Sixty teachers participate in problem-solving workshop
The ‘Horouf Reggio Conference’, organized by Horouf, an imprint of Kalimat Group hosting representatives from the Italian Reggio Children Centre, has conducted a workshop with 60 teachers from around the UAE, to develop their teaching methods using the ‘Reggio Emelia Approach’ to education, an alternative learning system founded in Italy.
Sixty education professionals and academics attended the workshop held at Al Qasba Theatre in Sharjah, which used art as a way to explore and develop innovative teaching methods and gain greater insights into the thinking patterns and problem-solving abilities of their students. From this, they would gain a greater empathy with the children and be able to provide more efficient support.
Under the supervision of Marina Castagnetti, who worked as a teacher at the Reggio Children Diana School, the participants were provided with various art materials to create and complete their projects. Through this exercise they learned their own ability to innovate in a classroom atmosphere and how best to work as a team, a skill which they could then encourage their students to follow.
Through an ever-evolving curriculum, the Reggio Approach gives credit and value to the children who play an integral part in the direction of their curriculum, where teachers inspire creativity, skills and capabilities, enhancing the children’s confidence to express their ideas without fear or judgement.
The workshop also presented an innovative model called ‘mosaic’, featuring a variety of works made by children in the Reggio Children Centres, using Reggio learning methods, which is based on constantly evolving expression-based learning, without a pre-planned or pre-defined curriculum.
Founded in 2013, Horouf, an imprint of the Sharjah-based Kalimat Group, aims to create contemporary and innovative educational methods for children in Arabic. Its portfolio has numerous print and digital publications in addition to interactive applications. Prior to its official launch, Horouf has also worked on research projects with 30 schools in Sharjah to explore and develop best practices in educational publishing and the development of children’s abilities. It continues to provide training courses for teachers and educators to best train them on how to use the latest learning tools and educational methods for the better future of generations to come.
