By embracing innovation, schools in the UAE aim to create highly effective learning environments that set a strong foundation for success in later school years. In this panel discussion, we look at the most effective strategies for innovation in education and the best ways to empower students to thrive in their educational journeys.
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NewsTranscript
00:00session that we've got today for EduFed. There's another bunch of sessions that we've got on
00:05tomorrow that we're looking forward to but over the next little while we're talking about the
00:08innovations in early childhood education and exploring the new approaches and best practices
00:14that are available. As we all know preschool classrooms that are emotionally supportive
00:19and cognitively stimulating can help strengthen the child's learning and also their development
00:24and beyond the structured environment positive interactions with teachers
00:29and engagement with their peers are some of the key factors linked to improved language
00:34numerical skills and other socio-emotional outcomes and realising that students learn best
00:40when teaching is aligned with each young learner's unique style schools and nurseries
00:44and other early learning centres across the UAE are actively redefining their teaching approaches
00:50so to speak about some of the innovations that are available to parents and families
00:54we are joined here by Adam Salita, Branch Manager for Chumby Peaks Nursery, thank you very much
00:59and also Eddie Pamahongka, the Principal of the British Orchard Mercantile Nursery,
01:04thank you very much for coming in. If we get a round of applause for them please.
01:10We're still trying to get a lot of mic to work so in the process we might have to do a bit of a
01:15mic sharing here we'll see if we can get yours to work Adam. We've been speaking a lot about
01:21technology but specifically what are the recent innovations that have been implemented to promote
01:27the curiosity and the engagement of students? Thank you very much first of all I would like
01:36to say thank you to both of you for arranging this because I can see a lot of policy makers
01:41and educators attending the seminar today. Working in early years I would say that after
01:47Covid we have seen drastic changes in children's behaviour and development. Talking about the
01:57curiosity and exploration and what else? Just the curiosity, exploration and their engagement as
02:04well. So see the techniques which we apply in the nurseries is very very very important.
02:11Let's go step by step. So what we do in Chubby Chimps Nurseries, for us the most important thing
02:18is child. Our curriculum is based on child-centred. We keep children in the centre of everything,
02:26the child's interests, what they want to learn from the environment and how can we provide them
02:34this positive environment to make a change in their learning. For us we divide,
02:42because we are following early years formation which is a standard practice in the UK and we
02:48divide the classroom area as per the standards. We have different, we provide different areas in the
02:54classroom. Let's say a role play area where child learn through role play and then we provide them
03:01in the STEM areas, the activities based upon their age which will enhance their curiosity,
03:08exploration and engagement in the learning. We believe outdoor play also plays a very important
03:14role and we provide them outdoor play spaces as well, going on a nature walk, a adventure hunt
03:22or planning the field trips where they can learn from the real life experiences.
03:28It is also very important for them to learn through real life experiences. At this age,
03:35particularly when we say zero to five, nurseries and early childhood education centres play a
03:41vital role in organising their thoughts and their... The challenges, the lessons?
03:54Yes, the challenges, yes, that's true. Thank you very much, thank you very much Anna. To you
04:01Anna Kam, you're the principal, just reminding people that may have just come in, the principal
04:05of the British Orchard Nursery. What are some of the recent innovations that have happened
04:10at the nurseries that provide emotional support for students?
04:15So what we're doing at British Orchard is we've actually introduced an emotional
04:18curriculum, emotional coaching curriculum which has really taken off well. We're not only training
04:26our staff but we're also... Just hold on, is there a spare microphone we can...
04:36So we're also training not only our staff but also our parents in the emotional curriculum. So
04:41what we've done recently is we've actually started with our children and we've let them
04:47feel their emotions and how to deal with them. So that's what we've started recently and it's
04:54really doing wonders because the children are actually getting in touch with their feelings,
04:58with their emotions, really teaching them how to regulate them, how to express them. Our staff is
05:05getting to know better on how to deal with children who have feelings and how we are
05:11showing their feelings in different ways. And of course our final, you know, stakeholder is our parents
05:18because with us the children stay only for a few hours but our parents need to be trained as well.
05:23So we're also training them on how to deal with tantrums. We see in the walls when the children
05:29are rolling over the floor and the parents are pulling them in or they're saying, okay we're
05:34leaving and you just follow us and that I think scarves children sometimes. And then they go,
05:40my parents are going to leave. We're also teaching parents and teachers about how we are actually
05:46carrying our generational trauma of what our parents did to us and how we are following that with our
05:52children now but we also have to understand that the children today are different.
