EDUCATION Supplement February 2020 issue

February 2020

Learning in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Major Education Trends to Influence Schools in 2020

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he education landscape is transforming before our very eyes, where teaching approaches are becoming more student-centered and classroom designs are becoming more flexible in schools to allow for more collaborative learning.

With the rapid growth of the educational technology industry, teaching methods today are also relying more and more on technologies like artificial intelligence and even robots.

In this era of disruptive technologies, what’s in store for your school in 2020? Here’s a look at some key education trends that will shape and influence schools in the coming year.

It allows for more flexibility, particularly for parents who want to homeschool their children but are unable in one way or another to do so.

Mike McShane, director of national research at US education reform organisation EdChoice wrote in Forbes: “For many families, the costs and obligations related to homeschooling are simply too burdensome. Some parents don’t have the confidence in their own abilities to teach every subject to their children. Others cannot devote themselves to homeschooling full-time. Perhaps most of all, many homeschooling families want their children to socialise with other children to learn how to share, cooperate and get along with others.

“Enter hybrid homeschooling, a model where children split their time between homeschool and a more traditional schooling environment. This could be three days at home and two days at school, two days at home and three days at school, part of the day at home and part of the day at schools, or a variety of other options.”

Augmented Reality (AR)

Artificial Intelligence Learning The role of the teacher in schools is slowly changing. Instead of feeding information to students and lecturing from the front of the room, teachers are playing a facilitating role instead – guiding students towards thinking for themselves and carrying out projects and activities for students to work on in groups.

AR is becoming popular in schools, allowing more three-dimensional experiences that bring abstract concepts to life for students.

This interactive experience adds digital elements by using a camera on a smartphone to a live view, such as Snapchat filters.

Assisting teachers in this new role is artificial intelligence (AI). According to Online Education for Higher Ed, AI use in US classrooms will grow by 47.5 percent in the next three years.

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The technology is predicted to allow teachers more time to focus on more human-specific teaching skills like emotional intelligence and creativity. AI will take over the time-consuming and monotonous tasks like checking papers for plagiarism or tests.

Hybrid homeschooling Parents who choose to homeschool their kids have plenty of support nowadays thanks to technology. If they have gaps in their knowledge or are unable to teach a subject effectively, they can use online modules or face-to-face classes in a more traditional schooling environment to supplement their education.

This is known as hybrid homeschooling, and it’s predicted to become more popular in years to come.

In classrooms, AR animated content could be a tool to motivate children to study. They can understand topics better if extra data – such as fun facts, historical information or visual 3D models – are added to classroom lessons. Or when they can scan parts of their books, there are texts, audio snippets or videos from teachers that pop up.

Virtual Reality (VR) Compared to AR, VR is more immersive, where students can be transported to different worlds with the use of VR goggles such as Google Lens.

It is also becoming more widely used in schools, as the industry is seeing major growth with heavy investment around the world, leading to a bigger market and more affordable products in the edtech sector.

With VR, students can experience what they read beyond word descriptions and book illustrations.

Tricking the body into thinking it’s a new place, VR tools like Google Expeditions allow students to visit cultural sites around the world without ever leaving the classroom or even go back in time to a historical setting such as the land of the dinosaurs.

EDUCATION 3

Learning Maths

by Seeing it as a Story An English teacher co-teaching trigonometry asked students to explain an equation to a child and to turn discrete problems into a story.

By Amy Schwartzbach-Kang

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had always hated math. Now I suddenly found myself teaching trigonometry.

I was an English teacher in Chicago Public Schools with certification in special education, and when my school was facing a shortage of certified special education teachers, I was pulled in mid-year to coteach a junior-level trigonometry class with the math teacher.

My students struggled with the calculations, thinking they just weren’t good at math. Like me, they hated it. What was the point in working and reworking these calculations? What were we trying to figure out anyway? And I originally agreed with them.

Yet trig slowly became my favorite class of the day. After spending years teaching English and reading, I was being challenged to move beyond what I had always been doing. When you’re new to something, you have a fresh perspective. You’re willing to take risks. You’re willing to try anything because you don’t know how something should be done.

I worked with my co-teacher to create a series of supplementary lessons through a different lens to let students experience personal meaning and creativity in their math.

don’t fully know something unless you can break it down so simply that you can explain it to a young child.

That’s the task I gave my students. We started by reading Ferrie’s board books to see how simple language and illustrations could be used to explain complex subjects.

Next, students chose a multistep equation they had initially struggled with. Working in pairs or small groups, they talked through their thinking and the steps needed to solve the equation. Their partners were encouraged to ask questions and get clarification so the ideas were explained at the simplest level.

Using the books as models, students revised and wrote down their explanations to make them so simple that they could be explained to a young child. After they wrote out their explanations, my co-teacher and I challenged them to create short books using card stock and colored pencils.

Students worked with their small groups to talk through ideas and illustrate their books. If they struggled, they were able to pair with another student to create a book together.

Sharing with other students helped them explain ideas in new ways, which helped them develop a deeper understanding. Students were pushed to think metacognitively in order to explain their thinking and their process to others, and the class as a whole gained access to varying perspectives in math by hearing their peers’ thought processes. And they were all excited to see how they could use writing and art skills in an authentic way in math class.

Putting the ‘story’ in ‘story problem’

Explaining it to a baby I found that many students felt frustrated with math because they needed to come to one single correct answer.

This was especially hard with my diverse learners, who struggled with multistep equations. Instead of focusing on coming to the correct answer, my students and I focused on the process of getting there.

I brought in some books from Chris Ferrie’s Baby University series—books like General Relativity for Babies and Optical Physics for Babies. The idea is that you

The interesting thing often overlooked in math class is that it already includes stories and real-life connections, in the form of story problems. But the story problems are generally discrete—each is an individual unit, and they don’t tell a larger story.

Another issue is that the real-life elements usually don’t relate to things that are real issues in students’ lives. They might include calculating area so that someone can buy new carpet for their home. Or a story problem might be about landscapers planting a new tree, and needing to calculate the length of wire required to support the tree. These might be things the students will do later as adults, but they’re not current issues in the teens’ experience.

I used story problems as an opportunity to connect math to students’ lives by creating fictional math-based stories. First, students would work in small groups to go through the chapter in their math textbook and collect the story problems, writing them on index cards. Next, students would lay out the cards to see the questions as a whole: Out of 10 or more story problems in the chapter, were there five similar ones they could group together? What problemsolving skills were called for to work on these problems?

Looking at these five unconnected stories, students thought why they needed to solve them, and used their reasons to come up with some type of connected ideas. They created backstories for the names in the problems, in the process turning them into more developed characters. They identified challenges or reasons why the characters needed to solve the problem.

Finally, they combined the story problems they had created and developed a longer narrative to connect these scenarios, an overarching story rooted in authentic math story problems. Survival was a common theme: One group wrote about a zombie apocalypse and another imagined an alien invasion, situations in which characters needed to solve the problems and employ skills that would help them survive. It’s true that these stories were not rooted in students’ actual lives, but they were more engaging than rug purchases or landscaping.

When they used creative writing skills to develop math story problems about things they were interested in, students became more engaged. They wanted to read the other groups’ stories and work on the math in them because they had a real investment in the outcome. The stories helped students find motivation because they created an answer to the question “Why do we need to learn this?” Courtesy: edutopia.org.

EDUCATION 5

Three Classroom Apps to Prioritize Your Day

By Jacqui Murray

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et’s face it. As teachers, we juggle an exhausting schedule of parent conferences, administrative tasks, and specialized student needs. We take work home evenings and weekends and are often forced to choose between family and job. It seems like we are always allocating a finite quantity of time to meet seemingly infinite needs. Like so many of the teachers I know, I want to be more organized, work more efficiently, complete tasks faster, and prioritize needs. So I look for tools that energize my teaching by making the rest of my life simpler.

How It Helps I polled my teacher friends and trolled Twitter to find out the most popular ways educators use IFTTT. And the winning recipes are: n

IF I post a photo on Instagram THEN share it on Twitter.

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IF it’s going to snow tomorrow THEN text me.

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IF I am near home THEN turn on my house lights.

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IF I can’t find my phone THEN find it for me.

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IF I have homework THEN remind me to complete it.

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IF my iPad (laptop, phone) battery is low THEN remind me to recharge it.

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IF I’m in class THEN mute my phone (or iPad).

They save time.

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IF I cross a certain intersection THEN tell my mom (spouse, dad) that I’m on my way.

They make access from digital devices easy and intuitive.

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IF a student sends homework via email THEN automatically file it in the right place.

I love these three apps, because they meet all of the qualifications on my wish list: n

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They are simple to use and perform flawlessly, even when my mind is somewhere else— like on the child across the room or the admin peeking in my door!

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Flipgrid

But the most popular use of all is to teach coding. Students learn to apply if-then statements (and conditional formatting) to the real world, not just math class. Without knowing they are doing so, they learn sequencing, problem-solving, and editing. If one of your goals is to create lifelong learners, IFTTT should be a must-have app for you.

Flipgrid is a freemium discussion app where teachers (or even students) post a discussion topic via video, and students respond with a short video. The post may include a recording, an attachment, decorations, or any number of other tools to share their knowledge.

Responses show up in a grid format that’s easy to view and fun to read for both students and teachers.

Screencast-o-matic One of the easiest to use and most popular screen casting programs in classrooms, the freemium (free with paid extras) Screencast-o-matic helps you create instructional videos from your computer screen. Its free version is available online, requires no registration, and records for up to 15 minutes. The free version also offers more options for saving as well as the ability to store videos on Screencast-o-matic’s server.

How It Helps This app is a wonderful method of differentiating for varied student needs. Here are just a few ways to use it in your class: Ask questions about reading material or the lesson plan as a formative assessment to measure student understanding of the topic.

Let students pose questions about material that classmates can answer—a backchannel approach to learning.

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Have students share a quick video about themselves at the start of a new school year.

How It Helps Educators love screencasting for themselves and students. Here are some favorite uses: n

Record procedures and answer common questions.

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Give students audio-visual feedback.

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Record lessons that students can access anytime, anywhere.

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Make a video to help the substitute teacher.

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Provide video evidence of class activities in a flipped classroom.

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Create a live recording during a class activity or a student presentation.

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Share student-created content as part of homework or a class activity.

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Provide training videos for both faculty and students.

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Offer a fun, unique approach to digital storytelling.

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Extend a classroom discussion so all students can offer their ideas, even the shy ones.

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Brainstorm on a topic to collect a lot of ideas before drawing a conclusion.

