The College of Education at Zayed University is a special place for its faculty and students. The faculty have come together from around the world for a single purpose, to prepare educators for the United Arab Emirates based on the best of what is known about teaching and learning. The College's programs are coherent, designed to create learning as a progression of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that culminates in an internship and capstone in U.A.E. schools.

Zayed University was founded on the vision of educating leaders for the nation. Our programs are benchmarked against international standards, and we work closely with local public and private schools as they strive to improve the quality of K-12 education. We in the College of Education incorporate the University's vision and mission in our programs and courses, ensuring quality through carefully designed assessments that add value to student learning.

Assessment outcomes include global awareness and cultural responsiveness. I select these for my message because they hold special opportunity and meaning as we collaborate with our students, university, and the K-12 sector in a geographic location that is global in nature and diverse in languages, peoples, and cultures. We come together with our students to study and explore the meanings of globalism and culture, taking care to balance the culture and traditions of the UAE with the vision of the future. We learn from each other and from the storied and rich culture of the people of the nation. We believe that this is the future of diversity, and we take pride in our contributions to the expanded vision for teaching and learning and the realities in which we live, work, and study.

Peggy J. Blackwell