proverb: Educators who are visiting a new country or school for the first time, may want to keep this proverb in mind as it shall serve you well. Please do not negatively compare the children you’re teaching to those in your native country. Prepare your mind to see that you are part of a great honorable

adventure and you have accepted a position to teach, learn, share and grow. And you shall.

Remember, you are the difference.

There is no other you on the planet.

There never has been and there never will be. THIS is your super power.

Prepare your mind to receive the gems of your journey, to be challenged, to rise and to be flexible - like water.

How Can Teachers Prepare Their MINDS For A New School Year?

Anticipate the unknown, bouts of discomfort and triumph. Think the thoughts that will get you to how you want to feel. Your positive thoughts are your valuable assets that will grow your portfolio. Ready your mind by playing the music that elevates your soul. Take care of and believe in yourself. Envision doing well and you shall. You may start now.

Lisa Fátimah is a globally recognized bilingual educator, writer, broadcaster and gifted native English speaker from Brooklyn, New York, USA. By offering exclusive multi-sensory LAPTOP & LEARN online tutorial instruction, Lisa empowers Dyslexic, ADHD, ESOL, at-risk and gifted students. Lisa’s Email: 1skyscholars@ gmail.com; https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/1-Sky-Scholars

After the Bell

Term 1 Sep - Dec 2019

53

Travel

TOP TIPS TO HELP YOU TRAVEL ON A BUDGET

T

hings are changing in the Middle East, and everyone seems to be on a budget nowadays, but if you are like me and live for your holidays, I have some top tips that will help you to continue to enjoy travelling without breaking the bank.

1. Collect air miles Everyone might have heard of air miles, and chances are, you are already a member of one or more air miles programmes with different airlines.

Collecting air miles on just one airline is, in my opinion, the slower way to get to a free or discounted flight, instead, I recommend joining a programme which allows you to collect air miles which can be used on any airline. In the Middle East, Airmiles.me is an excellent programme to join, as it will enable you to collect air miles on your everyday purchases in selected shops.

If you are not scared of credit cards, then HSBC bank offers an advanced master card which allows you to earn air miles every time you use it. I use this credit card exclusively for all my purchases, and I pay it off monthly. So far, I have been able to redeem several free tickets on the airlines of my choice. The only thing to be aware of is that the interest rate is quite high, so make sure to always clear your balance when the bill is due. If you mostly travel on Etihad or Emirates airlines, several banks offer cards on which you can gain miles on either of these two airlines, every time you spend.

2. Look for a deal Sites like Groupon are increasingly offering discounted holidays to various destinations. The only drawback is that as educators we can only travel in the high season when these deals might not be available, but if you are flexible

with your destination and flights, you might still be able to bag a bargain.

The trick is always to check the deal sites and to act fast. The Entertainer, which is an app offering two for one deal on hotels, is also another great option. Use a two for one deal on hotels with the Entertainer and a budget airline like Fly Dubai, and you have a winning combination. There are also travel companies like Holidayme. com and The Holiday Factory, which offer affordable packaged holidays to various destinations.

3. Travel with a group Many educators travel together; they share transport, tours and accommodation, which then makes the trip more affordable. Can't find a group? Start one, all it takes is a post on your social media, stating where and when you want to go, while inviting others who would like to come along to get in touch with you. The advantage of group travel is that you are able to take advantage of group rates on flights, hotels and tours. Check out groups on Facebook like; Lovin Dubai Travellers and Abu Dhabi Travelers where you can meet likeminded people and ask for advice on various destinations.

4. Consider a staycation If you cannot afford to fly and travel is an itch that you must scratch, then a staycation might be just what you need. There are plenty of exciting places close by or a short drive away that you can explore. Check out the neighbouring cities, emirates and countries. Get a group of your friends and rent a villa by the beach or a cottage in the mountains. Don't be the person who spends many years living in the Middle East without exploring all the fantastic places that are right on your doorsteps.

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After the Bell

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