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IFTTT The free IFTTT app allows users to automate webbased functions for a huge variety of tasks, using what IFTTT calls “recipes”—an if-then statement that causes something to happen if something else happens first: If this happens then that happens. It may sound a bit geeky, but IFTTT is intuitive, friendly, and will quickly become one of your favorite time-saving, life-organizing, classroom management apps.

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These three apps will organize, maximize, and prioritize your day with nominal effort and no extra time on your part (well, you do have to download them). Do you have favorites that have made a difference in your daily schedule? Tell me about them at my Twitter handle below.

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K–18 technology for 30 years.

Doha British School Ain Khaled and Al Wakra Campuses

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ur core purpose is that every young person should gain as much as possible from our school, based on our belief that all learners can, need and want to achieve.

Doha British School is proud of its standing as one of the best British curriculum international school in Qatar and the Gulf region. Our teachers are almost all UK qualified and trained. We have a number of Arabic teachers and Spanish teachers who teach languages. They all possess professional teaching qualifications.

All of our teachers are provided with professional development opportunities that enhance and improve their skills.

has invested heavily in new resources and facilities. Our new all-weather football pitch and basketball courts are evidence of our determination to keep providing the best for our fantastic students and wonderfully supportive parents.

Our community of learners, teachers and parents, blend well to ensure the very best possible outcomes for every child who comes through our doors. We know how critical a good, rounded, education is. We know how we can improve the life chances of young people. We know failure is not an option and we know that all of our students have the potential to excel in their own right.

Our commitment is to ensure that is exactly what they do. If you would like your child to become a member of the DBS family, contact the admissions team at our Ain Khaled campus (Preschool to Year 13) or Al Wakra campus (Pre-school to Year 11).

Our school is accredited by the Council of International Schools, British Schools of the Middle East, Qatar National Schools Accreditation and British Schools Overseas. The latter accreditation judged us to be an ‘Outstanding’ school. A fitting tribute indeed.

We are an ambitious school. We will always strive to improve our standards no matter what examination results we achieve or plaudits we get from the inspectorates. The school

Tours are conducted weekly by our senior leaders: Jordan Davies, Head of Primary at DBS Ain Khaled, conducts a tour every Thursday at 9am

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Jasbinder Johal, Head of Secondary at DBS Ain Khaled, conducts a tour every Thursday at 10am

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Steven Miles, Vice Principal at DBS Al Wakra, conducts a tour every Thursday at 9am.

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EDUCATION 7

Living up to its promises

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he Hamilton International School is Doha’s newest and most exciting premier school, situated on a magnificent campus in Mesaimeer, with world-class facilities and an innovative international curriculum.

Opening a new school is a huge challenge, but having only opened in August last year, the school is already very proud of the successes they have seen in this short period of time.

At the core of Hamilton’s innovative curriculum are three respected international curricular that work together to excite children and prepare them for later examinations. The International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC), the International Primary Curriculum (IPC), and the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) together provide a range of ageappropriate and exciting learning opportunities. The Middle School will open next year with Grades 6, 7 and 8 (Years 7, 8 and 9). Hamilton’s curriculum provides many opportunities for students to excel and all our students including gifted and talented students are continuously gently pushed beyond their boundaries.

Hamilton has been focusing on a number of areas to ensure they fulfil the promises they have made to their school community. Already, a strong culture has been established around the school’s values: Caring for Ourselves; Caring for Others; and Caring for Our Environment, which underpin everything the school does.

The enthusiasm and passion of the students is clearly evident – children are coming into the school every day excited to learn. Hamilton’s ethos is Amazing Learning, where the focus is not just on what they are learning now, but what they can do to get better. Student progress so far is remarkable - all students have undergone baseline assessments, comparing where they were when they first came into the school, and where they are now. Hamilton has high expectations for its students, and all have significantly improved, particularly in the areas of literacy, reading, spelling and math.

Hamilton’s extracurricular activities and after school activities program is the most extensive in Qatar, which means students are given many opportunities to learn and grow outside of school as well, with international coaches teaching a vast array of sports and activities.

H20, an internationally reputed swimming school, provides swimming as an after-school activity and within the school’s

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own physical education curriculum; all of Hamilton’s students will leave the school knowing how to swim, and able to ride a bike. The school also has a commercial gym in their recreation center which is open to the school community, so parents can do the school run, fit in a workout and then catch up for a coffee in the on-site Starbucks (currently open in the afternoon from 3:30pm daily).

Hamilton has the largest school-based theatre in Doha, and students have been performing on stage in front of large audiences, which has really increased their confidence. The school’s music program, where students can learn a variety of instruments, also provides opportunities for students to learn about all aspects of an orchestra and choir.

Parent’s general feedback about the school and its teachers has been very positive - surveys have been sent to parents asking if they would recommend Hamilton - 75% answered positively in December, and this moved up to 85% in January. In a recent job advertisement for a new teacher, the school received 250 applications, a testament to how sought after the school is becoming. These surveys form part of Hamilton’s continuous improvement program and the feedback the school receives from parents is invaluable in ensuring it lives up to the high expectations of its school community.

About the International Schools Partnership The Hamilton International School is part of the International Schools Partnership (ISP), including Park House English School, one of Doha’s oldest and most respected schools.

ISP is a leading learning-centered international group of private schools that provide high quality education for 2 - 18-year-olds. They are a growing group with schools located in the UK, the USA, Spain, Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia, and Mexico, currently with 42 schools, 40,000 students and 6,000 staff located across the globe.

At the core of ISP’s educational philosophy is Amazing Learning, where the individuality of every student is embraced. ISP supports student learning through robust, children-focused curricula, and enriching extracurricular programs. Amazing Learning happens when students surprise themselves by getting better to a level beyond which they never thought possible.

Whether through mentoring, enrichment or personalized study, each student’s gifts and talents are recognized so that they amaze themselves and inspire others.

ISP also offers unique opportunities for secondary students. The Model United Nations conferences are held throughout the world and attended by thousands of students. The conferences are designed to help students improve their debating, research skills, leadership qualities and public speaking confidence. The ISP Buddy Exchange Program enables reciprocal exchanges between ISP schools for students aged between 14-17 years of age, offering students amazing and diverse learning opportunities within a safe and secure environment. We also have several summer schools and camps held throughout our ISP network of schools which are on offer to students.

Middle School opening in September 2020 The Middle School will open next year with Grades 6, 7 and 8 (Years 7, 8 and 9), and incorporates the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) which is a challenging, internationally-minded and concept-focused curriculum. The IMYC encourages creative and critical thinking skills in a thematic-based curriculum to develop active and engaged learners.

“With a focus on learning, nurturing a warm and welcoming environment where children feel safe, valued and happy, wonderful teachers and world-class facilities, Hamilton’s future is bright.”

Terry Senior - Founding Principal

EDUCATION 9

Qatar National Library A Bedrock of Learning and Education

By Safvana Yasmine

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couple of years ago, Tuffail al-Ansari found himself standing in the middle of an arena of books sniffing the scents of fresh binds, engulfed by a babel of school-going kids. Touring the Qatar National Library, Ansari, a non-reader, was quite surprised when he stumbled upon books on his favourite topic – automobiles. In 2018, the teenager Ansari turned himself into a bookworm. Since then, every month, he religiously visits the library to flip through his favourite automobile books.

Like Ansari, scores of youngsters and adults pass through the gates of the Qatar National Library (QNL) to discover the realm of learning. Interestingly, the place has over 165,575 registered members. “We receive a large number of visitors during our opening hours.

Evening hours and weekends are relatively busier.

While we do not take count of daily users, 1,220,738 visitors have come through our doors since we opened to the public, with 677,023 in 2019 alone,” said Abeer Al Kuwari, Director of Research and Learning Services, QNL.

“It all began with ‘Read’: Unfolding the Arabs’ History.”

With the advantage of Doha Metro Green Line, linking all major urban points in the country, a noticeable change in the diversity of patrons visiting the library has been noted. “The number of visits has grown consistently since the doors of the library have been opened to the public. This reflects the increasingly conscious acknowledgment of the library as a hub of creative, educational, and social activities,” Kuwari added.

No ‘shushes’ here A boisterous metropolitan gaming extravaganza combined with a flamboyant theatre occupying the

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centre stage might not be every librarians’ idea of a welcome backdrop to their bookshelves. But not every library is conceived like the traditional stacked away dusty bookshelves in an underlit chamber.

Bustling with kids, lost in the varicoloured scintillating 100,000 hardbacks and paperbacks along with many electronic resources specifically designed for kids, the Children’s Library is an ideal space for early learners to develop skills and habits that they require to become active learners. The structure in itself is a place where people can come together and learn together, a place that could be noisy, where people can learn by seeing, hearing, reading and doing all kinds of things.

“We think of our library as a noisy place, a place to express themselves however they feel. We believe in learning through play. The toys are here to assist the cognitive development of kids along with their passion for reading,” says the Librarian, Senior Children’s Library. Apparently, this building takes pleasure in these abrasions, combining the two extremes of silence and noise.

Apart from children, the library accommodates parents to help them in navigating the world of early education, which includes storytelling and reading to children workshops, and sessions on how to best choose appropriate books for young readers. And

Did You Know?

– The shell-like structure of QNL resembles two square pieces of paper folded diagonally at all the corners.

- The membership is free for all Qatar holders, and if you are a kid, you can check out up to 10 books in one go!

- The Library’s building is 45,000-square-meter, and can fit two Boeing 747s inside!

- You can borrow books between libraries in Doha through Document Delivery Service (DDS) of QNL. - QNL is the 1st national library built in this millennium.

- Also a tech-hub, QNL is an inclusive library with assistive technology, theatre, music studio, museum, gaming centers and much more.

- QNL has a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) book sorter system.

- The display cases are climate controlled to preserve the books and manuscripts.

round the clock, you will find the smiling faces of the librarians all set to make it easier for children and the entire family to ensure that these piles of letters are a part of their everyday lives.

From static to dynamic The exceptional, open environment for learning and discovery here at Qatar National Library, recognizes the importance of lifelong perseverance in gaining knowledge. The year-round packed calendar continuously engages the visitors with a variety of programs that provide learning opportunities for people from all walks of life and all ages in Qatar. The interactive set-up engages the patrons to make use of the highest value of facilities coming from sharing research outcomes, knowledge and technology in a public realm.

Last year, the library organized over 800 events and welcomed everyone in the community, including children and young adults, researchers, students of all levels, parents, educators, people with disabilities, and the general public to be a part of the learning process.

Some of these are recurring events, such as the monthly book clubs and Qatar Philharmonic concerts, the weekly Knitting and Crochet Circle, the Qatari Authors’ Forum, and the Science Book Forum. Others are developed by the librarians and focus on monthly themes or around events of wider importance, such as

Qatar National Day, the holy month of Ramadan, and events related to Qatar’s Years of Culture with friendly nations.

