Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Global Teachers' Forum, Qudwa 2017, a world-class teacher-focused event, will open its doors tomorrow, and will run until the 8th October at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Qudwa 2017, which will be officially launched by H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of the Education and Human Resources Council, is designed to empower teachers, support their careers and appreciate their noble mission.

The event brings together more than 900 participants, including teachers, experts, and pioneers in the education sector from the UAE and around the world, to exchange experiences and visions that inspire future teachers and advance education.

The Qudwa Forum will become an incubator for new ideas and approaches to teaching, which will spread throughout the expanding Qudwa community of global educators.

The theme of the event, ‘Teaching for Tomorrow,’ will focus on exciting transformational, behavioural and technology trends that will shape new approaches to education that combine old-school methods, with new-school ideas, and it will be discussed through interactive sessions and workshops with experts, influencers and pioneers in the education sector from around the world.

It will also focus on the educational trends that are being shaped by the global digital economy. With educators taking centre stage at the forum, Qudwa 2017 recognises the value of empowering teachers as leaders in their societies, tasked with guiding and inspiring young minds to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

On a global level, Qudwa Forum is partnered with several Strategic Partners such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, and the Varkey Foundation, as well as Knowledge Partners including Teach for All, Google for Education, Edraak, an initiative of the Queen Rania Foundation, QRF, Microsoft, McKinsey and Company, and Arc Skills.

Local strategic partners include the UAE Ministry of Education, Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, ADEK, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, KHDA, the Sharjah Education Council, SEC, and the Abu Dhabi Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, ACTVET.

This year’s programme is organised along three core tracks: Ask, Share, and Advance.

Ask: to generate ideas and find solutions for the challenges that lie ahead, participants will aim to identify the questions that preoccupy teachers today.

Share: knowledge-sharing is an effective method to help teachers grow, gain inspiration, and develop new methods of teaching. By sharing the techniques and insights that teachers use in their classrooms, educators are empowered to help them implement new ideas and solutions for the benefit of their students. Sessions themed Inspirational Stories, will provide participants with invaluable guidelines from renowned educators.

Advance: aims to enable teachers to continue exploring new ways of improving their teaching methods to better empower their students. Teachers can interact with and learn from some of the brightest minds in the field and reinforce the culture of values in the classroom. Expert Masterclass sessions led by researchers and educators will feature interactive discussions on how the education landscape is changing, and how teachers must adapt effectively to stay relevant and impact the knowledge economy of the future.

In special sessions under the title, "Meet with Qudwa", the forum will host Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, Jameela bint Salem Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education, and Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs.

The forum aims to highlight the role of the UAE and its educational, regulatory and governmental institutions in the development of policies and programmes that contribute to empowering teachers with the best methods, to encourage students to innovate and provide them with the tools and skills necessary for their active participation in the community.

Source: Wam