Ministry holds virtual training programme for teaching staffJune 19 2020 01:43 AM

The Early Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education held a series of virtual training workshops and seminars for coordinators and teachers of the foundation stage and kindergarten from May 6 to June 11.
The workshops came within the framework of the annual plan to support teachers and co-ordinators and improve their performance, the ministry said in a statement.
Some 841 teachers and co-ordinators in the foundation stage took part in the workshops and seminars. The participants were divided into 52 groups on Microsoft Teams and completed 82 hours of distance learning within the program that was satisfactory, according to them, as the content of the program and its interactive presentation met their training needs, the statement noted.
The ‘Reflection on Professional Practices’ workshop for the literary track co-ordinators focused on the importance of professional reflection in building sound convictions by following models to deeply reflect on professional practices by the co-ordinator. The workshop also aimed at enabling the co-ordinators to reflect on the practices of their respective teams in light of the reflection models, therefore “making reflection an integral element within the co-ordinator and school educational culture”.
The ‘Differentiation Behind the Screens’ seminar was held for co-ordinators of the scientific track and English language. Under focus groups, the co-ordinators received insight on how to define the concept of differentiation and its application when teaching students to continuously understand their learning needs and patterns (remotely).
Besides, the seminar focused on identifying the challenges teachers face on individual differences in distance learning and how to consider them to bridge the knowledge and skill gaps among students. A number of recommendations were developed at the end of the seminar to achieve differentiation and to consider individual differences during distance learning.
In the same context, the English teachers attended the ‘Online Syndrome’ panel discussion to reflect and exchange their experiences and ideas about e-learning practices.
A training workshop was also delivered for female teachers of the literary and scientific tracks on ‘Considering Classroom Differentiation when Asking Questions’. The workshop focused on explaining the concepts of classroom questions and individual differences to the participants, the skills for forming thought-provoking questions for students, and how to design activities that consider individual differences among students in the classroom.
A seminar titled ‘The Moon Fell Asleep’ for kindergarten teachers focused on the importance of the story in the pupil’s life, the need to select the appropriate story according to his/her age, and the art of story-telling.
“The workshops came within the vision of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to provide permanent, innovative, pioneering, and high-quality learning opportunities for the Qatari community ” the statement added.