'Teacher academy becoming regional hub for IB training'

AMMAN — As part of its mission to enable teachers to have an impact on students' development and attainment in all areas, the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) has trained more than 900 International Baccalaureate (IB) educators so far.

Since becoming an authorised professional development provider by the IB in 2010, the QRTA has hosted biannual workshops for IB teachers, coordinators and administrators for Africa, Europe and the Middle East, according to officials at the academy.

The IB is a nonprofit educational foundation that offers programmes designed for students aged 3 to 19 to develop their intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills.

Sixteen Jordanian schools offer IB programmes, 11 of which are already accredited by the foundation and five are still in the process of being authorised. 

"It is true that we are more focused on the development of public school teachers, but the challenges in Jordan's education sector are common," QRTA CEO Haif Bannayan told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

In an interview on the sidelines of a meeting organised by the academy under the title "The International Baccalaureate: Continuity and Innovation as a Leader in International Education", he said the QRTA has managed to conduct IB workshops in Arabic and English.

"Schools used to send IB teachers abroad for training and now we have teachers coming to us from many parts of the world for training," Bannayan noted.

The academy is scheduled to hold 15 IB training workshops in August, both in Arabic and English.

Adrian Kearney, IB regional director for Africa, Europe and the Middle East (AEM), underlined the importance of the QRTA's move to hold IB training in Arabic, making it a regional hub for the system's teachers.

With Jordanian students having an impressive showing in the international exam, "out-performing their peers in the region", the IB philosophy and approach are in line with the Kingdom's educational vision, according to Mary Tadros, QRTA academic programmes' adviser.

Tadros, who also serves as AEM regional manager, noted that more schools in Jordan are applying to adopt the IB system.

More than 80 representatives from both IB authorised schools and other interested ones attended Thursday's meeting, which focused on the IB approach in creating schooled-mind students who are knowledgeable, intercultural and respectful of diversity.

"We need students who think how to change the world without forgetting their local conditions… we need students who can think for themselves and possess the required skills to excel in whatever career path they choose," IB Director General Siva Kumari said.

She highlighted the organisation's efforts to cooperate with stakeholders from around the world since its establishment in 1968.

The QRTA, which marks its fifth anniversary on Sunday, will also organise a conference in December on teachers' development in cooperation with the IB foundation and Texas Instruments.

Launched in 2009 by Her Majesty Queen Rania, the academy has so far trained 30,000 teachers in various programmes.