According to Kuwari, as Qatar marks Year of Culture between Qatar and France this year, a number of events are in the planning phase. The events will range from public lectures, an exhibition and other programs of cultural significance to both nations, Qatar and France.

Marking the millennium Given the long tradition of loving written words, Qataris often imagine vast possibilities for innovative growth that others would consider unorthodox when it comes to learning. That is what happened a couple of years ago when Rem Koolhas from the land of tulips gave the vision of Qatar Foundation to build an empire of learning, a structure. According to the Dutch architect, the design was envisaged in such a manner that a person who enters the library finds himself in the centre of the library and from that vantage point can actually see in one glance all the terraces occupied by books rather than people, like an arena.

the reflective ceiling of the library is designed to distribute daylight in every corner of the building.

Overhauling the clichés, the amphitheater of books stands tall to make a statement. The library in itself is a tribute to the enduring importance of the written word.

Since the 1970s, Qatar’s economy has been driven by its vast oil and gas reserves. However, these resources will start to shrink eventually and the country is in touch with the reality that knowledge is power, and freedom to access information is essential to its formation. Qatar National Library is part of a plan to move the economy to one based largely on knowledge and education, a destination for those who long for inspiration and thriving. Hence, the printed word is key to Qatar’s future!

The elevated terraces, an allegory for the elevation of a person by reading and learning, contain 600 shelves distributed in three tiers, accommodating books of the main collection, at the Library. Employing the relationship with the light as the guiding principle,

EDUCATION 11

The Importance of Choice

By Simon Porter, Compass International School

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here are many ways to identify a good international school, and whilst many schools will have international staff, an international student body and an international curriculum, few can offer truly meaningful partnerships and a true choice of pathways to enter top Universities.

Compass International School’s ground-breaking collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the best universities in the world, falls into this category. MIT provide Compass students with unique challenges to develop their technological and thinking skills throughout the school year. They also provide training for Compass staff and provide opportunities for Compass students to visit MIT to take part in student events. Compass’ collaborations do not stop there.

Their Music, Dance and Drama curriculum is written by The Juilliard School, the world-renowned performing arts conservatory. Compass is the only school in Doha to offer this curriculum. Juilliard artists visit the school each term, and curriculum specialists visit the school to offer training and advice to teachers on a regular basis.

Parents send their children to international schools to seek entry to the world’s top universities. Whilst most schools can offer only one pathway, via either the British style A-Level or the International Baccalaureate, Compass’ opening of their new state of the art Themaid campus mean that they can now offer both internationallyrecognised qualifications. Students and parents in Year 11 receive intense counselling and information sessions to enable them to make the best choice for them. They can then move between the campus of their choice to do the qualification with best chance of getting them into the top institutions. Compass’ highly trained international staff will then give them the best opportunity of entering the university of their choice by choosing the most beneficial choice of subjects and qualifications. Top universities demand a fully balanced education in addition to excellent examinations results, and Compass’ unique collaborations with the best institutions in the world offers the best pathway to these goals.

Compass International School is now offering A-Levels for the 2020/21 Academic Year, in addition to the IB Diploma. Find out how your child can succeed inside and beyond the classroom at cisdoha.com

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Every day is an open day at Compass International School. Contact our Admissions Team today for a personalised tour at any of our four campuses around Doha.

Simon Porter is the Director of Quality and Staff Development and Head of Secondary, Themaid Campus Compass International School. He is a Times Education Supplement “Subject Genius” for Science and contributed to Professor Deborah Eyre’s recent book on High Performance Learning.

How do you Measure Success in School?

By Philip Bradley

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eing reflective is a critical personal and organisational skill. At the Swiss School, it is important we reflect on our successes and also establish aspirational goals that will make us the best we can be for students and learning as we move forward.

This year has seen many important milestones and metrics that are easy to quantify. We opened the year by celebrating our triple IB authorisations (PYP, MYP, DP), welcoming 30 new teachers and 300 new students.

Currently there are over 700 students, representing 70 different nationalities, speaking 35 languages; this measure of internationalism is certainly a cause for celebration even though it brings complexity! Our new IB Diploma students have also brought a clear future focus to the campus with global college and university applications approaching.

SISQ continues to expand structurally and in August we opened 20 new learning spaces.

article with some easy to measure numbers of which we are proud, but ultimately the success of SISQ or any organisation depends upon the degree to which we all live and breath our purpose or vision. At SISQ our vision is to develop learners who are Fulfilled, Inspired and Prepared; achieving that vision requires us to commit to what we will not do, as much as to what we will do. We need to be open-minded and reflective; we need to understand that even as adults there is a need to learn, unlearn and relearn.

We must not miss the point.

As tempting as it is to focus on some of these data points we have also spent time on some very important philosophical thinking, thinking that defines the SISQ culture. For example, we considered the following quote from Edmund Burke.

His teaching background is in geography, earth science and physical education. As an administrator Philip has spent a lot of time establishing strong learning focused teams with a focus on IB, curriculum development, assessment, grading and social emotional learning projects.

Of course at times we measure success against academic expectations but it is vital we recognise skills and dispositions such as grit, honesty, empathy, focus and kindness. Developing these “soft skills” is known to increase success in school and life beyond.

If you have never visited SISQ I would welcome you to one of our open days or school tours.

“Success is the only infallible measure of worth to vulgar minds.”

Burke, the Anglo-Irish statesman, was obviously provoked into making his comment two hundred and fifty years ago by a world that was sadly misaligning its values or simply missing the point. His quote is a powerful reminder to schools to make sure that our definition of success is authentic and driven by our core beliefs and not just easy to measure numbers. Indeed I started this

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Admissions for September 2020 are now open.

Interviews and assessments are being conducted at the moment – only limited places available!

About the Author Philip is the Head of School at the Swiss International School in Qatar (SISQ). He has been involved in International Education for over 30 years; prior to joining SISQ, he served as the High School Principal at the International School Bangkok. He has previously held administrative and teaching positions in Peru, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, France and Wales.

‘I Didn’t Know It Had a Name’

Secondary Traumatic Stress and Educators

By Tim Walker

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ot too long ago, many educators who complained of burnout were probably greeted with a collective shrug from school leaders.

Teacher exhaustion or stress have often been dismissed as signs of weakness and an inability to cope. With schools providing little in the way of support, the burden was always on educators to deal with whatever was dragging them down.

Although this scenario still plays out in too many schools, school districts are becoming more aware and sympathetic to the pressures teachers face in school every day and the adverse impact it has on the profession and students. This acknowledgement leads to – hopefully, eventually – strategies and programs designed to support educators.

Experts caution, however, that policymakers resist a once-size-fits-all approach. Yes, educators are burned out, they are stressed, they are fatigued, they are demoralized, and many are now coping with

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trauma—all conditions with similar symptoms that require proper diagnosis to treat effectively. The trauma could be their own – or their students’.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than half of all U.S. children have experienced some kind of trauma.

Whether you’re a teacher, paraprofessional, counselor, or school resource officer, every staff member cares deeply about students. And that means being exposed to the traumas students bring into school every day, including poverty, grief, family problems, racism, drug abuse. The emotional and physical toll is often severe. Even if they have not endured trauma themselves, educators can begin exhibiting symptoms similar to those of their students – withdrawal, anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue.

This is called secondary traumatic stress (STS), defined by the National Child Trauma Stress Network (NCTSN) as “the emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another.”

Secondary traumatic stress has long been acknowledged as a condition affecting professions such as nurses, child welfare workers, first-responders, and counselors. It’s taken a while, but STS is “beginning to be actualized as a real condition affecting teachers,” says Steve Hydon, clinical professor and director of the School Social Work Program at the University of Southern California.

“What was once referred to as stress or educators ‘having a bad day’ – which might still be happening – has evolved. Schools are realizing the very real presence of STS.”

The condition is likely more prevalent than anyone may realize, says Jessica Lander, a high school teacher in Lowell, Mass.

“Secondary traumatic stress is sort of the consequence of being a good teacher. If you care about students, you’re probably not going to avoid it.”

‘It Drains Us’ Lander likely helped a lot of educators begin to understand STS last year with an article she wrote for the Harvard Graduate School of Education titled “Helping Teachers Manage the Weight of Trauma,” a short primer on the condition complete with recommended resources. KQED MindShift picked up the story, which was soon widely shared across social media.

Research examining the impact of STS on educators, however, remains fairly thin.

A 2012 study conducted by the University of Montana did conclude that there is an increased risk for STS in school personnel. The study analyzed over 300 staff members in six schools in the northwest United States. The researchers found that “approximately 75 percent of the sample exceeded cut-offs on all three subscales of STS. Furthermore, 35.3 percent of participants reported at least moderate symptoms of depression.”

The tendency to conflate conditions persists, despite the similarity in symptoms, says Hydon.

“Compassion fatigue,” for example, is often used interchangeably with STS. Compassion fatigue “generally sets in over time, hence the ‘fatigue’.

Secondary traumatic stress can set in almost immediately because of a student experience.”

Like fatigue or burnout, STS quickly spills over into educators’ personal lives and likely hastens their exit from the profession.

Jennifer Pacatte, a teacher in Rochester, NY, considers herself fortunate that she has a network of support outside the school. When she began her career in the mid-1990s, she admits she didn’t quite realize what she was getting herself into beyond the role she had been trained for.

“I was not really prepared for how my students’ lives outside of school would seep into the classroom and how that would so deeply affect me,” she recalls.

“Every day, I would go home and think about my kids and their problems. Educators take that on, and it drains us. For newer teachers nowadays, it has to be even worse. They don’t have the capacity to deal with the impact.”

Keeping Educators Healthy Data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s

Health (NSCH) showed that 46 percent of America’s children had experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) with the number rising to 55 percent for children aged 12 to 17. One in five U.S. children have two or more of these experiences.

In the small rural district in eastern Washington where Steve Stroschein teaches, the number of ACEs students have experienced is staggering.

“More of our kids are affected by drug abuse, violence at home, poverty,” he says. “We’re a different school now than when I started in 1990, or even 2000.”

As president of the Clarkston Education Association, Stroschein was concerned by the impact student trauma was having on educators in the district, particularly those just starting out. “As educators, our focus is always on the students, but we have to bring it back to ourselves. Our educators are stressed. They’re struggling.”

In 2018, he teamed up with the district superintendent to launch a modest initiative to help “keep our teachers healthy,” Stroschein says. “We’re emphasizing community-building within the school.

Giving them a person to talk with, providing them with resources. We’re a small district so we can make more of an effort to check in on all our staff to see how they’re doing.”

