UAE looks at dynamic learning methods
SHARJAH — Senior educators and school leaders in the UAE are endorsing more and more alternative education methodologies, especially the Reggio Emilia Approach to learning.
This Italian learning philosophy is an expression-based learning approach that teaches students to express themselves, while giving them more control of the direction of their own learning.
For the first time in the UAE, Horouf, a subsidiary of Kalimat Group publishing, organised the Horouf Reggio Conference on the Reggio Emilia Approach, with a special focus on children’s mental development through language.
The UAE’s first ‘Make Learning Visible’ conference was kickstarted on Tuesday and will continue till Thursday at Al Qasba in Sharjah. Thuraya Al Sabri, director of Government Communication at Kalimat Group, stated the publisher is looking at making the conference an annual event. The event is aimed at teachers and education experts around the region, as an introduction to the Reggio Emilia philosophy.
“UAE teachers are gaining from it immensely, and we are also noticing an increasing interest in adopting alternative techniques of teaching and learning among local teachers,” said Al Sabri. The conference is hosting representatives from Reggio Children Centre from the city of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy.
The conference brought together an elite group of senior professionals in the Reggio Children Centre and Italy’s education sector, including Claudia Giudici, president of Reggio Children and professor at the University of Modena, and Marina Costagnetti, who worked as a teacher for 17 years and authored many educational books.
Other speakers include Marco Spaggiari, a teacher at the International Centre Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia, Northern Italy and Emanuela Vercalli, who has worked at the Reggio Children Centre for 18 years in the International Exchange Office.
Giudici explained: “The Reggio Children Centre does not impose learning numbers, quantities, measures, shapes and other traditional subjects, believing they are linked to day-to-day experiences, and acquired while playing, thinking and speaking every day.”
Furthermore, Sabri said: “As a nation, the UAE is always looking to better its education landscape. But to bring in a more global change, it is important that key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, Sharjah Council of Education etc. contribute to introducing alternative forms of education in the UAE.
She added that during the conference, a specialised workshop — ‘Atelier’ — will be held to give teachers an insight into the relationships young students have with art and language, and their self-expression through drawing and writing. The workshop also seeks to enhance communication between the children and teachers, to discover the youngsters’ thought patters and how to enhance them in the educational process. “This conference will help participants explore the Reggio Emilia approach and its success in developing imagination, social intelligence, expression and communication,” said Al Sabri.