WORKSHOP: TRAINING TEACHERS IN SAUDI ARABIA November 29, 2011

The Challenge As part of its vision for becoming a regional and international leader in education, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has committed itself to educating and training world class teachers and other education professionals. Crucial to this effort is that instructors at all levels be familiar with cutting edge teaching techniques and educational theory. The Opportunity The Kingdoms efforts at creating a globally-competitive teaching corps would benefit strongly a clear need for improved access to a state-of-the-art and globally-competitive training program for its teachers. The Alhambra-U.S. Chamber of Commerce is well position to provide teacher training Seminars on multiple topics for teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Proposal Anjum Malik will work in collaboration with educational institutions or other appropriate organizations within Saudi Arabia to provide teacher training seminars for the Kingdoms educators. Anjum recommends beginning with seminars on active learning and classroom design, one of the most exciting and important aspects of modern teacher training and educational theory. This interactive seminar offers innovative teacher training opportunities that empower educators and provide practical takeaways to instructors of all grade levels to establish a culture of active learning in classrooms through the understanding and implementation of teaching practices that have been proven effective. A summary of the Active Learning Workshop Educators draw from professional lessons when reflecting on favorite students and, from when they themselves were students, on favorite teachers. Identifies the traits of an engaged learner and illustrates ways to transform all students into engaged learners. Identifies the traits of an engaged educator and illustrates how teachers can cultivate those traits in themselves. Discusses the importance of the physical classroom and the value of establishing peer-tutoring partnership.

Illustrates teachers can take advantage of student diversity, including intellectual diversity, to facilitate effective, cooperative learning with pairs or small groups. Discusses how educators can remove the cultural, socioeconomic and linguist barriers among students by embracing diversity as an educational asset. The benefits of an active learning classroom include: Students work together to access and share their prior knowledge to form mental connections to new material. Students develop personally meaningful problem solutions or interpretations. Students receive more frequent and immediate feedback. Need to produce results forces learners to retrieve information from memory rather than simply recognizing a correct statement. Active participation and involvement increases students confidence and selfreliance. Practice with a partner before performance encourages students to become active contributors in class. A task or problem that a student has done himself or herself, or as part of group, is more highly valued, than a problem solved by a teacher during a lecture, with the student as note-taker. Students conceptions of knowledge change, which has implications for cognitive development. Students learn the value to working together to solve problems. Students acquire new strategies for learning by observing others. Because the physical facility directly impacts teacher and student performance, educators entering an unfamiliar, non-traditional environment may lack the training and perspective that would enable success in a cooperative, community classroom. A well-designed classroom offers multiple benefits, including: Establishes a sense of shared community in the school and classroom Facilitates interactive and hands-on learning. Cultivates collaborative student work to strengthen mastery and comprehension of material. Offers learning centers or stations in the classroom. Creates a staging area for students to develop presentation skills. Avoids placing student in a dead space such as a dark corner in the last row. Enables teachers to draw physically near a student when necessary. Additional Teacher Training Programs Beyond the active learning/active classroom design workshop detailed above, the Alhambra-U.S. Chamber can offer multiple other teacher training programs responsive to developing the skills of educations with whom you work: Essentials in Learning Variations in learning styles Cognitive and meta-cognitive development

Diversity Differentiated instruction Classroom Design The community school design The student-teacher connection The cooperative learning classroom Peer teachers Peer learners Classroom Management Creating a Teacher Presence Establishing an environment of respect Redirecting inappropriate behavior Lesson Planning Standards support successful lessons Writing clear and meaningful objectives Designing a learner-centered lesson plan Immediately engaging students Maintaining active learning throughout a lesson Effectively closing a lesson Assessment Traditional vs Proficiency-based Formative Assessment Summative Assessment Technology Optimizing use of the internet as an instructional tool Incorporating teacher technology into lessons Incorporating student technology into lessons Goals and Experience About the Alhambra-US Chamber of Commerce: The Alhambra-US Chamber of Commerce is a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting commercial, educational, and cultural interaction between the US and other nations. The Chamber supports its vision with a variety of consulting activities, event hosting and professional services. Its leadership team possesses extensive experience in business, international event planning, education and media/public relations. Success Stories Conducted teacher training on active learning and contemporary classroom design for more than 500 teachers in Saudi Arabia.

Presented a seminar on how students can best prepare for studying abroad and have a successful international education experience at 2011 International Exhibition and Conference on Higher Education in Riyadh. Originally slated for just one session, the seminar was so popular that conference organizers asked us to repeat it several more times to accommodate all those who wished to attend the first session due to space limitations. Conducted accreditation training in the UAE for more than 150 university administrators in June 2010. Designed the GMAT program for the Institute of Technology in Mexico City in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. 2011 Embassy-University Showcase: Developed, organized and executed international event for approximately 150 US and international universities and 25 Washington-based embassies. Speakers recruited for the event included international ambassadors, cabinet ministers, a representative from the office of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and educational experts affiliated with institutions like Oxford, Harvard and Johns Hopkins.

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