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Symposium for wholesome development of children

Nicholas Horsburgh, Ameena Saiyid, Nathan Beaton, Rahila Ashraf, Umang Lal and Tony Chu. — Supplied photo

How does one engage better with children? How can teachers make learning more interesting for school children? And how can educators best prepare them for life?

To discuss these topics and their offshoots, an educator’s symposium called ‘Shaping Learning Together’ was organised last week in Dubai by Oxford University Press (OUP). OUP also launched Asia Education ‘School Textbooks and Supplementary Readers Catalogue for 2015’ at the Media One hotel in Internet City.

The event showcased the textbooks, supplementary readers, and digital resources published by Asia Education which includes OUP China, India and Pakistan for all Indian, Pakistani and Arabic medium schools in the UAE.

Attended by school faculty and representative of OUP from across the globe, the event highlighted the need to make learning as engaging as possible. Rahila Ashraf, Director Professional Development, OUP Pakistan made clear emphatic points in her presentation of supplementary books that can be added on in the school syllabus. She spoke of the need to disseminate information to ensure a well-rounded understanding in students. She said, many schools don’t use the atlas and dictionaries “unlike how it should be.” She illustrated her point by saying students needed to have “visual stimulus” to understand concepts like trade ties and how one country is related to another. Ashraf also mentioned the coming of age of texts, giving the example of graphic novels on the lives of great men and women.

The event was attended by Ameena Saiyid, Asia Education representative for Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa and Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan; Nicholas Horsburgh - OUP author from the UK; Nathan Beaton, Education Consultant for Asia Education; Umang Lal, Regional Sales Manager, School Education, OUP India; Tony Chu, General Sales Manager, Exports and Chief Education Consultant, OUP China; and Heather Pollock, Education Consultant and Oxford Education (OXED) Specialist, UK.

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