Dr. Paul Lieblich: Entrepreneurial spirit is the bedrock of the UAE

The Inaugural Northern Emirates Education Conference is dedicated to the advancement of best practices in education. It is a collaboration between academic experts, administrators, and teachers, to enhance teaching and learning in support of student outcomes, which will be held on November 10th at the Radisson Blu, Sharjah.

Dr. Paul Lieblich, keynote speaker of the ‘Knowledge Series’, talks to Edarabia.com about his thoughts on assessment, leadership, and management, and how educators can benefit from attending the Knowledge Series.

1. The theme for the first conference is “Improving Teaching Practice to Impact Student Achievement”. How is the conference agenda aligned with the UAE Education Goals (Vision 2021)?

The focus of the education goals for Vision 2021 is to build a “first rate education system.” This conference aligns to this goal by enabling delegates to attend workshops, provided by education experts who deeply understand the UAE context and the challenges that come with teaching here. Not only will delegates have an opportunity to attend workshops that use active learning to transfer knowledge regarding best practices, they will collaborate with one another and form a professional learning network.

2. In your opinion, how important is it to have an impactful, professional learning community for educators to connect and share best practices?

The importance of a professional learning community for teachers cannot be overstated. Much of the research around teacher learning and professional development supports professional learning communities as the key ingredient to teacher improvement. We hope to build a professional learning community between schools in the Northern Emirates and enable each individual school to build a professional learning community within their own walls.

3. Teaching and Assessment are among the main focuses of the conference. What do you think are the key issues involving teaching, learning, and assessment in the current UAE education landscape?

Teaching and assessment were chosen as the focus of the conference because they are critical parts of the inspection framework. The key issues of teaching and learning in the UAE involve the teacher’s ability to support a diverse classroom. Not only do students vary in their ability to learn, they vary in the background knowledge, beliefs, and traditions that they bring to the classroom. The diversity of student characteristics is a challenge for any teacher in any context. To address the practice of assessment, this conference will focus on how different types of both formative and summative assessment can be used to identify student learning, that is aligned to curriculum, and embedded within the classroom context.

4. In terms of leadership and management, what do you think are the UAE’s strengths, and what are the areas for improvement? How can educators and leaders work together to enhance teaching and learning, in general?

The strength of the UAE is the entrepreneurial spirit that is the bedrock of this nation, and the continual drive to do better. That is also reflective in the psychographic of the people that are attracted to come and work here.

This conference is an embodiment of what we teach our children – lifelong learning. We have a cohort of leaders who are striving to do better. We are just helping develop an infrastructure for educators to tap into global best practices, and more importantly develop a collaborative network of thought partners.

5. How can educators benefit from attending the Knowledge Series Conference?

This conference is dedicated to the advancement of best practices in education. By promoting collaboration between academic experts, administrators, and teachers, this impactful event aims to enhance teaching and learning, and create the foundation for a professional learning community in the Northern Emirates.

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