(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Doha: Recommendations for the future of schools in a post COVID-19 era were explored at Qatar Foundation's (QF) Teaching and Learning Forum, yesterday.
‘Teaching and Learning Forum 2020 — Deep Dive' brought together those in the field of education to address the theme of ‘Education for Resilience.' The virtual event build upon a previous forum held in October.
Held by the Education Development Institute (EDI), part of QF's Pre-University Education, the day-long virtual event saw participants engage in discussions surrounding the question, ‘How do we make learning sustainable amid and post COVID-19?'
Director of the Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdulaziz Al Horr, in a keynote speech said, 'The issue of identity is a worldwide concern, and the challenges differ between societies. We cannot import a specific identity-making project and apply it in a certain community, as we must have sufficient understanding of our society — its data, its strengths and weaknesses, its history and geography — to enable us to formulate a proper national identity project. There are societies that have already succeeded in finding solutions to reach a common concept of identity.
'Today, we need to discuss the issue of identity, define commonalities and concepts and design frameworks on the issue of identity. Building a national identity is not a state project, but rather a community one. Creating an identity requires a lot of societal, practical and behavioural projects and programmes, not just knowledge content that we communicate to children and test them on, he added.
The newly published recommendations developed under six streams at the Forum include, Personalising Teaching and Learning; Building Inclusive and Accessible Learning Communities; Fostering Community and Individual Wellbeing; Globalizing the Curriculum; Identifying and Solving Problems; and Redefining Communication — have now been analysed to assess how they can potentially be taken forward within schools, curricula, and specific education areas.
Eric Sheninger, Associate Partner with the International Center for Leadership in Education said, 'So much attention has been paid to the pandemic, and rightfully so. But prior to the pandemic, the most disruptive force that was really compelling us to think about what we were doing was the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0) is the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology.
'If we think about what our learners need right now in the midst of pandemic — with the Fourth Industrial Revolution our learners need to think, he said.
'They need those personal skills, especially since they're isolated behind their computer screens. They need job-specific skills, which are going to be radically different to what we thought they might have been even a few months ago, said Sheninger.
Participants at the forum also heard from a faculty member at Harvard University and founder of Edumetrics Inc., Dan Kindlon and President of the Lebanese Association for History, Nayla Khader Hamadeh, whose work is focused on designing and implementing new approaches to teaching history.
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