NEST ACADEMY AND KHDA

Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) launched the Teacher and Educational Leadership Standards (TELS) and Licensing pilot project in September 2016 with 227 teachers. At present it is a requirement by UAE govt in case you are a teacher in UAE.We at NEST ACADEMY have created a solution that fits the discreet needs of schools as well as individual teachers.

Who is it for?

Our programs are aimed at anyone who wants to peruse a teaching profession in UAE. Along with existing teacher, a budding teacher can also be part of it. We offer standardized programs and qualifications for both Emirati and expatriate teachers in private and public schools.

How it Works?

All teachers must first apply for a Provisional Teacher Status (PTS). In order to receive this, teachers must have relevant qualifications and experience, provide proof of legal status, a certificate of good conduct and fitness, as well as an IELTS score of 6. All teachers in Dubai must have their PTS by 2021. Having received the PTS, if they meet the requirements, they can then begin the application for the Competent Teacher Status (CTS) permit.

“Becoming a teacher that too certified permit holder one puts you in that rare position where you can have a positive impact on the day-to-day lives of all your students. The sense of accomplishment you will obtain from being a successful teacher is a unique and empowering feeling.”

Train your own teachers for Teacher Permit and competent teacher Status by making your school  a Center of Teaching Excellence with the help of NEST ACADEMY. By becoming your training partner, NEST ACADEMY will support you in your endeavour to train your own schoolteachers and helping you to meet your certifications/permit targets set by UAE Educational Authorities.

Becoming our partner will save you time on preparing courses and your teachers can access the best training materials available. Our resources have been compiled by experts in education sector and are mapped to specific needs of UAE.

Am I eligible?

Currently, there are certain minimum requirements, which applicant teachers must meet in order to qualify for a teacher’s position, whether in public or private schools. The minimum requirements are:

• A criminal record clearance and a medical status report
• Original certificate of educational qualifications, university certificate; minimum requirement is an average score of Good
• Attestation of certificates in case the educator has graduated from a university outside the UAE; the certificate must be attested by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the country’s embassy in the UAE

The non-national applicants must have a working experience of two years in any school. The applicant’s working experience has to include the previous school joining and resignation date. Moreover, it has to be attested.

The candidate has to obtain an IELTS Certificate in the following:

• English with a minimum score of 6.5
• Mathematics and Information Technology with a minimum score of 5.5
• Learning Resource Centre with a minimum score of 0.4

How can teachers apply for the CTS PERMIT?

There are two ways for teachers to apply for the CTS. Teachers without an international permit must complete the UAE TELS exam for Standards 1, 2, 3 and 4. Teachers must also show proof of professional development and self-assessments in form of a mini portfolio, as well as a teacher training qualification.Teachers that have an international teaching permit from certain countries are exempt from taking the exams for Standard 2, 3, and 4. They must take the Standard 1 exam, however. They must also show proof of professional development and self-assessments in form of a mini portfolio.

Roadmap for competent Teachers

TEACHER STANDARDS

What Are Teacher Standards?

Ministry of Education in the UAE launched a strategic plan for 2017-2021 to develop an innovative education system for building a knowledgeable and globally competitive society. Under the aegis of this strategic plan, Teacher standards were framed to represent 99 key parameters to which all teachers in the UAE must conform.

What You Learn?

The course will familiarise teachers with personal and professional ethics for the teaching profession. It will enhance teachers understanding of the UAE heritage and cultural values. The course will further enhance a teacher’s skills to collaborate and communicate professionally with stakeholders to promote and support learning. The course will develop teacher’s knowledge and understanding of organizational regulations, the emirate and national laws and regulations that are applicable to schools and school employees.

Teacher standard 1

Professional Ethics & Conduct

The course will familiarize teachers with personal and professional ethics for the teaching profession. It will enhance teachers understanding of the UAE heritage and cultural values. The course will further enhance a teacher’s skills to collaborate and communicate professionally with stakeholders to promote and support learning. The course will develop teacher’s knowledge and understanding of organizational regulations, the emirate and national laws and regulations that are applicable to schools and school employees.

Teacher standard 2

Professional Knowledge

The course will familiarise teachers with knowledge about learning and development in relation to the diversity of learner characteristics and needs. It will enhance teachers understanding of and competence in the curriculum for the area(s) of responsibility, educational research, learning theories, pedagogical approaches, cultural values and relevant policies. The course will support teachers to apply knowledge in practice. The course will familiarise teachers with knowledge about learning and development in relation to the diversity of learner characteristics and needs. It will enhance teachers understanding of and competence in the curriculum for the area(s) of responsibility, educational research, learning theories, pedagogical approaches, cultural values and relevant policies. The course will support teachers to apply knowledge in practice.

