Home learning is replacing homework

As teaching methods change across the globe, UAE schools are not far behind in new thinking

Most schools still follow the traditional way of teaching – a teacher lectures students in a classroom. When the class ends, the next teacher walks in and does the same thing.

This is the routine day after day, year after year. This methodology is geared towards preparing students for exams — a situation in which they simply reproduce what they learn by rote during the academic year.

However, there are schools that are beginning to buck the trend. These schools understand that the world has changed, students have changed, and it follows that schools too need to alter their perceptions of teaching.

There are many examples of how schools in the UAE are leading the change. Classrooms are moving outside the classroom, homework is now a thing of the past, teachers are ‘personalising’ studies for each student, and pupils have greater say in what they want to study, when and from whom.

UAE ahead of the curve

Saki Milton, Dubai-based US Schools Portfolio manager for Pearson Education Middle East. said the UAE “is already ahead of the curve”, drawing attention to the Ministry of Education’s Education 2020 strategy, which is a series of five-year plans designed to bring qualitative improvement in the education system, especially in the way teachers teach and students learn.

Smart learning programmes, new teachers’ codes, licensing and evaluations systems, as well as curriculum revision, including teaching maths and science in English, are all part of the strategy.

“Because of large investments in education, the UAE is in a strong position to experiment with new instructional models such as artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, or even online schools such as Pearson’s International Connections Academy,” Milton said.

“Rewarding edTech entrepreneurs who invest in new age educational practices in culturally-diverse learning environments will help the UAE develop its own hub of educational innovation and research for other nations to follow,” she said.

Gulf News sheds light on some of the teaching trends sweeping the UAE.