05:56And how hard is that as a principle? I mean there's obviously an extreme need for this but how much of
06:01that is taking a role in place of what would have been traditional learning or am I not looking at
06:07it the wrong way that this is the new normal, this is traditional learning for a preschool?
06:12It's becoming a traditional learning at least in the chartered nurseries because we pride ourselves
06:17in the first nursery to introduce an emotional coaching curriculum. But what we're also doing
06:24is we allow children to see where they are on the emotional continuum and how to deal with feelings.
06:32We do a lot of affirmations to make them stronger, to make them believe in themselves.
06:40Specifically how does that work? How would you have a child, what exercises, what roles or
06:45innovations do you put in place to try and build self-esteem? So what we have done is we have calm
06:51areas in the classroom so children when they feel distressed or not cared for because a friend is
07:00not talking to them that's huge for children. When a friend is not talking to them it's their world
07:05coming apart. They know how to deal with it or go to their partner and they just touch what they're
07:11feeling and then the teacher normally goes in to find out what's happening. We have a morning time
07:18every day where we talk about feelings and how we're feeling today as a group and then we do it
07:24as individuals. We have calm rooms to calm down but every class is also catering to how an
07:31emotional wealth can be created with children so that they can deal with their feelings better as
07:39adults. And why do you think there is this need to incorporate this as part of an innovation
07:46approach in nurseries across the UAE? Children have a lot of feelings and emotions and sometimes
07:52we don't address them. I remember as a child if I would cry my mother would be like why are you
07:57crying? Stop crying, it's okay, it's not the end of the world. And it's then easy to suppress
08:04my feelings because I thought it's not okay to cry, it's not okay to show my emotions.
08:11That's not how it works. I think our children should be able to express
08:16what they're feeling. If they're angry we just give them a hug and say okay you want to talk
08:21about it we can or if they're feeling distressed or angry we don't tell them it's okay don't be
08:28angry or don't cry we just hold them and let them get it out. Yeah I think the research has
08:35proven that children do develop a lot of techniques to cope with that and then as adults they need to
08:42learn how to unlearn a lot of those coping techniques. Yes, our challenge is training our staff
08:49on how to deal with emotions. We've been doing that for a year and we've seen a whole lot of
08:56difference. Our parents are our biggest supporters and they're also supporting us with that. We have
09:03online trainings for them, we have face-to-face trainings for them, we show them how to do it,
09:09we have merchandise for EQ. It's really working well with our branches and the children are showing
09:15signs of emotional intelligence. That's always impressive. Yes, you want to add?
09:21I think the inclusive environment is very important here and when we say inclusive
09:27environment I think that we need to provide opportunities for every child, for each and
09:34every child and here we have a special educator and we do need to provide a special educator who
09:41will work very closely with the parents to address the issue as soon as possible.
09:50Because when we talk about the children, every child is different, every child is unique and
09:55personal, social and emotional development is always a part of early childhood education.
10:02It's a primary area of learning. You mentioned these new innovations,
10:08how do teachers kind of tail their learning styles? Because the teachers may have been brought
10:13up in an environment where they didn't have to teach a lot of EQ or emotional learning.
10:17How have you helped work with the teachers to promote these new innovations?
10:20So staff training is our core goal. We train staff with new innovative practices which is
10:29not only emotional intelligence but other things like they might be starting with differentiation
10:34or intelligences or an immersion curriculum or a rejuvenation philosophy.
10:40Whichever new curriculums or new ideas that can help involve and evolve children in their learning,
10:48those are all innovations. So we do train our teachers very diligently at least.
10:54About each year 100 hours is required but we sometimes go over that.
10:59Moving away from some of those developments, what about traditional learnings, for example,
11:05just play-based learnings? What are some of the innovations when it comes to play-based
11:09learning strategies that you have at ChuttyTips? Yes, we do have inquiry-based learnings at
11:15ChuttyTips. When a child goes on an inquiry, we ask more open-ended questions because it
11:22gives them the opportunity to work on their communication skills and it works very well
11:27with their tenacity as well. And what about the relationship you have with parents?