Teacher standard 3

Professional Practice

The course will familiarise teachers with the importance of creating learning environments that are safe, supportive and motivating for learners. It will enhance the teacher’s knowledge about effective learner-centered teaching that is responsive to the needs of learners. The course will further enhance teacher’s knowledge about the use of technology in education. The course will develop teacher’s knowledge and understanding of different assessments and its importance to evaluate progress. The course will also develop the teacher’s knowledge about different ways to provide feedback on learner learning.

Teacher standard 4

Professional Growth

The course will enhance teachers understanding of the importance of taking responsibility for their own professional growth by reflecting on performance, identifying development needs, planning and engaging in professional development, and evaluating the impact on teaching and learning.

Teacher standard package

Fast trek preparation on teacher standards with NEST ACADEMY

NEST ACADEMY brings you a fast track course on Teacher Standards that can help you improve your scores in pedagogy assessment and meet the pedagogy score requirement accepted by various authorities. The course includes 140+ video lessons, extensive reading material and discussion forum to share your thoughts and doubts, and multiple assessments to analyze your improvement with all the concepts of Teacher Standards. The package also includes four mock assessments to provide a simulated assessment to help you practice for the final assessment.

Process we follow

1. Initial pedagogical assessmentof the teachers
2. Teaching documentsreview and mapping of pedagogical levels to documentation level of the school
3. Customising the program based on discreet needs of school and creating a learning model (online/ face to face/ blended)
4. Continuous feedback and data analysisof teachers learning, mapped to each individual performance criteria in the four standards given by KHDA
5. Mock exams and practise questions based on each performance criteria based on KHDA question models.
6. Regular in-school doubt clearing sessions
7. E portfolio with all learning data, and other required data with a single button sharing option to be submitted to KHDA or school authorities. This portfolio stays with the school/teacher for renewals of the permit over the years
8. Finally, we would bring all of this mounted on our experience of training around 100,000 teachersin different national & international  curriculum schools and being the first movers in bringing cognitive sciences to pedagogical skills (which is exactly what KHDA wants to assess the teachers on and they approved us when they saw that in our content).

 Teacher Certification and Permit

• Teacher Professional Development-This is a need based modules that has customised content as per the requirements of the school. Using our proprietary tool we help the school in identifying the need areas. Then we implement a professional development solution which includes course material, hand holding, assessments and continuous reporting to teachers and school management on improvement and learning path of the school.
• Ethics And Values-This module focuses on building ethical conduct in teachers both in and outside the classroom. This module will enable a teacher to develop a know how of how perceptions work and handle situations where ethics might be perceptive. This module also develops a teachers skill set to be able to effectively communicate the impact of integrity and values in everyday life scenarios.
• Integrated Education-This module helps teachers in understanding aspects of integration in the classroom &uplift the interests of children with special needs. It helps to identify the various types of learner needs which should be dealt with inclusive teaching techniques. It lays down the characteristics of special children and ways to create a strong inclusive set up supported with simple strategies forming the base for the same.
• Questioning Skills-This unit focuses on enhancing the questioning skills of a teacher. The locus of control in questioning is usually evaluation of student rather than knowledge, which leads to biased assessment. So, this module focuses on taxonomy based measurable questioning techniques which categorises the thinking skills that needs to be measured along with various learner styles in the form of written or verbal questionnaires.
• Teaching Strategies-This unit focuses on equipping teachers with the effective strategy for teaching. Teachers will devise effective strategies to tap the previous knowledge of the child. Teacher will also learn to use a variety of Exploratory activities. Teachers will be able to use various learning theories like Constructivism/behaviorism/Exploration to enable students to acquire Conceptual knowledge. Further teachers learn to use various teaching tools like mindmaps and GO’s in classroom teaching.
• Classroom Dynamics & Management-This is a course focused towards skilling teachers on how to handle the in-class dynamics while delivering a lesson. Right from how to initiate a class, how to modulate the content and even how to arrange infrastructure to deliver an impactful class. This curse focuses on physical (infrastructural) aspects of a classroom and connects it to student behavior
• Professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning (Teach Up)-This is a certificate program covering various pedagogical skills required by a teacher to be able to deliver high quality classes. This programs enables a teacher to deliver the required learning outcomes and be skilled to execute pre-class, during class and post class responsibilities.