“It’s important that they know we care. We can’t leave our educators out on an island by themselves.”

Last May, representatives from 39 National Education Association affiliates echoed Stroschein’s concern at a gathering in Chicago to discuss traumainformed schools. Participants noted that many members felt isolated as they neglected their own mental and physical health while they assisted students dealing with trauma.

In the resulting report, NEA and the National Council of State Education Associations issued a series of recommendations around trauma-informed schools, including advocating for comprehensive mental health and employee assistance program supports for all educators. Acknowledging the need for self-care, NEA and NCSEA also urged affiliates to promote a campaign to counter the narrative that it’s somehow selfish to look after yourself.

Not Only About Self-Care Steve Hydon says educators have a responsibility to be aware of the importance of self-care and be proactively engaged in it.

“But it is also the school’s responsibility to understand that trauma is inevitable and can impact anyone,” he adds. “If we want healthy teachers in our classrooms, schools must acknowledge the importance of things like staff appreciation, involvement in decision-making, vacation time, mental health awareness and professional development training on ways to build and value self-care.”

It’s critical that these efforts are school or districtwide, says Jessica Lander, because an inordinate emphasis on self-care or “resilience” without adequate supports places too much of the burden on the individual educator.

“What was fascinating to me when I wrote the article last year,” Lander recalls, “was the number of teachers who responded by saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I have been feeling these things for years, and I didn’t know it had a name.’”

That can be isolating for educators, making it more likely that they think it’s just an individual problem that they alone have to address.

“If the teacher doesn’t know what he or she is going through,” Lander says, “the school or district has an obligation to tell them, ‘We are going to name it and we are going to help you.’”

It’s the compassionate and right thing to do, she adds, but “no teacher will do their best work if they are suffering from STS. The bottom line is strategies to support educators are always going to help students.”

Courtesy: National Education Association

EDUCATION 17

“GEMS Education is a pioneering education company that owns and operates a glob a trusted choice for families. With the privilege of educating over 250,000 students to families every day. Our students excel across multiple dimensions, garnering glob our students have been accepted to over 980 universities across 48 countries, includ

GEMS American Academy Qatar

“A premier, American education at a competitive, affordable cost” Located in Al Wakra, Qatar, GEMS American Academy Qatar (GAAQ) is a state-of-the-art center of inspirational learning that enables students to make decisions independently, solve problems effectively and interact positively with tolerance. This prominent academy, backed by GEMS Education, the largest operator of K – 12 schools in the world, offers a rigorous American curriculum from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 to its multi-cultural student body. Along with U.S. core standards-based academics, it provides an Advanced Placement (AP) Program as well as a robust extra-curricular program to support the holistic development of a child.

and they follow the norms of team and discussionbased learning. Lastly, Grade 11 - 12 students have the ability to take one of the 7 AP courses offered, if eligible.

Life at GAAQ

The curriculum also includes other daily activities to promote fine and gross motor skill development.

Elementary School: Grades 1 to 5

Mark Lentz, the Head of the School, arrived at GAAQ in the spring of 2016. He defines the school as an amalgamation of top-notch facilities, well-behaved and engaged students, dedicated teachers, and a positive, supportive learning environment. Under his leadership, GAAQ has matured considerably over the last few years. Most notably, GAAQ is now accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Additionally, the school has boosted enrollment from 820 students to nearly 1,200 students while adding competitive sports teams, conducting a diverse palette of afterschool programs, increasing academic rigor and support, offering College Board Advanced Placement classes, providing opportunities for the Duke of Edinburgh Award and instituting career internship opportunities for all Grade 12 students.

What is the American Curriculum at GAAQ? Early Years Curriculum GAAQ’s early-years program is based on the Creative Curriculum revolving around five important developmental strands: social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and language. These developmental strands are integrated into themed units throughout the year using interest-based learning centers aimed at drama, science, literature, art, creative play, music, gross-motor, outdoor play and other free-play choices.

18 EDUCATION

Elementary school has a solid curriculum in place that emphasizes basic skills in all subject areas and introduces higher-level challenges to students that stimulate their interests. The curriculum fosters the concept that learning is enjoyable and rewarding as well as providing a variety of provisions to support individual learning. In addition to the core subjects, GAAQ provides students a bevy of elective classes in physical education, music, art, Arabic language (native and non-native speakers), Islamic education for Muslims, library, IT and character education class with elementary guidance counselor.

Middle School: Grades 6 to 8 Scholars are transitioning into adolescence and exploring the essential questions of identity, purpose and meaning more deeply than before. Therefore, GAAQ complements the core curriculum by including a variety of exploratory classes that make the middleschool experience special. Students are given a choice of which classes to take while exploring personal interests and possible career choices. The classes offered have been specifically designed by inspired, credentialed teachers to engage students in learning opportunities that focus on creating, connecting, and collaborating. Thus, Upper School leadership has grouped learning skills in three separate strands: Literacies, Competencies, and Character Qualities.

High School: Grades 9 to 12 GAAQ believes that the recipe for excellence in highschool consists of knowledgeable adults, a focus on classroom culture and a passion for the development of self and others. Within this framework, high school is moving forward in its pursuit to get every student to and through college. To date, the academy has a 100% graduation and university acceptance rate. High school offers a dynamic college and career preparatory education as well as a robust support system that encourages student achievement, maturity and independence. Classrooms range from 22 - 25 students

Students enjoy an enriching student life experience through several outlets. The school has after school activity offerings that include, but are not limited to, sports, reading, art, yoga, chess, math, Islamic/Qur’an, foreign language and LEGO/engineering. In regards to sports teams, Lower School students can participate in football tournaments whereas Upper School students have football, basketball, badminton, volleyball, netball and track and field teams. Moreover, students can participate in music and theater performances, service learning trips, Girl Scouts, multiple volunteering opportunities, AP coursework and many more. Lastly, the school offers various student-led initiatives such as Yearbook Club, Environmental Club (students take care of our greenhouse), Student Council, and THIMUN. Students also benefit from the diverse school culture.

GAAQ is home to over 80 different student nationalities and 15 teacher nationalities. Even though our faculty is primarily sourced from the United States and Canada, the institution represents various multi-linguistic, multiethnic and multicultural parents, students, and school community members. This international vibe ultimately improves the quality of education, helps students feel safer, reflects the world, and challenges school administration to implement diversity programs that positively impact parents, students, and staff.

What Makes Our School Unique Fully-accredited, K-12 international academy by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) n College Board-certified school offering 7 Advanced Placement (AP) courses n Named “The 10 Best International Schools in Qatar”

by The Knowledge Review magazine n Earned highest parent satisfaction rating among all K-12 schools in the entire GEMS Education network n Partnered with Qatar Rail - first school offering a dedicated school shuttle from Ras Bu Fontas station to GEMS Education Qatar schools and vice versa. n

bal network of award-winning international schools. For over 55 years, we have been s globally, our 20,000+ teachers dream big, push boundaries and make a difference bal recognition with over 1,550 international, regional and national awards. Moreover, ding 12 out of the top 15 in the world (and 7 of the 8 Ivy League Colleges in the US).”

GEMS Wellington School Qatar

“Inspiring, ambitious, and creative global citizens” At GEMS Wellington School, we offer an authentic British curriculum with lifelong learning to children from all around the world. We prepare our children to be innovative, creative and successful in all what they do.

GEMS Wellington School Qatar (WSQ) is located in Al Wakra, Qatar. We believe in the importance of the whole school experience, from education to school environment. This belief is emphasised by our campus and facilities, both of which have been designed to nurture student life. Our modern campus boasts wide-open corridors and outdoor areas, which allow students to move around the school in a free and open environment.

Facilities are world-class and support our objective of hosting a truly international school, they include: ICT Apple Mac Suite, Music rooms, Science Laboratories, Multipurpose Sports Hall, Dance studio, Drama Studio, Food Technology Room, Design Technology Room, Innovation Zone, Full Size Astro Football pitch, Art, textile and 3D Sculpture rooms and outdoor areas.

These facilities create a stimulating and supportive environment that engages the students and promotes learning and development.

Craig Lamshed (Country Director/Principal) “I have been very fortunate to be working with the students, staff and community at GEMS Wellington School Qatar since 2017 as the Principal and CEO. I am now in my 10th year with GEMS Education, having held other senior leadership positions including GEMS Cambridge Schools Brand Leader, Principal & CEO of Cambridge International School Dubai and Principal Advisor, before moving to Qatar. Prior to GEMS, I have worked as an Executive Principal and CEO within the United Arab Emirates and Australia, including the first Precinct School in Australia, offering Secondary School, Vocational and University qualifications on the one site along with industry experience.

As both of my children have graduated from GEMS schools and successfully entered into university and the workforce, I have first-hand experience as a parent of the success that a GEMS education can bring to its students.”

What is the Curriculum at GEMS Wellington School Qatar?

Early Years: Foundation Stage Foundation Stage One and Two The curriculum in our Foundation Stage is based on the English Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS), which provides a framework for the education of children from birth to 5 years old. Our Early Years

Foundation Stage Education provides all students with a journey of learning, guided by our caring, nurturing and dedicated team of education professionals. As an introduction to school, this programme of learning focuses on self-development in partnership with intellectual and physical development. Learning is multi-sensory, collaborative and fun. Child-initiated learning is at the centre of the curriculum and this enables us to personalise the learning experience to meet the needs of the individual through adult facilitated play.

University life. Our curriculum is designed to provide a seamless transition from Key Stage 2 to the end of Key Stage 4. It is a skills-focused curriculum that provides students with a broad and balanced knowledge of key subjects as well as the opportunity to develop their 21st Century learning skills through our unique learner profile. This enables our students to become more aware of themselves, their interest and their strengths.

Preparing for the IGCSEs

Primary School: Key Stage 1 and 2 Year 1 to Year 6 The Primary School curriculum is based on the English National Curriculum, which we have modified to meet the needs of our mainly international students, taking into account the local context they live and GEMS Education core values. The curriculum enables our students to develop skills for life in the 21st century. It supports our students’ natural curiosity and interests and provides opportunities for them to consolidate their learning and develop a variety of learning styles.

Our students at GEMS Wellington School Qatar are well-prepared for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). These worldwiderecognised qualifications are important for students seeking admission to Universities across the world, and serve as excellent preparation for future study. Students study the core IGCSEs in English, Mathematics and Science. This course of study is complemented with a number of optional IGCSEs. This gives our students the freedom to choose the subjects that are right for them whilst providing them with a broad knowledge base. Students sit between 9 - 11 IGCSEs in total. We are licensed up to Year 13 and our school will grow year-on-year.

