Qatar Museums (QM) hosted the first of two one-day workshops, which aimed to provide school teachers in the country with informative and practical sessions on museum education.
The workshops – for independent, international and private school teachers – form part of QM’s ongoing commitment to align its educational offerings and learning opportunities with teachers’ interests and the school curricula in Qatar.
The initial two sessions are pilots, with QM exploring the idea of rolling out the programme in the months to come.
Participants in this week’s workshop have been given the chance to familiarise themselves with the concept of museum education and explore ways in which they can use these concepts and activities in their curriculum.
Teachers also enjoyed exploring students’ books, lesson plans and online resources, and took part in group exercises related to creating museum educational activities.
In collaboration between QM and University College London Qatar (UCL Qatar) on museum education, QM said the programme seeks to significantly contribute to the educational landscape of Qatar.
QM wants to inspire the next generation of creative talent and thinkers by sharing knowledge about art, heritage and culture.
As a result of the workshop, teachers will develop new skills and acquire knowledge of object-based learning, enriching their teaching materials with content coming directly from QM’s collections and
exhibitions.
The next session, organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, will take place on April 18 for independent school teachers, and will be run by QM educators. Teachers must sign-up in order to secure a place.
“QM prides itself on being a provider of informal education and life-long learning opportunities through arts, culture and heritage,” QM’s education director Dr Jelena Trkulja said.
“We are particularly committed to supporting the national curriculum through our ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Education,” she noted.
“To that end, we are developing substantial educational resources in form of teacher guides, lesson plans and interactive activities that can be integrated into the national curriculum across all subjects,” Dr Trkulja added.
UCL Qatar director Dr Sam Evans said their contribution to Qatar is grounded in the development of people, ground-breaking research, promoting heritage and setting up new research and education resource and infrastructure.
“We are proud to play an active role in engaging all elements of the community to build appreciation, awareness and understanding of Qatar’s cultural heritage and traditions – and our museum education work is central to this,” he added.
Teachers took part in group exercises related to creating museum educational activities.