11:33Are you finding innovations to have a, because we're trying to talk about the latest innovations,
11:37what are some of the innovations that parents and teachers have had? What are the mechanisms
11:41that you use to have a better relationship between the school and the parent? Right,
11:44that's the most important part because these children are so young. It's difficult for them
11:50to sometimes have the language competency to go and share what they're doing with their parents or
11:56what they did. So we have apps to connect with parents, which where we do this almost daily,
12:04telling them how the child is feeling today, some pictures, some videos, and if the child had a hard
12:09day or a nice day or an easy day, it's the parent's right to know about that. So that happens on a
12:14daily basis so that everybody knows what's going on. Apart from that, we have our parent-teacher
12:20conferences. We've started something called Positive Calling. So we call parents on a regular
12:27basis telling them what the child is doing really well and how the child is developing. For example,
12:32we said something nice today, an affirmation today, a full sentence, a new word, and that really makes
12:40parents feel happy. And in your experience, how has that changed the relationship that parents have
12:45towards their nurseries? Apart from this, we also involve parents in school activities and events.
12:52And when they come in there, it changes the whole ratio of how we deal with parents. They're still
12:58part of us. It's no longer parents and stuff. We're all on one side. So drop the ball to come back,
13:05pick them up. Yeah, they're all on our side. It's like anything we speak about or we say that's
13:12innovation or we're able to plan something, we're hand by hand. We hold hands and we move forward
13:18for the benefit of the child. That triangle is merging into just this. So that's the ecosystem
13:25between all the parties involved. And on that, what has the work done at Chubby Chicks, not only
13:32to help parents, but what are you doing to help parents select the right nursery for their child?
13:37See, we have open door policy. Parents can come and see the nursery anytime.
13:42So the parent, they communicate with the nursery and they want to have a tour to be able to feel
13:48and understand the culture. Yes, we let them see the classrooms. We want them to see what's
13:52happening inside the classrooms. It will make them see. It will make them, you know, to take the decision very easily.
13:59Apart from this, we have online platforms available for parents where they can see and go through the
14:03picture of what's happening inside the nurseries. Not only this, we do organize workshops and webinars
14:11for parents where they can come and engage with the teachers. One-on-one meetings also get offered to the parents.
14:21We've got the opportunity to ask questions. If anyone does have a question for our panel,
14:25we'll get to those in just a few moments' time. We're looking towards teachers.
14:32How are they, in terms of new innovations, how are they expanding their learning styles for students
14:38to continuously remain fun and interactive? Right, so the teachers understand. First of all,
14:46all teachers are cash-leveled trainees from the UK, 3 to 5. Some of them are already on the
14:52leadership program. Some have BGCIS as well. And our training also makes a difference.
14:59They understand that children have varying interests and they have learned differently.
15:05So that has multiple intentions when we tell them and they understand that children can be
15:11visual learners. So all our activities are open resources so that they can learn through materials
15:19which are open-ended and which helps our children to create, build team projects,
15:27use multiple intentions, use a variety of skills so that they can develop accordingly. Each child
15:35is personalized attention. We know how each child learns. There are focus groups learning. There's
15:41nothing which happens where you're all sitting. Like today, if it were like that, it wouldn't be
15:47like this. It would be in small areas, in small groups. I would be just sitting with 5 or 6 people
15:56explaining to them what early years is about. Others would have learning stations, learning
16:01areas where they would be going in and seeing, doing self-learning, finding out, talking to each
16:07other, learning from their friends, speaking to them, building, creating, using their interests,
16:15doing dramatic plays or an open-ended construction area. And I would be sitting with these 5 or 6
16:21children or people here just explaining what happens and then I would be like,
16:26off you go, do some construction work, call the rest here and film with them.
16:30Well I know, Parmi, you're lucky that this is in a classroom because Gordon from Gotham
16:33used to be asking about that time straight away when he could have a break. Any questions
16:40for our panel? Does anyone have any questions at this stage that we can ask?
16:44While you do have a think about that, is there a relationship between
16:48the nurseries and also the schools in passing on any of these lessons or
16:54any of what you've assessed in terms of child's evaluation to help them with their future growth?
