Teachers from 6 schools across the UAE are gearing up for their first meeting with potential UK partner schools at a Contact Seminar to be held in November as part of the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms global programme.

Connecting Classrooms aims to bring schools in the UAE and those in the UK closer together in order to improve mutual understanding and appreciation of each other’s cultures.

Teachers from the 6 UAE schools met in Dubai on 19 October and were briefed on the Programme and provided with support to plan their new international projects. Teachers selected to represent these schools will then present their joint curriculum project ideas to teachers visiting from the UK (and vice versa) at the Contact Seminar.

The six new schools participating in the Programme are: Al Khansa School, Dubai; Al Shafei School, Dubai; Al Edreeci School, Dubai; Al Lisaili School, Dubai; Othman bin Afan School, Umm Al Quwain & Khadeeja School, Ajman.
Connecting Classrooms aims to directly engage over 30,000 schools and 2m young people worldwide by 2013, making it the largest and most far-reaching international school programme in the world. Through virtual links and sharing resources it will indirectly reach a further 38,000 schools and five and a half million young people.

It was initiated in the UAE in the academic year 2006-’07. Due to the excellent support the project received from the Ministry of Education, Abu Dhabi Education Council, Knowledge and Human Development Authority and the Educational Zones of all the emirates 9 successful partnerships involving 15 UAE schools and 9 UK schools have been established.

Through their Connecting Classrooms partnership, students and teachers will work together on classroom-based projects on topics including culture, environment and tourism. The activities aim to broaden pupils’ and teachers’ international horizons, increase motivation in the classroom and prepare young people for life in a global society. Through learning about their partners’ lives and culture, pupils and teachers in the UAE will also learn about their own communities, heritage and identity, working with parents and local community groups.

"It is a rewarding and motivating experience for both the teachers and the students, helping young people to develop informed and positive perceptions of each other’s cultures", said Priya Nandagopal, the British Council’s Project Manager for the Connecting Classrooms programme in the UAE, who led the briefing for the UAE teachers.

"The level of enthusiasm from the UAE teachers at the meeting was very encouraging and we believe that they will make excellent partners for their counterparts in the UK," added Nandagopal.
Paul Sellers, UAE Country Director for the British Council, said,

    "Our UAE Connecting Classrooms programme is part of a major British Council initiative across the region that will create direct school-to-school contact and will run for at least three years. The aim of the programme is to help add an international dimension to the classroom for students, and break down any negative stereotypes, whilst supporting the professional development of education professionals. We also hope that the links will develop into close ties between the schools and that teachers and students will have the chance to visit each other’s schools."

As well as working on joint projects, teachers involved in the scheme can attend professional development workshops to help them make the most of their partnerships, and schools can apply for the International School Award which will be piloted in the UAE this year to recognise their achievements in internationalism. The programme, which launches globally this year, already connects hundreds of schools in the UK with their counterparts in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

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