Having grown up in Eastern Europe in a multicultural, multilingual family, I learned early on the value of embracing different cultures and perspectives.
Indeed, it is probably this background that has been behind my academic and professional journey which has been marked by a passion for languages and cultural discovery.
“It’s a region where leaders think big.”
Education was a cornerstone of my family’s values. I was always surrounded by books and encouraged to explore the world through learning. Barriers did not seem to exist. In our home, we believed that with determination and dedication, almost anything can be achieved.
I think this is partly what enticed me to the Middle East – a region where leaders think big and set the most audacious of goals for themselves and their nations.
Initially drawn to Qatar from Europe in 2015, I am now rooted in Saudi Arabia, where, for the past eighteen months, I have found myself immersed in an environment of infectious ambition and expansive thinking. As a firm believer in high performance for all, the Saudi mindset resonates with me.
I hold that every student who has the good fortune to have access to a quality education (and is free from learning disability) has the inherent potential and capacity to excel academically and achieve notable accomplishments.
“One must adapt quickly to keep pace with the flow of ideas.”
Saudi leadership holds that there are no limits to what the Kingdom can achieve.
It’s easy to see how my role at Misk Schools represents a meeting of minds.
I can compare living and working in Riyadh to boarding a moving train. Life here is fast. There is a momentum that can be overwhelming if not managed. One must adapt quickly to keep pace with the flow of ideas, opportunities and rapid change evident in all domains including education, which is thriving.
The number of new, international schools opening in the Kingdom is significant, with the K-12 sector projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 12 per cent from 2019 to 2028,.
This is driven by the government’s strategic objective of raising private school enrolment to 25 per cent by 2030 and bolstered by its 2017 decision to allow 100 per cent foreign ownership and investment in the private education market.
“I have worked to build on the foundations laid by my predecessors.”
Misk Schools was founded by HRH Mohammed bin Salman in 2016, and his mandate for us is clear: nurture the next generation of leaders prepared to take their place on both Saudi and global platforms.
With this as context, I have worked to build on the foundations laid by my predecessors. Together with my team and our partners, we have introduced High Performance Learning (HPL) for the first time in the Kingdom, interpreting and recreating its language and concepts so that Arabic-speaking students, staff and parents can connect with it as deeply as English language speakers.
Grounded in research and pedagogical principles, HPL is a philosophy that addresses our evolving comprehension of human potential. It establishes high performance as the norm for all students, employing a distinct teaching and learning framework to methodically cultivate the cognitive skills, values, attitudes, and attributes essential for lifelong success. It helps good schools become world class, which is of particular note here, given Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals for education.
“The best way to teach leadership in schools is to weave it into established frameworks.”
We have also taken HPL a step further through a partnership with Professor David Alworth and his team at Gemic, experts in critical thinking, as well as the UK’s Inspirational Development Group, leadership education specialists.
Leadership is a multifaceted concept, encompassing a dynamic interplay of skills, knowledge, and behaviours. Given its complexity, the most effective approach to teaching leadership in schools is to seamlessly weave it into established teaching frameworks and pedagogical methods.
In what we believe to be a unique approach, we have developed a leadership curriculum that has been fully integrated with HPL and the Cambridge International pathway students follow with us, designed to help them to become unconsciously aware of practising leadership in everything that they do.
The potential of this new curriculum has been embraced locally and internationally. Dr Hibah Khalid Aladasani, assistant professor in the school of education at King Faisal University, has been working with Dr Kay Sanderson, to provide a grounded critique that contributes to its evolution, and helps prepare it for sharing with other educational establishments in Saudi and further afield.
“The potential of this new curriculum has been embraced locally and internationally.”
Integrating the latest research on critical thinking into the HPL paradigm has allowed our students to approach their daily learning with an inquisitive and interrogative mindset.
My journey to the Middle East began with a sense of cultural curiosity and a desire to be part of something transformative.
For now, I can’t imagine a more compelling opportunity anywhere else in the world. Living and working in a pioneering and ambitious market, where ideas are embraced and possibilities are endless, is quite simply exhilarating.