I believe that teachers can learn, that learning is a lifelong process and that each teacher has different potential which can be developed to its fullest if given the opportunity. As a result, we try to open up opportunities to develop teachers' full potential as much as possible. The things that we try to offer are:
- Teacher professional development
- Teacher project workshops
- Classroom observation
- regular self-assessment through peer-evaluation within the school
These
activities attempt to involve all teachers as much as possible. We
believe that it is impossible for one teacher to make a lasting
difference in isolation, but if all teachers mutually grow and support
one another, they will develop, and the school will develop too.
By
living in an environment of constant learning, some teachers have
learned to appreciate the value of this and the importance of impressing
this on the students. Teachers have learned the real meaning of
lifelong learning and the fun that this can be.
Teachers have learned to believe in themselves and in their students.
They have changed their attitudes, their way of thinking and their way
of reflecting. They become positive and constructive in their feedback.
They do not try to be evaluative. That’s in fact, the kind of teachers I
was expecting after six years of the implementation of the
Competency-Based Approach in the secondary education. They understand
from their own experience that everybody can be successful by reaching
his or her own potential.
At the same time, teachers have become more broad-minded. They listen
more to new ideas and are prepared to experiment with new ways without
being afraid of making mistakes. This happened in many teacher-project
presentation where substitute and newly arrived teachers in the school
contributed to the workshop. As a result, teachers have evolved to
become experiential learners themselves, with more problem solving
capability and creativity. They made mistakes when presenting and we all
learned from that situation. The teacher project workshops help teacher
understand better how a project work and how they should assess their
students. This encourages many other teachers to start their own
projects with no fear to be evaluated, but with the purpose to learn and
develop. They now no longer view the school as their place of work, or a
place where they come to teach only, but rather as a place where they
themselves come to learn. Hence now they are beginning to grasp the idea
that the whole environment, as well as the students around them, can
become their ‘partners’.
And as the teachers have learned, we supervisors have learned too. As a
result, the supervisors and students have benefited from the teacher's
own self exploration and active learning; their approach to learning
being one of constructing their own existing knowledge.
So I would say that the most important thing is to be open to new ideas
and to be prepared to try these out without fear of making mistakes.
One must believe in what teachers are able to. One must also be prepared
for a struggle at first. When you set out, you have to realize that it
will not be easy as it is a long process which requires hard work,
determination and patience.
Another essential element is to allow teachers to approach this
centered- learning at their own pace. We cannot force teachers to
change, and we have to make it as unthreatening as possible. At first,
overcoming the resistance to change may seem overbearing. But it is
essential to keep fighting for change. Even though interest may be
relatively muted at first, you have to keep offering training courses,
keep bringing in new trainers, and keep organizing teachers’ pedagogical
meetings, until the sheer force of the resistance is overcome. And
after a while, a momentum will be built up that is irresistible to even
the most entrenched teacher so that even that person will be caught up
in the joy of learning and creativity. Of course, you have to be patient
to get what you are aiming at.
Finally, the environment that these changes affect lead to a change
within all of the parties concerned including the students themselves.
Students eventually begin to take the lead in their own learning. All
the players realize that learning is a lifelong process and all
together, supervisors, teachers and headteachers can reach the
objectives we have always been aiming at – a better and quality
education for the future generation…
Please share your comment below
0 comments:
Post a Comment