Dr. Mugheer Al-Khaili is briefed on second trimester PD programs
H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, Chairman of HAAD and Acting Director General of ADEC, accompanied by Mr. Mohammad Salem Al-Dhaheri, ADEC’s School Operations Executive Director visited a number of schools in Abu Dhabi that had participated in the Tanmia Professional Development Week, which was organized during the period January 3rd to January 7th, 2016.
Dr. Al-Khaili was briefed on the training programs offered to teachers during the Professional Development (PD) Week and was delivered by subject coordinators and school head of faculties. Moreover, H.E. was introduced to teachers’ feedback regarding the training programs and their role in adopting the latest pedagogies and developing ADEC strategic plans.
During the PD Week, 14318 teachers across Abu Dhabi schools have completed 357950 accredited training, which means that every teacher has covered 25 professional development-training hours.
Organizing professional development week each trimester, preceding the return of students to school, makes it easier for teachers since they are busy during school days.
Some of the training activities that are included during training programs are planned based on the analysis of training needs of each school. Among the topics and training programs that were included are school self-evaluation, school evaluation process, school development plan reviews, Journey of Discovery, child protection policy, second trimester planning and specialized curriculum courses for each subject.
ADEC’s PD strategy aims to build school training capacities through forming and enhancing a training nucleus in schools, which includes 1105 principals, vice principals, head of faculties and subject coordinators. The trainees will document their learning journey as well as share what they have learnt with the rest of their co-workers in schools, ADEC, as well as with local and international higher institutions.
During the PD Week, AQIO, curriculum experts and cluster managers monitored the implementation of training programs in order to assess the quality of knowledge gained by coordinators, head of faculties aiming to improve teacher skills and competencies.
Various sectors across ADEC have contributed to the development and implementation of training programs, which reflects the permanent cooperation between them.
Mr. Mohammad Al-Hamed, an IT coordinator commended the importance of PD programs because it provides participants with hands-on experiences, the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues, the opportunity to learn more about a particular topic of interest, enhance 21st century skills and share best teaching practices. He added that the training program is a result of joint work with cluster managers and AQIO.
Mr. Faisal Al-Darmaki, a Geography & Economics teacher said that the training programs help teachers share best practices and added that workshops included brainstorming sessions, which help teachers share their learning journey & learn from each other’s experience, keep abreast of the latest pedagogy in teaching & learning and learn from other peoples’ expertise.
