The team at the Education Development Institute of Qatar Foundation.
In order to encourage homegrown talent and expertise, Education Development Institute (EDI) has initiated two new programs that are arguably a global first.
The Qatar Foundation (QF) member has developed the programs through a belief that personalised learning matters as much for teachers as it does to students, said Joanna Moe, Assistant Director for Teaching and Learning, EDI.
“PETAL (Program for Effective Teaching And Learning) and PALME (Program for Aspiring Leaders and Managers in Education) are two innovative professional learning designs based on research and the culmination of our own experience in our context,” she told The Peninsula.
“Among the programs PALME is designed for aspiring leaders and mangers in education and PETAL is for effective teaching and learning,” she added. A total of 84 participants have registered for the pilot program which will run for a year and they can learn in Arabic and English.
“Both programs aim to make a great impact from the investment of professional learning to improve student outcomes,” said Joanna. According to her, the personalised and job embedded programs PETAL and PALME emphasizes that the journey of learning and reflection is the central focus rather than ‘solving’ a problem.
“These programs are designed by keeping learning at the core,” said Joanna.
The programs will initially run at QF schools and expected to open for public and international schools in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
PETAL and PALME will also increase data literacy of participants as they will learn how to use data to inform decision making in schools. The programmes will include five face-to-face sessions, 10 hours of one to one coaching and 20 hours of online content.
“In the process participants will identify a problem of practice from their own work and with the support of their own research, a cohort of educators, coaching and record of their learning journey in an e-portfolio, and then present their learning at the end in an exhibition format,” said Joanna.
At present EDI has a team of coaches from different countries, however with time it aims to build local talent to conduct the programs in future. The EDI supports the professional development of educators across Qatar, enabling them to engage with the best and most promising educational practices.
EDI collaborates with global experts to offer learning opportunities, organizes national conferences and symposiums for educators, develops training programs that address the needs of individual schools, and much more.
