Current Projects

Student Citizenship Program, Introduction Phase September 2009 – April 2010

The Student Citizenship Introduction Program (SCIP), under the patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is operating in fifty one schools across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, including five girls schools. There are also six Institute of Applied Technology colleges across the UAE taking part in the Program. The Program will build on the success of the SCP Orientation Phase which acted as a pilot scheme. The Program will include Life Skills, an introduction to the Police Service and a full Military syllabus. It is being delivered in an exciting and new student centred teaching philosophy that empowers the students to develop and learn about themselves and fulfil their potential.

The Program is being delivered by an international team of handpicked instructors who have a wealth of expertise and experience in developing young people. Retired Emirati military instructors will be accompanied by a corps of former British military instructors who specialise in modern coaching and mentoring techniques which will bring out the very best qualities in young people. The Life Skills team of instructors are all qualified personal development coaches who have a wealth of experience in coaching young people in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA and throughout the world.

One of the new developments to the Program is the inclusion of female students. This will prepare them to take their place alongside their male counterparts as leaders and equals in both the defence of the UAE and the building of the UAE’s institutions and industries.

Completed Projects

Student Citizenship Program, Orientation Phase October 2008 – April 2009

The Student Citizenship Program, Orientation Phase began in concept early 2008 with the idea that a program of personal development could be run alongside the current school curriculum. The concept was that whilst students were learning traditional school subjects such as mathematics, languages, sciences, physical education and arts, they could also learn useful new skill sets, which when applied with traditional subjects, would enhance their experience and concept of life.

The Program targeted an individual’s ability to solve problems through critical thinking, interpretation and evaluation of observations, communications, information, and debate. The problems set were practical tasks that required the individual to use visual, auditory and kinaesthetic skills to explore the many possibilities to solve the problem.

The students worked in teams, enabling team members to take the opportunity to develop effective team dynamics which presented examples of how students can build relationships in their everyday lives..

Individual students took turns to be tasked with the role of the leader of these teams, allowing them to take responsibility for making decisions which might affect the success of the team’s tasks. It also gave them the opportunity to discover that leaders do not have to make all of the decisions and that there might be a better qualified individual who could make some decisions under the management of the leader.

The Program was implemented in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi alongside the Military training Program. The two Programs co-existed because of a cooperative alliance of the UAE military instructors assisting the Al Shaheen instructors in the supervision of the students.

The Program was a great success, introducing students to subjects that they had never previously had a chance to experience. In Abu Dhabi and Al Ain the students took full advantage of the refreshing new approach that took the place of the Military skills Program. Many students learnt new ideas and enjoyed the process of experiencing different subjects.