DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 4 April 2010: Teachers from Government schools across the UAE had the opportunity to improve the way they teach mixed ability classes and adapt materials at the first British Council Teaching Young Learners and Teenagers Conference on Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 31 March.

The two one-day mini-conferences, held at the Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein School for Girls in Dubai, and at the Institute of Applied Technology in Fujairah, gave 350 teachers, supervisors and teacher trainees from primary, preparatory and secondary government schools new techniques to deal effectively with mixed ability classes and to adapt classroom materials to better meet the needs of their students. 

This is the first regional conference circuit organised under the British Council's English for the Future programme. The circuit which is taking place from 20 March - 3 April has included six countries in the region; Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen and the UAE. 

The circuit is supported by the International Association for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) Young Learners and Teenagers Special Interest Group and is the first time that they have worked in the Middle East. All presenters are IATEFL-affiliated and include UK education experts such as Wendy Arnold, Noreen Caplen-Spence, Coralyn Bradshaw and Martin Goosey. They are all specialists in the teaching of young learners and have previous experience of working in the Middle East.

The conferences were supported by KHDA in Dubai and IAT in Fujairah. Fatma Al Marri, CEO of the KHDA School Agency in Dubai, and Dr Don Grant, Principal of IAT in Fujairah each delivered a warm welcome address to the conference delegates. Sponsors for the Regional Conference Circuit are Garnet Education, Heinle Cengage Ltd, MacMillan Education, Oxford University Press and Pearson Longman.

Karen Ryan, English Project Manager for the UAE said:

'Ensuring teachers have the right tools to be able to give each student in all their classes the right level of individually tailored support so they can fulfil their specific learning needs is a challenge for all teachers'.

'This first Regional Conference Circuit specifically designed for the needs of government teachers working with young learners and teenagers presents an exciting opportunity for teachers to enhance their professional teaching skills by learning from international experts from the UK'.

'It also provides an excellent opportunity for teachers from different Government schools in the UAE to share best practice between themselves, for the benefit of Emirati students'.

'This conference forms part of the British Council's English for the Future programme in the Middle East which aims to support Government education reform programmes by raising the standard of English teaching across the Middle East. This ultimately helps young people's career and employment prospects'.

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The British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. We work in the arts, education, science, sport and governance and last year we reached over 128 million people.

We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm's length from government. Our total turnover in 2007/8 was £565 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £197 million. For every pound of grant we receive, we generate an additional £1.92. For more information visit www.britishcouncil.org/me

For more information contact Karen Ryan, karen.ryan@ae.britishcouncil.org; 04 313 5530

© Press Release 2010