This program, named R.E.A.D: Training Teachers To Empower Youth, R.E.A.D stands for Resilience, Empower, Active and Decision Maker, is a collaboration between the Embassy of The United States of America, Kuala Lumpur and International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), a close association with Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia (IKRAM) and Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM)
It aims to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to develop and train culturally aware and civic-minded youth leaders
This is a three-phased-program in that the first phase will commence in January 2020 and the final phase with a closing ceremony on 7th August
In schools, most of the students are not well-equipped with the effective leadership. Students need to learn the concept of leadership and understand what it means to be a leader, develop a knowledge and understanding of their own faith and culture and its similarities and differences with that of others.
Therefore, teachers need to be up to date with various knowledge, skills, and attitude to teach and convey the importance of leadership with integrity, civic engagement and cultural diversity. Teachers also need to be equipped with skills to deliver the youth leadership curriculum based on concepts like student-centered and project-based learning.
KOED consists of lecturers who are expert in curriculum design and most of the lecturers are mostly well acquainted with the knowledge of classroom management. The experts will be invited to come and run a workshop with teachers on designing a curricular focused on developing confident Muslim leaders
The curricular design workshop will involve outlining the vision and intention of the curriculum, introducing teachers to the topics in curriculum, outlining overarching topics, and mapping topics to learning outcomes and indicators in current Islamic studies in schools.