Key Stage 3 and 4 Year 7 to Year 11 Our Key Stage 3 & 4 curriculum is based on the English National Curriculum and is used widely in the UK and British International Schools to prepare students for

EDUCATION 19

Integration of Education System with Emergent Technology

By Sanjeev Kumar

E

ducation, knowledge and technologies are the pillars of civilization progression since ages. Human inherited multi-dimensional knowledge from their ancestors, build it with continuous learning processes, transformed and upgraded it with technologies and kept passing to gen-next. The process of knowledge sharing is a chain reaction and has resulted in ease of life, revolution in Industries and in all core aspects of human development.

Looking into the present education system globally and comparing it with a decade or two old system, the changes are evident and phenomenal. Today world is moving in an increasingly complex system every day and has progressed from generation of wheels to nano and nuclear technology.

Thriving and modern education system is vital to a country’s success and civilization progression.

Technological innovations or body of knowledge to generate tools to harness skill, sources and techniques to power up the education system remained the priority always as it helped in improving the abilities and growth profile. It is required to provide the launching platform to budding students in the 21st century. Squeezing the full potential from the collective intelligence which can be used to develop the world. Larger technology trends and need to know the most promising emerging developments, understanding its application, and amalgamation will greatly influence and revolutionized the educational system.

World population growth rate currently of 1.05% per year, resulting to around 80 million student’s addition per year. Education, skill development and employment will remain the focus concern of the society, globally. A holistic approach is required to address the issue. Additionally, the employment sectors that support world population cannot absorb more unless emergent technologies find its homogenous blending with the prevailing education system. Jobs need to be created in non-conventional / new sectors uniformity to be brought globally to use the task force across the countries. Key concerns related to employability is the rapid changes in technology and movement towards a digitalized economy, increasingly shifting away from traditional labour intensive methods.

It is important for the policy makers to keep abreast with the latest technology and upgrade skills requirement to make the newly added population employable. To ensure the quality education and innovative research, there is a need to identify the knowledge body and skill level which are needed in future and to have a vision 2050 program.

Academia-industry interactions need to be encouraged to facilitate meaningful collaboration. Global economy profile is changing, thus there is need to focus more on increasing digitalization in the education sector. This should start with basic school learning.

Technological innovations have been improving the abilities and resources availability in all fields of life and had great significance in education system also.

Integration of education with the digital technology at all level of education system is the need of hour, however its initiation to maturity range should be within K-12 schooling circuit. Real time understanding or grasping fundamental concepts, takes place more emphatically during human brain development stage (catch them early). Perception and requirement has changed drastically over the period.

The key focus areas in the field of education are now rapid potential development, confidence enhancement,

20 EDUCATION

constant and deep exposure to diversities, resolution and solution approach. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, popularly called STEM has not only rebuild and supported knowledge application but has given space to experimentation and innovation. Seed of emergent technology lies in STEM. Society today is not only aware about depleting water column but has used innovation to extract atmospheric water using the atmospheric water generator [AWG] . The conventional approach to meet the problem was to conserve, harvesting, reduce and recycle.

Learning journey and need of the hour propelled human mind to extract the potable water from the atmosphere.

New approach has taught the human to develop blended learning environment integrating the scientific methods which are to be applied to everyday life. There is a need in the field of education that is gradually and steadily getting influenced by the induction of emergent technology.

If millennials are creative, entrepreneurial, critical, digitally competent, to adapt diverse work environments of future, technology has amplified the impact of teaching/learning and conditioned it by means of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Simulators or Augmented Reality (AR) and its interactive experience are the easiest way for learners to over view the line assembly, chemical reactions, phonetics practice and other scientific processes. Any requirement can be simplified and tailor made. It is supporting the budding brains to develop the fundamentals rather than to memorize the contents passively in a traditional way. From personalized to mass learning journey the emergent technology will play a catalytic converter role to boost the knowledge graph and intelligentsia quotient. Learning need and speed will leap to a great height along with the enhanced curiosity level.

To meet the requirement and develop the students’ potential, kindling the young minds, developing affordable Education gadgets is one such field in educationtechnology mission that has been influenced by the introduction of technology to develop industry, research, space, agriculture, and health related requirement. In the field of Education, technology has given Smart Boards and Blockchain technology for superior training methods and recording information. Electronic and interactive textbooks are required to be adopted quickly and to be supported in order to get popularity. E-books and interactive textbooks include audio and video capabilities for enhanced reading for younger students and those who

are physically challenged and hold unimaginable potential for education. The devices used for reading are also able to connect with a cloud-based platform, allowing students to quickly access information. Chatbots in universities and machine learning for personalized form of learning is also to be brought on anvil and should find students, educators and institutions as its companion. Technological convergence for the streamlining and learning system in current era is key agenda not only for industries but also for the academicians. Innovative emergent technologies based adaptive learning and education system profiling integration in assessment and monitoring system to track the students’ potential, encourage experimentation, and boost knowledge application and foster creativity and ingenuity to be quickly adopted. Need is bound to arise and Virtual Reality [VR] supporting the Augmented Reality [AR] education patter to capture and support learners.

Transformative applications of information technologies in education will prove to be a great means of utilizing technology in an increasingly transformational way. To achieve this, the challenge is for policy-makers, researchers and to the educationists. What can’t be covered? – be it spiritual, moral or cultural or ethical aspects of education.

Technology has a say!!

Technological Development framework with all this development needs to understand the ethical parts of the soft world of technology. This integration is to promote competition in exponential degree and should not confine it to only a select. World is small, inter planetary journey has started, quest for efficient use of resources to be adopted and developed. It should be part of vision for community leaders to action on the integration of education system with emergent technologies and to take it to the grass root level and within the reach of all.

While education is a priority across the globe, the level of spending remains minimal. Many governments across the world had been provisioning the most conservative budget allocation for reforming the education, mostly limiting to single digit percentage of the GDP. Investing in technology integrated education is bound to give fruitful yield in future. Natural resources are and time is ticking away steadily. Wake up is the call to act smartly and quickly.

Sanjeev Kumar holds a doctorate in engineering and works in the oil & gas field, having previously worked in education, petrochemicals and energy sectors. He can be reached at: sanjee93@gmail.com.

Building our Legacy at ASD

By Rabab Mardini, ASD Alumna class of 2014 The American School of Doha (ASD) is committed to the intellectual and personal development of our students, inspiring them and empowering them to become positive, active global citizens. When a student comes to our school, their journey doesn’t end in the classroom, they leave behind a legacy that is carried through the younger Dragons they have inspired. ASD creates bonds that are cemented by the ASD values of Respect, Honesty, Compassion, and Responsibility.

ASD has gone through many changes throughout the years. The school began its journey of quality education in a small villa in 1988, and by 1996 had its first graduating class. In 1998, ASD opened its new campus in Al Bustan, and from 2013-2017, ASD underwent a $35M Campus Improvement Project to increase capacity and improve facilities across the entire school. The growth achieved from the expansion project improved the school’s ability to be a progressive school with impressive facilities and varied educational, sporting, cultural, and social activities on the ASD campus. The stunning 20+ acre campus is among the best in Qatar and the region. “We’ve seen the school change and expand, but it’s managed to keep its coziness and lovely community feeling. We love it and we wouldn’t want our kids going anywhere else” says ASD parent, Natasha Asselstine.

ASD prides itself on being a community built on excellence, and on the notion that each person in the community has something to offer and a legacy to leave behind.

Throughout the years and through the changes and expansion, ASD has remained committed to sustaining its relationships within its community. “In many ways the growth of ASD has reflected that of Qatar. It has been integral in helping our community feel confident that they are experiencing quality education and in developing a sense of belonging through social, artistic, and recreational activities. We feel part of a lasting community and this community is not just confined to Qatar; it extends wherever people who share a connection to ASD live and/or travel” said ASD teacher, Kevin Sage. Whether you recently joined, or have been with us for 20+ years like Mr. Sage, ASD has surely become a home away from home.

The accomplishment of ASD’s growing and connected community also comes from the parents, volunteers, staff, alumni, and the rest of the growing

family that are dedicated to creating an experience beyond education for all our Dragons. Events and traditions like ASD’s International Week and Friendship Festival wouldn’t be the same without the work and effort put in by our parent organizations, and volunteers. “The best thing about Friendship Festival is it brings the whole school and community together for a very fun day. It’s a chance for the students to socialize outside of a normal school day. Some of my favorite ASD memories are from the Friendship festival” said Nadine Hammoudi, ASD Alumna and Managing Partner at Frosti.

Last year, the ASD Legacy Wall was unveiled at the Friendship Festival to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASD’s commitment to the community.

“The original plaques on the wall were purchased by individuals and families over the past decades to support the building and programs at ASD, helping to build the legacy of this great school. The Legacy Wall honors individuals and families who have contributed to building the school for future generations ” said Dr. Thomas Hawkins, Director of ASD. This year the Legacy Plaques will support Learning Service Projects throughout the school. “The Legacy Wall is a wonderful memory for my brother Jack and I as long-time students of the school. It represents our connection to a strong community of past and present ASD families” said alumna class of 2015, Enya Mc Hale. The Legacy Wall is a chance for families to continue leaving their mark in a physical way by commemorating their stay with a plaque that will be displayed on the legacy wall at ASD forever. “My siblings and I went to ASD from Pre-K to Grade 12; some of my best memories were made there. The community around me was always pushing me to be the best version of myself.

The diversity amongst the student body automatically teaches you about various cultures and how to respect each other, yet embrace and celebrate our own individual identity and culture. Coming back to ASD as an adult, 12 years after graduating and seeing my family’s plaque still there reminded me that ASD will always be my second home and I continue to do my best to give back to this wonderful community.” Naser Al Khori, ASD Alumnus Class of 2007. ASD is more than a school - it is a place that hopefully inspires all of us to push our own boundaries and empowers entire families to become positive, active, global citizens.

EDUCATION 21

Don’t ‘just Google it’

3

footage of the tigers and to chat live with an expert from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) about them.

ways students can get the most from searching online

Clicking the “news” tab with this same query provided current media stories, including on two tigers coming to an Australian wildlife park and on the effect of palm oil on the species. Small changes to search techniques can make a big difference to the educational benefits made available online.

2. Slow down All too often we presume search can be a fast process. The home-school families in my study spent 90 seconds or less, on average, viewing each website and searched a new topic every four minutes.

Searching so quickly can mean students don’t write effective search queries or get the information they need. They may also not have enough time to consider search results and evaluate websites for accuracy and relevance.

My research confirmed young searchers frequently click on only the most prominent links and first websites returned, possibly trying to save time. This is problematic given the commercial environment where such positions can be bought and given children tend to take the accuracy of everything online for granted.

