Muzaffarabad, 13-17 Oct.: As a part of its constant efforts to empower teachers by imparting pedagogical skills to them, Oxford University Press (OUP) organized two symposiums for school teachers on the theme ‘Promoting Student Success: Connect, Inspire, Transform’. Conducted by OUP authors and trainers from Pakistan and the UK, the aim behind organizing the symposiums was to effectively address the ways in which teachers can inspire greater curiosity and inquiry among students which in turn can transform their thinking patterns leading to greater learning outcomes. Around 200 teachers from 40 towns and cities across Pakistan attended the two separate events which provided the participants and trainers a valuable platform to share ideas, experiences, and best teaching practices.
Productive sessions were held showcasing many new OUP textbook series, digital products, and blended learning (print and digital) resources developed for pre-primary, primary, secondary, and O level. Innovative methodologies and tools for teaching of English, History, Geography, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Art and Craft, and Urdu were discussed. The trainers—who included Hayley Sutton, Eithne Gallagher, and Michael Pearson from OUP UK; and Nauman Jan, Ismat Riaz, Nasreen Iqbal, Arwa Khuzaima, Faizuddin, Shazia Asad, and Salima Hashmi from Pakistan, gave useful tips to enhance the teaching-learning experience using OUP resources and enable teachers to maximize the learning goals of the curriculum.
Informative presentations were made on OUP’s highly successful initiatives ‘Oxford Big Read’, the reading programme for school children, and ‘Oxford Teachers’ Academy’, the professional development programme for school teachers. The participants were also briefed about ‘Oxford Quality’—an agreement between OUP and select schools under which OUP provides a wide range of educational solutions tailored to the schools’ needs. In a session highlighting the importance of Intellectual Property Rights, the participants were introduced to ‘Oxford Genuine Books’—a new initiative to promote copyright awareness by awarding certification to educational institutions using genuine Oxford books.
The highlight of the event was the workshop on ‘The Glitterlings in Inspirational Inter-lingual Early Years Classrooms: Story-based Early Years Programme for Multilingual Learners of English’ conducted by Eithne Gallagher who is a recognized authority in the field of Second Language in International Education. The Glitterlings are Early Year Resources that provide the first building blocks for developing language and literacy skills. The stories offer robust learning progression based on internationally recognised research and inspire a love of language and reading among children.
Panel discussions on ‘The State of Education in Pakistan’ were also held featuring Abbas Rasheed, Faisal Bari, Shehzad Jeeva, Mosharraf Zaidi, Zobaida Jalal, Nadia Naviwala, and Salima Hashmi as speakers and Baela Raza Jamil as the moderator.
In her welcome address, Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, OUP, said “Our purpose in holding this Teachers’ Symposium is to provide a platform where teachers from all over Pakistan can interact with each other, brainstorm, discuss common issues, and share best practices.” She further highlighted that the symposiums will generate a creative and constructive cross-fertilization of ideas which will result in improving the quality of education in this country.
Dr Shehzad Jeeva, Director, Examination Board, AKU-EB, presented the keynote address at the symposium. Sardar Masood Khan, the President of AJK, met with the symposium participants at a dinner hosted in his honour on 15 October.