Sharjah Public Library workshop for teachers

Sharjah / Emirates Business

Teachers in Sharjah received a boost to their critical thinking abilities thanks to an initiative from Sharjah Public Library (SPL), a subsidiary of Sharjah Book Authority. The institution recently concluded an ‘Integrating Thinking Skills Programme’ workshop that was held in collaboration with Mawhiba Training and Positive Motivation Centre with the aim of training female teachers to use critical thinking skills and integrate them in their educational curricula.
Conducted by trainer Ibtisam Al Salman and addressing thinking, talent and creativity, the workshop discussed forms of advanced critical analysis and how female teachers can use cognitive skills to enhance their teaching endeavours. A key component of the three-day workshop was the ‘Thinker’s Keys’ based on ‘Tony Ryan’s Australian Programme’, through which the trainer expounded on each of the programme’s elements and how it can be used in a school classroom to facilitate better learning. “We organised this programme because we are keen to play an active role in building an educational cadre of creative thinkers who are able to face the challenges of life and keep pace with the rapid modernisation of our world, including teaching practices. The workshop helped the participants break old-fashioned methods of forceful dictation in the classroom, with its aim being to create a knowledge-based generation that makes the most of education and can adopt critical thinking as a way of life,” Sara Al Marzouqi, SPL Manager said.
The teachers participating in the Integrating the Thinking Skills Programme reported that they greatly benefitted from the SPL workshop, with their feedback stating that it had a positive result in explaining different mechanisms, strategies, tools and methodologies of creative thinking. They said that they had been able to acquire new skills that would enable them to better develop children’s creativity and make school curricula more interactive and enjoyable for their students.
Sharjah Library was founded by Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, in 1925 under the name ‘Al Qasimiyah Library’ initially as His private library. Its location has changed several times from Al Husn (Sharjah Fort) in Bait Al Gharbi under the Mudeef Building to Sharjah City Municipality, then to Africa Hall, to Sharjah Cultural Centre and Sharjah University City and finally to its present location at Halwan Suburb.