Teaching, Educating, Loving: the Year of Children in Kazakhstan

The XIII International Scientific-Practical Conference of the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools – «Teaching, Educating, Loving: the Year of Children in Kazakhstan» ended in the capital.

It is logical that one of the main events of the Year of Children in the country was the Astana pedagogical forum with the symbolic name «Teaching, Educating, Loving».

More than 1,500 Kazakhstani teachers and scientists, as well as well-known educators from Finland, Great Britain, Korea, Estonia, Russia, Singapore, Netherlands, Japan, USA, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Bulgaria met at the conference.

In Astana came the most famous representatives of global education, who lead the world’s top leaders: Director of Innovation and External Relations of EduCluster Finland of the University of Jyväskylä David Marsh (Finland), researcher of the National Institute for Educational Development Sung-Ji Park (Korea), Professor of Child Development and Education at Oxford University Iram Siraj (UK), representative of the Cambridge University Examination Board Tim Oates (UK), leading researcher of the National Institute for Research in Education (UK) and others.

The conference delegates were welcomed by the Akim of Astana Altai Kulginov and the Vice-Minister of Education Gani Beisembaev.

The conference’s ambitious program was defined in the main report – the Chairman of the Board of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools JSC Kulyash Shamshidinova “Integral development of children for the changing world”.

One of the most challenging topics, “The Road to the Future: Adopting Modern Trends,” was analyzed by David Marsh, Director of Innovation and External Relations at EduCluster Finland, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, PhD. As part of a team of international experts, David Marsh collaborated with NIS to create the professional standard for teachers in Kazakhstan.

Among the most popular were special sections aimed at creating a safe and comfortable environment, child-friendly cities, villages, and most importantly, schools. OECD strategic analyst Francesca Gottschalk (France) brought to the Astana conference an actual study “Children of the XXI century: Emotional well-being and education in the digital age.