Fast search is not always problematic. Quickly locating facts means students can spend time on more challenging educational follow-up tasks – like analysing or categorising the facts. But this is only true if they first persist until they find the right information.

By Renee Morrison

1. Search for more than just isolated facts

earching online has many educational benefits.

For instance, one study found students who used advanced online search strategies also had higher grades at university.

Young people should explore, synthesise and question information on the internet, rather than just locating one thing and moving on.

S

But spending more time online does not guarantee better online skills. Instead, a student’s ability to successfully search online increases with guidance and explicit instruction.

Young people tend to assume they are already competent searchers. Their teachers and parents often assume this too. This assumption, and the misguided belief that searching always results in learning, means much classroom practice focuses on searching to learn, rarely on learning to search.

Many teachers don’t explictly teach students how to search online. Instead, students often teach themselves and are reluctant to ask for assistance. This does not result in students obtaining the skills they need.

For six years, I studied how young Australians use search engines. Both school students and homeschoolers (the nation’s fastest-growing educational cohort) showed some traits of online searching that aren’t beneficial. For instance, both groups spent greater time on irrelevant websites than relevant ones and regularly quit searches before finding their desired information.

Here are three things young people should keep in mind to get the full benefits of searching online.

22 EDUCATION

Search engines offer endless educational opportunities but many students typically only search for isolated facts. This means they are no better off than they were 40 years ago with a print encyclopedia.

It’s important for searchers to use different keywords and queries, multiple sites and search tabs (such as news and images).

Part of my (as yet unpublished) PhD research involved observing young people and their parents using a search engine for 20 minutes. In one (typical) observation, a home-school family type “How many endangered Sumatran Tigers are there” into Google.

They enter a single website where they read a single sentence.

The parent writes this “answer” down and they begin the next (unrelated) topic – growing seeds.

The student could have learned much more had they also searched for where Sumatra is

n

why the tigers are endangered

n

how people can help them.

n

I searched Google using the keywords “Sumatran tigers” in quotation marks instead. The returned results offered me the ability to view National Geographic

3. You’re in charge of the search, not Google Young searchers frequently rely on search tools like Google’s “Did you mean” function.

While students feel confident as searchers, my PhD research found they were more confident in Google itself. One Year Eight student explained: “I’m used to Google making the changes to look for me”.

Such attitudes can mean students dismiss relevant keywords by automatically agreeing with the (sometimes incorrect) auto-correct or going on irrelevant tangents unknowingly.

Teaching students to choose websites based on domain name extensions can also help ensure they are in charge, not the search engine. The easily purchasable “.com”, for example, denotes a commercial site while information on websites with a “.gov”(government) or “.edu” (education) domain name extension better assure quality information.

Search engines have great potential to provide new educational benefits, but we should be cautious of presuming this potential is actually a guarantee.

Renee Morrison is Lecturer in Curriculum Studies, University of Tasmania. Her research was undertaken at Griffith University. Courtesy: The Conversation.

VCUarts Qatar

A Center of Creativity and Opportunity

T

he vibrant VCUarts Qatar campus in Education City is where new things happen every day, ideas flourish and creativity is in abundance.

Through its innovative programming, the University opens up the exciting world of art and design to young Qataris, residents and international students. The University makes possible the choice of rewarding careers as artists, teachers, designers, entrepreneurs and creative professionals in the arts and design world and beyond.

design, graphic design, interior design and painting and printmaking, a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history and a Master of Fine Arts degree in design. In addition, VCUarts Qatar’s Libraries have the broadest range of art and design books in Doha, as well as the region’s only Materials Library. The current student body consists of 323 students representing 35 nationalities.

VCUarts Qatar in Education City is the overseas sister campus of the internationally renowned Virginia Commonwealth University’s prestigious School of the Arts in Richmond, Virginia. VCUarts in Virginia has been a top-ranked art and design program in the United States for more than 10 years, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Established in 1998 through a partnership with Qatar Foundation, VCUarts Qatar offers students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fashion

The campus in Education City attracts significant contributors to contemporary visual culture for speaking and teaching engagements. Major events by VCUarts Qatar include the Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art, the University’s annual fashion show, the BFA + MFA exhibition by graduating students, and the Tasmeem Doha art and design conference.

The Qatar community is welcome to explore their creative side at VCUarts Qatar. Short courses in art and design are offered to all through the university’s Community Education Program. No prior experience or education is required and the courses take place throughout the year.

The University also offers programs in Executive Education such as Art Therapy, which is a British Association of Art Therapy (BAAT) accredited course; the Fashion Business Program which focuses on business development and was created in response to the requirements of the growing local entrepreneurial market, and aims to provide participants with entry-level business skills for the fashion enterprise market; The Creative Teacher’s Toolbox program that will enhance the participants’ pedagogical practice towards active learning, new strategies that foster critical thinking in the classroom and encourage innovative dialogue; Entrepreneurship Talent Development; and Creative Entrepreneurship Management.

EDUCATION 23

HEC Paris

Ranked #3 worldwide for Executive Education and #1 for the International Executive MBA by the Financial Times in 2019

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ounded in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HEC Paris, a founding member of the Université Paris-Saclay, brings together 140 permanent professors, more than 4,500 students and 8,000 executives and directors in education each year.

The arrival of Dr. Martin De Holan represents the start of an exciting and ambitious era for HEC Paris in Qatar, marked by two central goals: impact and excellence, with the core objective of making significant contributions to the realizations of the objectives of Qatar Vision 2030 and the creation and development of a knowledge economy in Qatar.

specific professional development and training needs of executives and managers for a truly memorable learning experience. These fully customized programs are essential for transformational journeys and deliver tangible and measurable impact on businesses.

PROGRAMS

Executive Short Programs

HEC Paris International Executive MBA The HEC Paris International Executive MBA is a practical and intensive part-time program, which is developed to give participants a deeper understanding of the social, economic and environmental aspects of the global business landscape, and to provide them with an added value for their organizations and themselves. The program is aimed at senior leaders who are interested in taking their careers to the next step, developing top-level business acumen and gaining a competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving job market. The next intake for the EMBA in Doha is February 2021.

In 2010, HEC Paris joined Qatar Foundation and brought world-class Executive Education programs and research activity to Doha and the region. By 2011, HEC Paris launched Qatar’s first international EMBA. The HEC Paris International Executive MBA (EMBA) is a part-time program that provides executives with a set of fundamental skills to expand their knowledge and leadership capabilities. In addition to the EMBA, HEC Paris provides in Qatar a Specialized Master’s Degree in Strategic Business Unit Management. The institution also offers non-degree management programs for executives, in the form of executive short programs and certificates as well as custom-designed programs for individual companies. The programs and research activities of HEC Paris in Qatar build corporate competitiveness within the global economy and are fully aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030 to support the transformation of Qatar into an advanced, competitive and knowledge-based economy.

Location Located in modern premises within the Tornado Tower in Doha, HEC Paris Executive Education programs are all delivered in English, to meet the specific needs of executives and professionals with high potential and already holding senior management positions in Qatar and the Middle East.

New Dean Dr. Pablo Martin de Holan has recently been appointed as Dean of HEC Paris in Qatar and he also joins the HEC Paris Strategy and Business Policy Department as a full professor.

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The HEC Paris Alumni Community has a 60,000 strong highly recognized network of peers.

The HEC community will enable graduates to expand their professional network worldwide and take part in a wide range of activities.

The HEC Paris Executive Short Programs are highimpact non-degree programs that can easily fit into managers and leaders’ busy schedules. With a focus on leadership, effective management, finance, marketing, decision-making, negotiations skills and HR management, these programs develop individual professional skills, which lead to immediate benefits for the executive and their organizations.

Executive Certificates HEC Paris in Qatar delivers also Executive Certificates in specific industries or areas. The Executive Certificates are designed for managers and aspiring entrepreneurs willing to specialize in an industry.

THE HEC PARIS EXPERIENCE Throughout HEC Paris programs, participants get the opportunity to learn, not only from top faculty, but also from other participants. Each one brings a wealth of practical business experience from a wide spectrum of industries and management functions. Each classroom is a multicultural and interactive environment where participants from different backgrounds, sectors and countries can share best practices and build up a valuable network of peers.

Specialized Master’s Degree in Strategic Business Unit Management The Specialized Master’s Degree in Strategic Business Unit Management is a part-time program designed for professionals and entrepreneurs seeking to enhance their leadership and management skills or looking at managing their own business. Participants will benefit from the flexibility of a personalized program by following one of three tracks aligned to participants’ career aspirations: General Management, Marketing & Sales, and Entrepreneurship & Business Development. The next intake for the Specialized Master’s Degree is October 2020.

Custom Programs HEC Paris Custom Programs address major challenges facing organizations and are tailored to the

HEC Paris ALUMNI NETWORK The HEC Paris Alumni Community consists of 60,000 members in 150 countries and has been ranked as the #1 Alumni Network by the Economist. The HEC community will enable graduates to expand their professional network worldwide and take part in a wide range of activities.

Students Still Can’t Tell Fact from Fiction on the Internet

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Two-thirds of students couldn’t tell the difference between news stories and ads (set off by the words “Sponsored Content”) on Slate’s homepage.

ritical thinking skills have always been high on most educators’ wish-list for their students. The onslaught of disinformation across the Internet, however, has only heightened the sense of urgency.

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Ninety-six percent of students did not consider why ties between a climate change website and the fossil fuel industry might lessen that website’s credibility.

Instead of investigating who was behind the site, students focused on the site’s aesthetics, its top-level domain (.org or .com), or how it portrayed itself on the About page.

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After the 2016 presidential election, during which the term “fake news” entered the lexicon, researchers at Stanford University released a study that examined U.S. high school students’ troubling inability to discern fact from fiction in online news sources.

“Many people assume that because young people are fluent in social media they are equally perceptive about what they find there. Our work shows the opposite to be true,” Professor Sam Wineburg, the lead author of the report and founder of the Stanford History Education Group, commented after the report’s release.

After the 2016 election, the awareness about the dangers of disinformation – and the need for digital literacy instruction in classrooms – greatly improved.

So, as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, students today are surely better-prepared to navigate around the lies and exaggerations they find online.

Guess again.

In 2019, Stanford University took another deep dive into students’ critical thinking skills and found that nothing much has really changed. In a report released in November, the researchers evaluated the ability of 3,446 students – from 16 urban and suburban school districts in 14 states – to judge the credibility and accuracy of digital sources of information.

Overall, on four of the assigned six tasks, over 90 percent of students received no credit at all. Out of all of the student responses, fewer than 3 percent earned full credit.

“If the results can be summarized in a single word, I would say they’re troubling,” said Wineburg. “The 2020 presidential election is just a year away, and many current high school students will be first-time voters.

