Hunada Kanbar Ph.D

I am currently teaching courses on Middle Eastern culture and Islamic education. These subjects are designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the rich traditions, history, and religious practices unique to the Middle East and the Islamic world. My teaching approach combines theoretical knowledge with practical insights, allowing students to gain a comprehensive perspective of the region's cultural and religious dynamics. Through this coursework, I aim to enlighten and inspire a new generation of learners about the significance and intricacies of Middle Eastern and Islamic heritage and its impact on global societies.

In response to his Highness’ Decree to support educators during the pandemic, and in collaboration with governments and private consultants the initial founding strategy and implementation plan of the Academy was put in place. The plan was met with great success; by the end of 2021 we had over 125 000 course enrollments from eleven countries. This opened the door to start the academic stream as well as the partnership with Helsinki University to launch the post graduate diploma. My current role revolves around leading the Professional Development Stream in addition to being an active member in the Academic Stream and establishing partnership with leading organization in education including IB Organization, Monach University, Carnegie Foundation of Teaching Advancement. I also lead several projects to improve student results in international assessments, analyzing student results and educators’ needs analysis to inform professional development program design.

I am currently teaching in a postgraduate program at the Academy, focusing on Islamic culture and education. This program is specifically designed to equip future educators with a deep understanding and appreciation of Islamic traditions and pedagogical techniques. My role involves delivering comprehensive coursework that intertwines Islamic values with modern teaching methodologies, aimed at preparing teachers who can effectively integrate these insights into their classroom environments. This training ensures that the upcoming generation of teachers is not only well-versed in Islamic principles but also skilled in applying these principles within the educational landscape to foster a more enriched learning experience for their students

I spearheaded the development of an innovative program and curriculum in early childhood education. The cornerstone of this initiative was to establish an educational system for the early stages of learning, with a strong emphasis on instilling values and enhancing Arabic language skills. The program was meticulously crafted to integrate key Islamic cultural and ethical teachings, alongside fostering language proficiency, creativity, and scientific thinking. By focusing on these fundamental aspects, the curriculum aims to provide a holistic educational foundation for young learners. This approach ensures that children are not only linguistically adept but also grow with a deep understanding of and connection to their cultural and moral roots from a very young age

Working with Higher Education organizations and research:

Contributed to Hamdan Smart university smart learning diploma program and Research.

Leading research and guiding post graduate students on E-maturity in Education

Participating in a research that has been created by NYADU regarding the Islamic and Arabic education in UAE- 2016.

Teaching a leadership program that has been created by National collage of school leadership and Nottingham university as part of accredited hours for Master’s Degree Program in Nottingham university-2015.

Worked with Sharjah university to create an enriching curriculum and preparing future teachers.

Responsible for schools’ E-maturity and smart learning transformation in all steps including:

Working with the ministry data center using machine learning to analyze the three sets of data for three hundred schools. The three sets are: inspection results, e-maturity results and usage results for three hundred schools across all emirates. In conclusion, I produced a report of casual analysis pertaining to the different elements and variations of input. Although the report is confidential, it has been used to build a new strategy for the smart learning project that supported schools during the pandemic.

Leading and Evaluating E-maturity framework within 6 Emirates

Developing the Smart Learning Award

Analyzing the evaluation data and planning accordingly

Advising and coaching all stakeholders on the E-maturity of the digital transformation

Leading a change management plan for all stakeholders

Working closely with the Minister’s Advisor and globally with “Leading Countries of the World” in digital transformation to create Model, whitepaper, and framework for digital transformation for organization.

Responsibilities:

Worked as a reviewer (QA) for different educational projects within Pearson in GCC to ensure that the projects are meeting their outcomes and making a measurable impact on students’ life.

Designed and facilitated behavioral assessment sessions for managers on how to evaluate and track employee progress within an organization.

Being part of the contextualizing process of the content to achieve the best results from the programs.

Facilitation of the content to school leaders including principals, vice principals, advisors teachers and inspectors.

Tracked the participants’ progress through assessments and internship projects by visiting different schools in different emirates.

Was a part of the evaluation of the program and its impact on the participants through analysis of feedback and efficacy reviews.

Used” Fronter” so as to move the school leaders to another dimension of communication in order for them to lead change.

Worked with NCTL on measuring and analyzing the impacts of the leadership program on schools and students.

Part of the team that developed the content the School Leadership Certificate created by Nottingham University. The certificate includes 400 training hours over a year’s period and would be considered credit hours for a Master’s degree in leadership in Nottingham University. My main role was to ensure alignment between the content and principal’s needs based on the data generated through inspections, culture, and government requirements.

In my role, I was responsible for inspecting the Islamic and Arabic curriculum in private schools and creating standards for Islamic education. This involved assessing various school aspects, including attainment, progress, teaching, learning, assessment, curriculum, student support, leadership, and management. My focus was particularly sharp on Islamic and Arabic subjects, where I identified strengths and weaknesses and provided recommendations for schools to enhance their educational offerings.

I actively supported schools rated as unsatisfactory, guiding them through visits and helping them outline necessary steps to improve their education quality. My involvement extended to participating in the preparation of school reports and contributing to the DSIB annual report, where I played a crucial role in data analysis.

Additionally, I was instrumental in refining the inspection handbook, particularly enhancing the methodology for inspecting the quality indicators related to students' social and personal development. My work also included interpreting the MOE standards and adapting IB training materials for MOE schools.

As a coach and supporter, I assisted my colleagues and new inspectors within KHDA, fostering a culture of innovation. My role also encompassed instant and written translation from Arabic to English and vice versa. Furthermore, I contributed to PISA research and was actively involved in quality monitoring in schools.

Planned and conducted different training programs such as:

Successful teaching methods.

The most effective way to teach Arabic and Islamic Education in the west.

The best practice of good teaching in the UAE context.

How to improve the IE curriculum Standards and how to be innovative.

How to improve Arabic language standards in the context of Dubai.

How to face our challenges in education.

The 7 habits of highly effective people.

Worked closely with the director to share and implement the mission and vision with teachers, students and parents.

Worked on improvement of the curriculum in cooperation with the Universities taking into consideration the following three aspects: Intended curriculum, implemented curriculum, and achieved curriculum.

Worked closely with teachers to help them improve their teaching methods and inspiring them to give their best performance by highlighting their achievements.

Leaded different programs with the students to enable them to be more effective in their society and so that they may use their knowledge in a wider society. Examples of programs include “The 7 habits of highly effective teens”, “The keys of success” and “History is the best teacher”.

Worked on generating different types of assessments to help students identify their strengths, weaknesses and how to improve.

Monitored the delegation of responsibilities to students in school to prepare them for their future lives.

Planned and measured achievements of the department by observing its outcomes.

Reviewing and writing reports about the MOE exams.

Tracked student achievements over the years and linked them to the self-evaluation of the department.

Interacted with different student groups through a variety of activities and for different subjects including Arabic and Islamic for secondary and Science for elementary as to ensure their progress.

Planning and assessing the improvement of student’s critical skills through the practice of reasoning.

Visiting different schools to share the best practice.

Working with SEN students.

Working with students as a social councilor to prepare them for the next step in their academic year.