Teacher’s forum concludes

AMMAN — The second Teacher Skills Forum concluded on Sunday after two days of intensive activities that enlightened hundreds of educators from across the region.

The forum opened on Saturday on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea, providing more than 1,000 educators with a venue to discuss themes deemed essential to the development of their profession, including early, concept-based, differentiated and STEAM learning, which pertains to science, technology, engineering arts and maths.

The forum, held by the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) and the International Baccalaureate, brought the “largest” number of educators face-to-face with “masters of the profession worldwide”, according to organisers.

Rana Attieh, a private English tutor, was committed to attending the forum for the “invaluable” information it provided.

“I quit full-time teaching at schools to take care of my family, but I know for sure that teaching has never been a more demanding and challenging profession than now,” she told The Jordan Times on Sunday, explaining that students today are “very distracted” and “unwilling to put up with a boring educational environment”.

“This forum helps teachers figure out innovative ways to revive classrooms and keep students interested, a skill educators are in dire need of now,” she added.

The forum featured 132 training workshops, half of which were presented in Arabic, according to QRTA CEO Haif Bannayan, who noted that the academy initiated pre-conference activities that enabled teachers to explore answers for their pressing education-related issues.

Speaking at the forum’s second day, Her Majesty Queen Rania stressed the major role that teachers play as shapers of the region’s future.

“Yours is a sacred profession, which prepares students for all other professions. A lot of initiatives to enable educators were born of this firm conviction, and this forum is one of them,” Her Majesty told teachers.

“The answers to the most difficult test of our times are not in books or texts, nor in forums or conferences. The answers lie in you. They lie in your mission and in the values that you instil in your students,” she added.