Our findings show that they are unprepared to assess the information they encounter.”

Students continued to display a troubling tendency to accept websites at face value. A few of the lowlights from the report: Fifty-two percent of students believed a grainy video claiming to show ballot stuffing in the 2016 Democratic primaries constituted “strong evidence” of voter fraud in the U.S. The video was actually shot in Russia. Among more than 3,000 responses, only three students tracked down the source of the video – even though a simple Google search would have quickly exposed the ruse.

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While many educators are teaching digital literacy, the Stanford researchers conclude that their instruction may need a reboot. In the report, they single out the “checklist” method that asks students to weigh specific criteria as they evaluate a web site or social media post.

The most well-known example of this approach is the CRAAP test – named for the five criteria it is designed to evaluate: currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. Despite its popularity, the test doesn’t teach students to properly use the Internet to determine a site’s trustworthiness. In addition, say the researchers, the CRAAP test “has no basis in research and can actually lead students dangerously astray.”

They urge new research-based strategies to inform high-quality instructional materials that should be distributed at no cost to every school in the country.

Only then can we expect to move the needle on students’ digital literacy, the researchers write.

“Educational systems move slowly. Technology doesn’t. If we don’t act with urgency, our students’ ability to engage in civic life will be the casualty.”

Courtesy: neatoday.org.

Fifty-two percent of students in the Stanford study accepted at face value that this video showed ballot-stuffing in a 2016 Democratic primary. The video was actually shot in Russia.

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3 Reasons Students Procrastinate – and How to Help Them Stop Psychologists have uncovered reasons why students put off important work.

But there are a few simple things teachers can do to keep students on track.

By Youki Terada

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eonardo da Vinci spent nearly 16 years painting the Mona Lisa—and never completed it. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams famously wrote, “I love deadlines.

I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” And Frank Lloyd Wright spent a mere two hours designing Fallingwater—after delaying for nine months.

“Procrastination is extremely prevalent,” Piers Steel, a business professor at the University of Calgary, noted in a 2007 study.

“Estimates indicate that 80 to 95 percent of college students engage in procrastination, approximately 75 percent consider themselves procrastinators, and almost 50 percent procrastinate consistently and problematically.”

If you’re a middle or high school teacher, it’s likely that you have procrastinators in your class—students who consistently wait until the last minute to turn in their assignments, or put off studying until the night before a test. This delaying has a cost: A 2015 study found that the longer business school students waited to turn in an assignment, the worse their grades were, with last-minute hand-ins costing them five percentage points on average, or half a grade. And a 2015 meta-analysis confirmed this result, finding that procrastination was associated with lower grades across 33 studies that included over 38,000 students (most of whom were in college). Even worse, medical research has linked procrastination to higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety, and fatigue.

It’s a common perception that students who procrastinate do so because they don’t care about the assignment—and that’s usually wrong, argued Devon Price, a social psychology professor at Loyola University, in 2018. More often than not, the underlying reasons for procrastination fall under two categories: fear of failure or confusion about the first steps of an assignment.

“Procrastination is more likely when the task is meaningful and the individual cares about doing it well,” Price explained.

Procrastinators can stare at a screen or book for hours, paralyzed by fear. At that point, the best solution is to take a short break and engage in a relaxing activity.

Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University and leading expert on procrastination, has performed several studies on why students put off important work. In a groundbreaking 1989 study, Ferrari found that college students often procrastinated because of indecision: They spent too much time worrying about whether they were doing an assignment correctly, prolonging the time they spent on even simple tasks. For these students, procrastination was a coping mechanism to avoid stressful experiences.

“It is very helpful and useful to gather information to make an informed decision, but when one simply continues to gather beyond the point of adequate resources, then they are being indecisive and the waiting is counterproductive,” Ferrari told an interviewer in 2010.

In a follow-up study, Ferrari found another reason why some students procrastinate: fear of criticism. He discovered that many college students engaged in self-sabotage because they could then blame low grades on the deadlines rather than their own abilities.

These students preferred to “choose situations in which their public image would not be damaged by poor performance.” Once again, procrastination was a coping mechanism—in this case, to protect the students’ self-esteem and perceptions of their identity.

Ferrari discovered yet another, very different, motive for procrastination in a 1992 study. Some college students delayed starting on an assignment because they enjoyed the perceived thrill of working against a deadline. Putting assignments off until the last minute was a way of “adding drama to life,” giving these students a rush of adrenaline.

5 Ways to

ENCOURAGE STUDENTS Not To Procrastinate

1. Spread deadlines out.

Researchers have investigated the impact of three types of deadlines for a series of tasks: evenly spaced, self-imposed, or a single, final deadline. In the first experiment, students were assigned three papers and were asked to either turn one in at the end of each month, choose their own deadlines, or submit all three papers by the end of the course. In the second experiment, students were given a task—to proofread three passages—and submitted their assignments weekly, at their own self-chosen pace, or all at once. In both experiments, evenly spaced deadlines not only yielded better student work but also decreased the chances that students would miss their deadlines.

The takeaway for teachers? Instead of giving students a big project with a single deadline, break it into smaller tasks with evenly spaced out deadlines. Ask for multiple drafts of a paper, for example. In a project-based learning unit, have students present their progress at specified checkpoints. This can be especially helpful for students who are paralyzed by large projects—by making each part more manageable, you can reduce the anxiety associated with intimidating deadlines.

2. Provide supportive feedback.

Students with low self-esteem may be reluctant to put forth their best work if they’re worried about criticism or afraid of failing. Avoid giving highly critical or negative feedback, which may have the unintended consequence of making students feel nervous or self-conscious.

Students may also respond poorly to feedback that feels controlling, so avoid being too explicit about what needs to be corrected. Finally, be cautious about giving feedback to students in front of their peers— they may feel uncomfortable and become disengaged.

when their initial scores were lower than they had expected—they did not have an accurate sense of how well prepared they were. They were then encouraged to plan ahead for an upcoming test, and were shown examples of how they could prepare.

The results were significant: Compared to their peers, the students who participated in the metacognitive activities scored a third of a letter grade higher, on average.

4. Be mindful of workload.

According to a 2015 study, the likelihood that students will turn in late work increases when deadlines for different projects coincide—something that can easily happen in middle and high school, when students have multiple teachers. Students also experience higher stress levels if they can’t manage multiple assignments that are due at the same time. Consider coordinating with other teachers to spread out major deadlines.

And when students face adversity that impacts their ability to finish assignments on time, such as taking care of a family member or having to financially support their family, being flexible about deadlines can help them stay on track.

5. Have clear instructions and examples.

Students are more likely to put off a project if they don’t understand how to start. Ensure that all students know your expectations and the requirements of the assignment—it’s best to put instructions in writing so that students can refer to them as needed. You can also use exemplars, such as examples of past student work, to help them better understand what the assignment is.

Courtesy: edutopia.org

3. Teach time management and study skills.

A 2017 study found that many students lack the metacognitive skills they need to be able to study effectively, such as the ability to schedule ample time for studying or knowing when to ask for help. Many study participants were surprised

Indecisiveness, avoidance, and thrill-seeking are thus more likely explanations for procrastination than laziness or lack of motivation.

So what can teachers do? Here are some suggestions.

EDUCATION 27

Building Relationships with Colleagues and Students in a High-tech World

By Heather Wolpert-Gawron

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recently conducted a teacher engagement survey, and some of the most telling findings are that 42 percent of teachers say they are most engaged through faceto-face learning, while more than a quarter (27.1%) of the respondents said they prefer to learn from home.

Technology can be used to help bridge these two requests in a way that nurtures relationships between teachers and builds community among colleagues.

It is no coincidence that many of the strategies that engage teachers also engage students as well. In my earlier research on student engagement, many students cited technology as a preferred way to build knowledge and skills and develop relationships with teachers. So how can we combine technology and one-on-one interactions in a way that engages us and our students? Consider these possibilities:

For Teacher Learning Throw a learning potluck party. Invite a colleague who specializes in a certain teaching tool or pedagogical strategy to speak at your home on a weekend. Invite some other educators over and ask everyone to bring food to share. Everyone will benefit from the learning and conversation that follows. It’s kind of like a TED Talk in your living room!

Have a “hallway” chat on Twitter. Thousands of educators have taken to Twitter to exchange ideas about important topics—from Project Based Learning (#pblchat) to Postive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (#pbischat), and more. And educators are one of the fastest growing groups on Twitter. According to Brett Baker, an account executive at Twitter. com, “Out of the half billion tweets that post every day, 4.2 million are related to education … To put this in perspective, while you read this sentence, over 3,000 edu-related tweets have flown across the Twitterverse. So join in the conversation!

For Student Learning Use video chat. This gives students an opportunity to experience synchronous learning from their living rooms. That could mean attending office hours, asking questions, bouncing ideas around, or listening to live group discussions, rather than pre-recorded screencasts or webinars,

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Arrange online intervention classes for after school. In my experience, some kids function more bravely online than in the classroom. If we are asking our students to think deeply and critically, maybe allowing them to do so from the comfort of home will give their brains more freedom to process.

Think about the methods of engagement that help you learn and ask yourself if they might work for your students too. After all, we are all learners.

Georgetown University in Qatar Developing Global Leaders

both internationally and in Qatar. Others have gone on to pursue a graduate education at some of the world’s top institutions, including Columbia, Oxford, and Harvard.

Georgetown University in Qatar’s (GU-Q) unique learning environment capitalizes on expert faculty, world-class facilities, and a history of community service, providing the same curriculum and allowing students to obtain the same degree as students at Georgetown’s campus in Washington, D.C.

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ocated in Education City, GU-Q offers the internationally recognized Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree in four majors, including International Economics, International Politics, Culture and Politics, and International History.

Undergraduates can deepen their studies with a minor in Arabic, Economics, Government, History, Philosophy, and Theology. They can also complement their major field of study by pursuing a Certificate in one of three concentrations: Arab and Regional Studies, American

Studies, or Media and Politics, the latter of which is offered in collaboration with Northwestern University in Qatar.

GU-Q is committed to providing an affordable, world-class education for every student and to meeting demonstrated financial need through a combination of financial aid options. Students interested in finding out more about GU-Q’s degree program, campus life, facilities, and the application process, should visit www.qatar. georgetown.edu/admissions.

Students are supported by renowned scholars and teaching faculty while benefiting from state-of-the art facilities such as immersive classrooms, language labs, and the region’s leading library for international affairs.

In addition, GU-Q provides a holistic learning experiewwnce, encouraging students to participate in local internships, to travel abroad for service learning programs, or to complement their studies with a semester abroad at Georgetown’s Washington, DC, campus or other respected institutions.