17:00See, in Chattanooga Chicks nurseries, as I have already reported, we will install partnership
17:05with parents. So we involve parents in children's learning as much as possible. So there is teacher
17:12and parent conferences where parents are invited to have one-on-one with the teacher where they
17:16will talk about the child's learning, whether the child has achieved a milestone or whether
17:20the child has not achieved a milestone. So what's the next step? All this learning is also documented
17:26in the learning journals which will be shared with the parents. And not only this, for the
17:31communication app we do have a standard checklist for each child where, as per the UK standards,
17:37they have to achieve those milestones. So parents are very much aware of
17:44what's happening in the child's learning. And they can use that to still take the right school.
17:52Right. So apart from daily feedback, we have observations, reflections, which teachers
17:59regularly make. So we have long observations, we have short observations, we have learning journals
18:05which are marked according to development matters from the UK. It's basically based on
18:09the early, early loans. And that feedback is given to parents. So our learning journal starts from
18:15the day the child arrives. So if he arrives as a baby, we start with the milestones from there.
18:20And once the child leaves, it is a whole learning journal for the parents.
18:23I'm exhausted just hearing about it. I'm more than I used to go through in high school.
18:32Yeah, well, run up the floors. And that really does reflect the innovation.
18:36And teachers work very hard because children learning has to be observed, documented,
18:42shared, so that we know what skills they've, you know, mastered and what skills they still need
18:49to develop. Some skills have exceeded. So each child is different. And that's how we want to
18:54deal with it. So for parents looking around at the right nursery, what are some of the questions
18:59you think that should be asked? To get the right answer, what are the right questions to be asked?
19:05The parents have to see which nursery is offering a holistic approach, because they want to see the
19:12child grow holistically, not only particularly in one area. If I were going to a nursery looking,
19:22you know, for my child, I would see what are the innovations that nursery has come up with?
19:28How are they different? What is special? And how would it suit the needs of my child?
19:36And those are the things that we actually are best at.
19:40Yeah, looking towards the future when it comes to innovations, what do you think is going to be
19:44the biggest challenge in nursery education over the next five to ten years?
19:48Technology, AR, VR, augmented learning.
19:52So all those things are going to come to play.
19:53Computation, coding.
19:55Are you going to nursery?
19:57I've started.
19:59You've started coding?
20:01Yes.
20:03It's a lot of STEM education.
20:05What's the point of high school anymore?
20:07We need to understand how coding begins with young children.
20:11Coding begins with the world wide.
20:13So we have floor games for younger children. And as they grow older, we transfer their skills into a more
20:21formal technology. But they have to learn directionality.
20:25And that's how coding begins.
20:27And that's what we have actually got better at.
20:31This is coming as a surprise to me.
20:33But I'm also very impressed.
20:35We have all these.
20:37Has this come as a result of parents have been asking for this? Or the industry is asking?
20:41What drives most of the innovation?
20:43I think I'm very passionate about how children learn and what they need to learn.
20:49I want my kids to be the best kids.
20:51And not get left behind.
20:53Because they're in.
20:55They're more in than us.
20:57And I feel that.
20:59Who are we to stop them?
21:01So if you give them platforms and opportunities.
21:03And they can get better at it.
21:05Not everybody will get it.
21:07But most will.
21:09And we're happy about that.
21:11I guess kids are so adaptable.
21:17There's not too much pressure on kids.
21:19That they've got to be able to commit to all this.
21:21Most child kids are far more able to adjust to these innovations.
21:23See.
21:25Technology is the future.
21:27So we cannot deny this.
21:29We cannot deprive our children at this young age from technology.
21:33However, the role of educators is there to balance hands-on activities.
21:37As well as the technology.
21:41The right kids.
21:43The right kids is very important.
21:45Some children.
21:47That's again individualised, personalised learning.
21:49I have not liked technology more.
21:51I like the aesthetic.
21:53I like to build.
21:55I like to create.
21:57And that's the teacher's role to find out who does what.
21:59And what are the interests.
22:01And develop that.
22:03Any questions from anyone before we finish things up?
22:05Because we've had a fantastic panel.
22:07Very informative.
22:09Well thank you very much to our two panellists.
22:11Give them a round of applause.
22:13I'm Matt from the British Orchard Nursery.
22:15And I'm Celine, the branch manager of Chime Cheeks Nursery.
22:17So thank you very much to our panellists.
22:19To you as well.
22:21And we're back here for day two tomorrow of the Golf Music Event.
22:23Thank you so much.
22:25Thank you for coming.
22:27It was really great.