Reema BurhanUAE
From one maths classroom. To leading them all.
Moving from a maths classroom to leading the subject.
- Now
- Secondary mathematics and ICT teacher at a British school in the UAE
- Programme
- PgCTL, certificate recently received
- Offered
- Maths lead for the whole school
Reema taught secondary maths and ICT at a British school in the UAE, where competition is sharp and a teacher can be replaced quickly. She passed the Ministry of Education pedagogy exam, and her head of secondary asked her to lead mathematics across the school.
An offer to lead maths.
Reema Burhan had only recently received her PgCTL certificate when she recorded her account. “We all know that competition is really tough here in the UAE, and there’s always a teacher to replace an incompetent one,” she says. She credits the programme with the confidence and skills to retain her position. The offer of the maths lead role for the whole school came from her head of secondary.
Her preparation for the Ministry of Education pedagogy exam was simple: “All I had to do was practise a few past papers, which were again provided by Suraasa to me, and just brush up on the knowledge that I had gained in this course.”
Thanks to this course I was also able to pass my pedagogy exam, which is held by the UAE Ministry of Education, without much effort.
Stretching both ends of the class.
In her own lessons, Reema learnt to make the classroom “a fun and interesting place” with a variety of activities, and by changing the classroom setting at times. She learnt the importance of questioning, assessment and feedback, which she says “really proved helpful in raising their attainment”. Differentiation worked in two directions. “I was not only able to properly support my low-ability learners but could also stretch and challenge my high-ability ones,” she says.
One of her students, speaking in the same video, says that when someone is stuck on a question she comes over and explains the process step by step, and that what she says stays in your head during tests. The child psychology she studied helped her understand her students better, she says, and her own children too. She also learnt to be more organised with her time, which she says had a positive impact on her family life.
An ambition some may find unusual.
Reema says some might find her ambitions “a bit unusual”, but that there will be teachers who can relate. “Rather than see myself at the top of the ladder, my dream is to nurture every one of my students to their fullest potential and help them reach the top,” she says.
