International Forum for Teachers partnered by Pearson Edexcel
Pearson Edexcel together with Gateway Graduate School and the University of Nottingham jointly launched IFT – International Forum for Teachers on Saturday June 11th at the BMICH. This launch which commenced with an International Conference, open to all teachers,was appropriately themed ‘Teacher – A Life Changer’.
The Conference saw the participation of over 350 teachers from National and International schools. The event was graced by Hon. Minister AkilaVirajKariyawasam – Minister of Education. During his key note address, Hon. Minister stated ‘It is imperative that our teachers keep up to date of the developments in education and be proficient in the skills that are required to teach in the 21st century. The government has also planned to increase the opportunities for teachers in terms of training and professional development. In this regard, I am very happy to see the private sector organizations such as Pearson Edexcel taking the initiative to organize teacher development programs which are open to teachers of all levels in all schools.’
Eminent speakers from UK and Malaysia participated at the forum. Ms. Clare Gordon Buntic who represented Pearson Edexcel was excellent in her delivery of her session titled ‘The future in their hands: developing competencies for 21st century learners’ and kept the audience engaged throughout. The feedback received from the delegates was excellent as the material presented by her was practical and could be successfully incorporated into classroom teaching.
The two speakers from University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus – Prof.Dr. GanakumaranSubramaniam and Asst. Prof. Philp Whitehead were also successful in delivering to the audience some critical considerations in terms of 21st century skills and the need for being a teacher in times of change.
The presentation on ‘Sensible and Responsible Learning – Keeping our children safe online’ presented by Mr. Hans Billimoria was a real eye opening session which provided an insight into how 21st century learners are exposed to cyber exploitation and how teachers can support students in such instances.
The conference concluded with a very engaging panel discussion and a Q & A session where the speakers were joined by three other experts in the field of Education namely Prof.Som Naidu of Monash University Australia, Prof.Shironica P. Karunanayaka of the Open University of Sri Lanka and Prof.Piyanjali de Zoysa of the University of Colombo.
Pearson Edexcel has always invested in developing teachers and this initiative is true testament to that and thereby encourage teachers to avail themselves of these opportunities.
Teachers who wish to obtain more information about IFT and wish to become a member may access the website: www.ift.lk