Participants at one of the academy sessions.
Doha, Qatar: ExxonMobil Qatar and Qatar University (QU) are set to host the Qatar University ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in Doha on November 19 to 23.
The academy was first established in 2012 with QU’s National Center for Educational Development (NCED) and the support of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. It is an intensive professional development programme that is held annually for Math and Science teachers from Qatar’s government schools.
The academy was modelled after the successful ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in the United States and is the only edition of the original programme held internationally. It was developed by a consortium of specialists in Qatar and representatives from the initial programme to build critical skills among young people through their teachers - in support of a sustainable future; and is based on the principle of active learning, where the teachers experience various instructional practices from students’ perspectives via interactive workshops.
Over the span of a week, science and math teachers will be presented with new and effective teaching strategies that will help encourage their students to develop a passion for these subjects. They will have access to resources that will upgrade their skills and keep them informed of the latest teaching methods and assistive technologies that will allow them to provide their students with a high-quality science and math education.
More than 50 teachers will take part in this year’s academy in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and Teach For Qatar (TFQ). Around 40 of these teachers are grade 7-9 math and science teachers from Qatar’s government schools; 10 are TFQ fellows, in addition to 13 student teachers from the internship program at QU’s College of Education.
The culmination of the academy is only the beginning for these teacher participants to pass on new learning to their students, thus treading the path toward achieving a highly skilled labor force as outlined in Qatar National Vision 2023.
By the end of this year’s academy, more than 500 teachers from Qatar’s school system and 47 TFQ fellows would have taken part. These teachers are expected to impact over 20,000 students from 50 schools.
“This academic programme is a local teacher development initiative with a significant impact that contributes to building the foundation for the technologies and innovations of tomorrow through high-quality STEM education,” said Maha Al Rowaili, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
“The future depends on decisions we are making today about education. This was the key driver behind our collaboration with Qatar University to establish the Qatar University ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in 2012. We’re proud that since then, the academy has helped enhance the skill sets and instructional practices of hundreds of teachers in Qatar,” said Dominic Genetti, President and General Manager for ExxonMobil Qatar.
