Teachers’ perspectives on the CoP leaders programme

In this talk, Anthony – an IB English teacher and extended essay coordinator – touched upon collaboration at times of crisis, and how the diverse perspectives of teachers have become a source of strength in solving issues. He also shares testimonials from other teachers who all believe that by further expanding, teachers in Bahrain will thrive in these challenging times.

Click to watch Anthony's testimonial

Aseel – a teacher of English to general foundation programme students in Oman – shares her story about the CoP leader programmes. She helps her community of practice (CoP) by actively sending materials as well as professional development resources. In this video, she talks us through her CoP journey; from approaching teachers from a similar scope of work, to introducing them to the CoP concept and inviting them to join it. Aseel shows us how she leads her CoP and how she wishes to use it to further support teachers in her community.

Click to watch Aseel's testimonial

Diana – an English teacher from Palestine – looks back on how the CoP was an added value to her as it gave her the opportunity to learn new technical skills. She learnt how not to be an authoritative leader but a facilitator. The CoP programme opened new doors for her, allowing her to become an international educator and participate in a UNESCO conference on the world’s Teacher’s Day, boosting her confidence as an educator.

Click to watch Diana's testimonial

In this video, Fatima and Dana share their stories focusing on quality education – as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations – and what impact the shift to remote learning had in over 200 public schools in Bahrain.

Fatima takes us through some of her ways to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all; she takes us through the workshops she organised: workshops on learning technology and Google Earth, as well as a Microsoft white board workshop.
Dana, on the other hand, highlights the key factors teachers need to focus on: students’ motivation and interaction and how she developed workshops to use Mentimeter for interactive lessons, class dojo for motivation and MS Teams for live lessons.

Click to watch Fatima's and Dana's testimonials

As sharing different experiences between teachers locally and internationally can have a great impact on the learning process, Elvin stresses on the fact that having an effective CoP will lead to its success. He realises that his CoP allowed him to reach out to digital experts from around the world, and that this will enable him to achieve more in his community.

Click to watch Elvin's testimonial

Maryam leads on a CoP of six teachers, from both government and private schools. They together created the ‘Bahrain Digital Leaders’ group to communicate with each other about their roles, benefits and expectations from the CoP. Maryam shares how she surveyed the teacher, learned their challenges, and reflected on this to best deliver the CoP goals and targets - learning a lot, herself, during the process.

Click to watch Maryam's testimonial

Following the guidance of CoP workshops, Tareq facilitated two workshops – synchronously and asynchronously – to cover communicative competence and linguistic competence. Tools, experiences, and stories have been shared between teachers and this was a huge achievement since teachers rarely communicate with their counterparts outside their schools. As Tareq said, teachers now have access to multiple resources for development through CoPs and feel more engaged with each other.

Click to watch Taleb's testimonial