Mar
15
2010
If I ever had some doubts about the existence of a single most important ingredient in successful education reform, this NYT article might just change my mind. Teaching skills have long been thought of as something rather elusive, much like a secret art. An art that included personality, content knowledge and body language to name just a few components. Well, we might just live to see this mystery clarified, dissected and taxonomised; and much to Ken Knox’s delight, a data driven approach will lead the way.
Relevant to our (for me soon to be “their”) specific situation in the Abu Dhabi PPP Project, Greene’s article is a great springboard to create a new and far more incisive approach to teacher training than ever before.
Mar
02
2010
According to the National, there is an urgent need for qualified teachers as well as retraining of current teachers in UAE schools. There is certainly a list of valid arguments for this and supporting evidence such as a 2007 McKinsey study concluding “that all outstanding school systems share one characteristic: high-quality teachers” (see link above for reference).
Money is in fact pouring into education reform projects in the UAE, but is reform taking place at a more fundamental level needed? Unless parents provide children with a framework at home that supports learning, respect for education and hard work, even the best efforts at school will always be limited at best. What seems sorely missing in this whole debate is the role and responsibility of the primary stakeholders in the process: parents, children and the society they live in.
