Al-Muftah, who studied Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university, is an English teacher at Tariq Bin Ziad (TBZ) School, part of QF’s Pre-University Education.
“I did not dream of teaching – I dreamt about making the world a better place, about making people’s lives better and doing something that would have a positive and powerful impact. I didn’t realise that this meant becoming a teacher.”
For al-Muftah, Teach For Qatar – an NGO that aims to reinvest talented leaders into the government school system – was the perfect opportunity for her to explore education as a career. “It all starts in the classroom. It’s truly a magical place,” she says.
“The programme has shaped who I am as a person and it has played an integral part in my journey. The experience was extremely rigorous and challenging, but it accelerated my career and propelled me forward in the most incredible and unimaginable ways.
“It has changed me as a human being fundamentally before anything else, and that’s the kind of investment that the programme makes – investing in people to harness their potential and lead in the classroom. They are the pioneers that the nation needs.”
Before joining TBZ, al-Muftah taught in government schools for two years – including during the pandemic, which, changing the ways schools operate – including incorporating blended learning techniques – was a challenging experience.
“The pandemic happened during my first year as a teacher – and it was my first job, too. I believe that after facing that, I can face anything.
“We needed to rise to the occasion and do something that hadn’t been done before. Teaching remotely, and with the blended model, was challenging, but there were a plethora of tools, resources and strategies available to us that could be applied within the classroom. And although there were obstacles, I think that it proved to everyone that we have incredible educators who are willing to go the extra mile, into uncharted waters, to keep learning progressing.”
According to al-Muftah, teaching itself is a huge responsibility, and being a Qatari teacher at a school that is deeply rooted in local heritage and culture has increased that responsibility.
She believes if students have confidence in who they are, and how they are connected to the world, they will be able to become global citizens with the ability to face world that is rapidly evolving.
“I truly see the children in the classroom as my own, and I treat them as such. I see how they carry our entire country’s future on their little shoulders. The students in my classroom today are the leaders of tomorrow, and no leadership is successful without the right mindset and core values.
“I would like my students to have strong, solid roots which ground them with confidence, and that the growth in their souls, hearts and minds can extend and expand beyond horizons.”
Despite the heavy burden of responsibility that teachers carry, al-Muftah stressed that it is more important than ever before to become involved in the education sector, saying: “I encourage anyone who has this concern not to shy away from being an educator or let that fear get in the way of their love for teaching.
“We are facing great challenges in education at the moment, we cannot sit back and wait for things to happen or change. We are the ones who need to enact change, and the classroom is the perfect place to start.”
QF’s national teachers recruitment campaign aims to attract Qatari teachers – both fresh graduates and those with greater experience – to teaching positions within its schools.
For more information and to submit a CV, one can visit https://www.qf.org.qa/teacher-recruitment
