Ramallah & Gaza- The British Council held an official ‘Teaching for Success’ event in Ramallah to launch ‘Teaching for Success’ in co-operation with the MoEHE and UNRWA West Bank, announcing a significant scale up of the programme beginning in September 2019. The event attracted an audience of 150 English teachers and supervisors from across the West Bank. Muaweya Amar, UNRWA West Bank Chief Field Education Programme, Mere Al Sous, MoEHE Head of Training and Development and Martin Daltry, British Council Director led the opening speeches. Daltry congratulated the participants on their success and highlighted the significance of developing English teaching and learning in schools, asserting that “the British Council’s work with the Ministry of Education and UNRWA is the most important thing we do.”
A similar event was held in Gaza where 120 creative, highly dedicated English teachers, who inspire and educate thousands of UNRWA students in Gaza everyday, received certificates during an official ‘Teaching for Success’ launch with UNRWA Gaza. Matthias Schmale, UNRWA Gaza Director, expressed his appreciation of the unwavering support and contribution the British Council has provided to prepare UNRWA students in Gaza to be global citizens. Mr Schmale said “I was impressed by the focus of teachers on inclusiveness and giving every child the opportunity to realise his/her specific potentials.”
This year together with the MoEHE and UNRWA, the British Council has successfully piloted a new innovative online training programme ‘Teaching for Success’ across the West Bank and Gaza. Participants on the Teaching for Success programme completed online teacher training in small groups (maximum 15 participants) delivered by British Council ELT experts from around the world. Each group was led by a MoEHE and UNRWA local English supervisors who followed up with observations in the classroom to measure impact, and facilitated a monthly face-to-face TAG ‘Teaching Activity Group’ meeting.
The two events celebrated the achievements of ‘Teaching for Success’ English supervisors and teachers who took part in the pilot and provided an opportunity for English supervisors and teachers to deliver short presentations on what they have gained. Nida Faqih, UNRWA teacher who gave a presentation on self-assessment stated that the training was very beneficial as it equipped her with the necessary knowledge and methodology in English language Teaching; “As teachers, we are highly motivated to have received this high quality innovative training”, she said.
During the five-month pilot English teachers completed training modules on 21st century skills such as Engaging with Thinking Skills and Understanding Approaches for Inclusive Learning. From September 2019 – The British Council Occupied Palestinian Territories is committed to continuing the ‘Teaching for Success’ online English teacher training programme to all West Bank districts and Gaza. The long-term ambition is to reach every English teacher and transform the quality of English language teaching they provide.