By the time they graduate, GU-Q students will have gained proficiency in a secondary language, analytical thinking, crisis negotiation, and cross-cultural understanding, critical skills which have propelled graduates to find success in careers ranging from international affairs to sports management, energy, finance, healthcare, research and communications,

Executive, Professional, and Community Education GU-Q also offers a variety of continuing education opportunities, such as a Master’s degree in International Emergency and Disaster Management, Executive Master’s in Leadership and custom programs to meet professional development needs of organizations and individuals. GU-Q also offers a variety of community classes in Arabic and English on topics ranging from Arabic to understanding international politics, to sports policy, to becoming an entrepreneur.

EDUCATION 29

Is it too late to prepare students for

21st Century Jobs?

Pi-Shen Seet & Janice Jones

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very year, the Australian Taxation Office releases a report that includes the highest earning occupations in Australia. These are mostly in the medical, legal and financial sectors.

This information is commonly used by school career advisers, together with other career development material, to help teenagers make career choices.

But the nature of work is changing rapidly under the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This is driven by disruptive technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning and digitalisation.

The change is expected to lead to the complete loss of some jobs (such as those in repetitive, production-line manufacturing), the need for significant re-skilling in other jobs (such as pilots and radiologists) and the creation of completely new ones (such as robot trainers and big data analysts).

So, what should career guidance counsellors be doing to ensure today’s children have the skills for jobs of the future, not of the past?

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What teenagers want A recent OECD survey showed teenagers’ career expectations were concentrated in ten so-called “20th century” careers. These include doctors, teachers, lawyers and business managers.

These choices have remained unchanged for almost two decades. For girls, they have become even more popular since 2000. This suggests a significant gap between teenagers’ career knowledge and choices, and the reality of the rapidly changing nature of work.

It’s estimated on average, 14 percent of jobs across OECD countries are prone to becoming automated and another third could face substantial changes in how they are performed. Nearly half of the jobs in OECD countries are at significant risk of being automated over the next ten to 15 years.

Careers related to how humans and machines or computers complement each other will provide new employment opportunities across different sectors. Commercial passenger airliner pilots, for instance, will steadily adjust to new supervisory roles due to autonomous flight.

While most of the top ten jobs (such as in the health care, law enforcement and education) in the OECD survey are at low risk of automation, other nominated jobs outside this list (such as those in production manufacturing, office support and sales) are at higher risk.

The Australian government developed a National Career Education Strategy in 2019, after working with the state and territory education, business and industry, and career education groups. This aims to support school students to make better informed future study and career choices.

The report characterises “jobs with a future” as those having higher growth prospects with a low risk of automation. In addition to those above, these include jobs in technology such as software engineers, data analysts and supervisors of automated operations.

While this is a good first step, we need better support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially those in regional, rural and remote locations – as well as male students interested in participating in science, technology and engineering jobs.

In the Australian part of the survey, about 35 percent of jobs selected by teenagers are at risk of automation. This suggests teenagers and career advisers in Australia aren’t fully aware of how the market is shifting and what the “jobs with a future” are.

The OECD study found countries like Austria and Germany, which had much lower concentration of 20th century careers, had highquality vocational education and training (VET) programmes available for people from a young age. This reinforces research findings and policy reviews that call for closer collaboration between the Australian VET sector and industry.

This misalignment between educational and career aspirations is most pronounced among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Around six percent are more likely to select jobs more at risk of automation than their more advantaged counterparts.

Exposing school students to relatively simple and lowcost career development activities, like attending job fairs, has been shown to significantly increase awareness of different occupations and reduce career concentration.

It also shows the importance of higher government investment in the sector in terms of training and developing skills relevant for disruptive technologies.

Also, teenage Australian boys are more likely to select careers in science and engineering. Paradoxically, they are eight percent more likely to select jobs at risk of automation than girls of their cohort who are more likely to choose health sector professions.

Exposing school students to relatively simple and low-cost career development activities, like attending job fairs, has been shown to significantly increase awareness of different occupations and reduce career concentration.

What should be done

There isn’t a consensus among employers on how disruptive technologies will impact on their organisations. And they are wary of investing heavily in specific skills and training.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already having an impact on current jobs. Despite young people generally completing more years of formal education than their parents, many are struggling to find relevant and consistent employment.

Governments are increasingly worried about the mismatch between what societies and industries demand versus what education systems supply.

The OECD calls for a partnership between employers and school career advisers. Guidance that starts early, challenges stereotyping (based on gender and socioeconomic status), is well informed and delivered in the workplace in partnership with employers will be most effective. Successful career guidance results in better economic, education and social outcomes.

But they still have a pivotal role in preparing students with the skills to succeed in the future. The OECD study actively encourages employer engagement in education. Suggested activities include careers-insight talks, subject talks, enterprise competitions, mentoring, workplace visits, job shadowing and short work placements.

Pi-Shen Seet is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University. Janice Jones is Associate Professor, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University Courtesy: The Conversation

EDUCATION 31

Why Medical Students Should Take Electives in the Humanities I

t’s clearly not easy to be a medical student, especially in today’s world where technology is advancing so quickly and breakthroughs in biomedical science are happening all the time.

Machine learning threatens as a substitute to physicians’ clinical judgment. Artificial intelligence is now able to analyse X-rays, MRIs and CT scans, raising questions about the necessity of radiologists. Patients are turning to their smartphones to avoid trips to the doctor or hospital.

But technology can only do so much. Being a good doctor extends far beyond doing what the machines can.

Doctors must also have the right bedside manner and communication skills, be culturally sensitive, show empathy and be patient, all while working excruciating long shifts and dealing with difficult diagnoses.

This has been depicted over and over in popular culture through characters like Dr House and Dr Christina Yang from Grey’s Anatomy – brilliant doctors who lack basic human values like consideration, empathy and affection.

Among the ways to counter this and to ensure medical graduates are well-rounded is to take a humanities elective or two during college.

A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine proved this. Medical students reported their exposure to the humanities such as music, literature, theater, visual arts, and completed rating scales measuring selected personal qualities.

The researchers wrote, “Our study empirically confirms what many have intuitively suspected for

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years: exposure to the humanities is associated with both important personal qualities and prevention of burnout.”

“In fact, one could argue that some of the qualities we measured (tolerance for ambiguity, empathy, emotional appraisal of self and others, resilience) are,

A de-stressing strategy

Develops creative thinking

For many, the stress and anxiety of that come from being a medical student and professional can wear them down before graduation and long after they’ve started practice.

The study of medicine is mostly empirical, but creative thinking shouldn’t be overlooked by budding doctors. Creative thinking is a necessary ingredient in the process of developing innovative solutions to complex problems.

Taking classes like art and music can help take their minds off their looming assignment deadlines and labs, allowing them to process their emotions and de-compress.

It can also make them become more in tune with other people’s emotions, instilling patience and understanding when dealing with emotional patients or their anxious loved ones.

It’s also conducive for learning abstract concepts.

According to US News Education, taking humanities and arts courses can enhance one’s imagination and creativity which is invaluable for medical students because it helps them visualise concepts like biochemical pathways, anatomic structures or physiologic processes. Courtesy: studyinternational.com.

together with wisdom, fundamental components of professionalism.”

The researchers recommended to “reintegrate” the humanities in medical education so “wiser, more tolerant, empathetic, and resilient physicians” can be produced.

Here are more reasons why all medical students should take humanities electives whenever possible.

Better doctor-patient connection Patient-doctor communication is not something to be overlooked. When a doctor is able to establish a good rapport with their patient, they put their patient at ease – helping them open up and confide in their doctor.

Taking classes such as anthropology and history helps medical students learn more about other cultures, which leads them to connect better to patients from diverse backgrounds.

EDUCATION 33

Ready for the future: choice and opportunity ACS International School Doha is ready for the future.

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ith over 50 years’ experience, ACS International Schools have been getting generations of students ready for a rapidly changing world.

Established in 2011 and building on their heritage, ACS Doha – the sister school to ACS’s three UK-based schools – quickly became a leading international school in Qatar.

The exciting next step in its journey is the introduction of a broader curriculum and preparing to move to a state-ofthe-art new campus.

Offering globally-renowned curriculums of the International Baccalaureate and from 2020 the US’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program, with a range of career-related qualifications to follow, students enjoy the best of both worlds, extended choice and a more personalised approach to their education, ensuring they are ready for what comes next. ACS graduates continue to be accepted into some of the world’s most prestigious universities, and have taken up places in the UK, USA, Canada, and Egypt, as well as in Education City universities and Qatar University.

The introduction of the AP curriculum, a globallyrecognised credential, opens up more opportunities and choice – particularly for those students who wish to attend a US or Canadian university – although the qualification is widely accepted around the world. The challenging AP courses provide students with a taste for college classes, with most being similar to what they would experience in the first year of university. They learn essential time management and study skills to get them ready for college and career success, while focusing on what interests them.

This curriculum taps into their creativity and problemsolving skills as they navigate the demanding course.

The AP curriculum is in addition to the long-established International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, which in 2019 saw excellent results for ACS Doha, with 100% of students passing the rigorous programme, with the highest score of 41 a whole ten points above the global average. ACS Doha

students will enjoy even more choice from 2020 with the introduction of new career-related pathways, developed together with partners in Qatar to give young people the opportunity to pursue industry-relevant qualifications and skills to get ready for a rapidly changing, competitive world.

environment, made possible by quality teaching and rigour. It is a unique environment where every individual is celebrated. The school enjoys a vibrant sense of community – something its students, parents and staff value as a defining characteristic of their ACS Doha experience.

In order to thrive, students need the right learning experience. Young people at ACS Doha benefit from a happy, supportive, nurturing and inspiring learning

In August 2020, due to strong parent demand for places for their children, ACS Doha will open its new campus in Al Kheesa with capacity for 2,470 students.

The 60,000sq-metre campus will feature world-class academic, outdoor and recreational facilities, from futureready science labs and libraries to dedicated buildings for Lower, Middle and High Schools, and ample parking.

Good natural light, fresh air, acoustics and a mix of spaces are all design essentials for a new school, says ACS Doha’s Head of School, Robert Cody. The floorplan has been carefully considered to mirror the characteristics of the way the students learn. Fostering collaboration is key to all of ACS Doha’s programmes.

“ACS Doha offers a unique type of education, which is something that will be reflected in our new school. There will be lots of space to collaborate, with small group rooms and breakout spaces, with classrooms situated around a communal cluster for this purpose,” Robert explains.

“But we’ve also needed to consider how to maintain the sense of community that is so important to us here. We have paid particular attention to ensure the space includes key areas where we know our community will want to meet and catch-up.”

34 EDUCATION