CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In September 2014 we started a new project based in Delhi at the invitation of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), to put in place systematic school-based professional development, as this was something they were unfamiliar with. DSMGC manages some 33education institutions, has 900 teachers and over 50,000 students. A group of twelve GHPS schools (Guru Harkrishan Public Schools) was selected to trial our first programme, providing in-service training for 900 practising teachers.
WHY US?
DSMGC approached us. They had heard about our interactive approach and the successful Helga Todd (HTTEF) teacher training programmes in Chandigarh and Dehradun. Link to OUR ACTIVITIES (past) In addition, they hoped that the contact with native English speakers would help their teachers develop greater confidence and competence in spoken English.
THE PROGRAMME
To start the programme, we devised a 5-day course on ‘teaching and learning’. Teachers attended a day’s training once a week where they were introduced to ideas and activities to take back to (and trial in) their classrooms. Our trainers visited participants in their classrooms and working together, the teachers participated in feedback and discussion in subsequent sessions. The initial run through of our course extended to 5 different groups (Monday – Friday), around 100 participants, enabling both organisations to evaluate early on in the project and to identify specific training needs for the future. After that, the remaining teachers took the course so that by the end of 2017, all 900 teachers in the federation of schools had experienced the programme.
MENTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
HTTEF views any teaching and learning CPD programme as an integral part of school development and, as such, should be accompanied by ‘growing’ a group of mentors in the host schools that will make a significant contribution to capacity building in order to effect sustainable development and change.
A main aim of the HTTEF teaching and learning programme has been for participating teachers to practise what they learn. It is vital that both CPD leaders and mentors model pedagogies that they promote.
From the outset, HT trainers identified teachers from each group, to become mentors and a mentoring support programme of workshops was devised for:
· participating teachers to practise what they had learned, using mentoring as the vehicle.
· identified mentors to receive support in developing their skills and role.
· each school management to develop a systematic approach to mentoring as a means to school development and improvement
Mentors are teachers who have experienced the CPD programme, understand its principles and the value of mentoring. They will be committed to applying those principles to their own practice and keen to support their colleagues as they, in turn, participate in the teaching and learning programme.
What next for CPD1?….
There is interest from other organisations in Delhi and elsewhere for the course to be made available to their teachers.