Common borders. Common Solutions. INAUGURATION SEMINAR OF THE MANAGE.EDU NETWORK 25-26 March 2014 Venue: Moldova State University, Chisinau, Moldova PRIORITIES

Common borders. Common Solutions.

INAUGURATION SEMINAR OF THE MANAGE.EDU NETWORK25-26 March 2014

Venue: Moldova State University, Chisinau, Moldova

PRIORITIES OF TURKEY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION

MANAGEMENT IN THE BLACK SEA REGION THROUGH MANAGE.EDU NETWORK


CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

1. ON-LINE COMPETITION IN TURKEY: BASIC CONCEPTS

2. PRIORITIZED MODELS FOR MANAGE-EDU NETWORK AND E-

LEARNING MODULES

2.1. Mentoring and Leadership in Education

2.2. Communities of Practice in Education

3. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ADAPTATION OF TWO MODELS TO

MANAGE.EDU

E-LEARNING MODULES

3.1. Target Groups

3.2. E-Learning Module Topics CONCLUSION


INTRODUCTION

Life Long Learning is a phenomenon, which has economic, social, political and cultural impacts and we should channel the changes and recent developments that occurs in the country in a positive way with the most effective methods.

Life Long Learning is a phenomenon, which has economic, social, political and cultural impacts.

Most of life-long learning definitions attribute to:

1-) Learning to learn

2-)Life-long and life-wide learning process

3-)Developing individual’s knowledge, skills, interests and qualifications


ON-LINE COMPETITION IN TURKEY: BASIC CONCEPTS

The basic concepts for Turkish perspective were ¨mentoring and communities of practice¨ which were also the core elements of the best practice application for the On-line Competition

Two models to be suggested as the Priorities of Turkey for Educational Management.


Best Practices for Life Long Learning Center Administrators in Tekirdağ: Mentoring and Communities of Practice

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to increase the qualifications of administrators (school administrators, local ministries of education and administrators from NgOs) in terms of both knowledge and competencies in Life Long Learning.

Method: Data collection was based on various sessions of local workshop carried out on October 5, 2013 in Tekirdağ, Turkey. The workshop and administrators training sessions were based on the model of “communities of practice” in a way that administrators could share their experiences and best practices as well as developing strategies for life-long learning.


Data Collection: The workshop had three main phases: Qualitative data was collected via the “focus group discussion method” during workshops.

Data Analysis:The researchers carried out cross-case and cross-over analyses based on the various responses from the discussions (Miles and Huberman, 1994 and Merriam 1988). The data was then presented in a series of tables which incorporated direct quotations from participants to illustrate their viewpoints (Miles & Huberman, 1994).


Demographic Profile of the Participants: Total 48 school administrators (9 females and 39 males) attended the study. In Turkey, usually women prefer to be a teacher. On the other hand,

workshop’s participants were the administrators of the life-long centers, schools and universities. Gender Woman Man Not Mentioned

3 33 12

Age Group 20-30 31-40 41-50 51-above Not

Mentioned

4 11 16 11 6

Educational

Institution

Public

School

Private

School

University Training Not

Mentioned

28 0 11 3 6

Seniority as Manager 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-above Not

Mentioned

14 3 11 12 8

Seniority as Instructor 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-above Not

Mentioned

7 0 4 30 7

In-service Training Yes No Not Mentioned

23 11 14


Results: Data collected from the participants were categorized as strategic priorities of educational administrators living and working in Tekirdağ (downtown and districts). The strategic priorities are as follows:

Strategic Priorities: Themes and Sub-Themes

Creating a Life Long Learning Culture among all the Stakeholders

Cooperation with families and Involving them as the active participants

Increasing quality of life for all the individuals

Increasing strategic cooperation with NgOs, unions and the related strategic partners

Creating LLL platforms for the Disadvantaged Groups


Metaphors Used for Life Long Learning

The metaphors for life-long learning, mentioned by the participants during mentoring session were food (n=16), nature (n=8), traffic/road (n=7), bay bed/grave (n=6), mentoring (n=4), rope (n=1) and fast document (n=1).

Participants mostly used words related with food such as salt and water. Water is the main element of life. They associated water with lifelong learning in a perspective that water is indispensible for life and individuals need water during the whole life. Moreover, using salt as metaphor for life-long learning emphasize on amount and variety of courses on lifelong learning. If the salt is less or more than normal amount for the meal, guests can think that the meal is tasteless.

As a conclusion, participants’ answers to questions about metaphors for lifelong learning can be collected in 4 aspects of lifelong learning. These aspects can be listed as continuity, satisfactory amount, and life wide and mentoring.


PRIORITIZED MODELS FOR MANAGE-EDU NETWORK AND E-LEARNING MODULES

Mentoring and Leadership in Education

The term "mentoring" is defined as the establishment of a personal relationship for the purpose of professional instruction and guidance

Bolam et al (1995) reported that mentoring should be offered as an integral part of national strategy for the management of principal development

Mentoring has been used in Mythology and in ancient studies with the meaning of a person that gives support and encouragement. .


Mentoring and Leadership in Education

When the school is accepted as a learning opportunity for principals’ professional development, principals need to trust not only to their mentors but also their colleagues in the interaction process.

It should be noted that if the mentor-principal/ principal-candidate relationships is going to expand to its full potential, there must be an underlying element of trust and friendship.

.


Communities of Practice in Education

The concept of ¨community of practice¨, developed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger attributes to the collection of people who engage on an on-going basis in some common endeavor.

It identifies a social grouping not based on common abstract characteristics (e.g. class, gender) or simple co-presence (e.g. neighborhood, workplace), but on shared practice.

Bakioğlu, Hacıfazlıoğlu and Özcan (2010) underlined the importance of leadership, training and mentoring in their study on school administrators. “Good teachers can become effective managers and leaders without specific preparation” (Bush and Jackson, 2002’ p. 418).

As it was asserted by Bakioğlu, Hacıfazlıoğlu and Özcan (2010), leadership training and mentoring for educational administrators is important. Communities of Practice and Mentoring Network should be established to provide an ongoing professional development system for program administrators as well as educational administrators.

.

.


Target groups for the adaptation of Mentoring and Communities of Practice methods into the Manage.edu Network and e-learning modules will be educational institution administrators (school / college administrators), program coordinators, teachers, trainers (of adult education) and parents.

Following modules and training topics are developed as a result of the local workshop in and the training sessions conducted with the administrators, who are working in life-long learning centers in Tekirdağ, Turkey.

Four Modules are determined which consist of total 16 sub-topics. The modules are extended on a wide spectrum ranging from Educational Leadership, Assessment & Evaluation to Professional Development Modules for various stakeholders

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ADAPTATION OF TWO MODELS TO MANAGE.EDU E-LEARNING MODULES

Target Groups

E-Learning Module Topics


Module A: Educational Leadership Module

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODULE TARGET GROUP Duration

Dimensions of Leadership

School / college

administrators, program

coordinators, teachers

1-2 Hrs

Balance in Leadership 1-2 hrs

“Creating Communities of Practice” 1-2 hrs

Instructional Leadership 2 hrs

Technology Leadership 1-2 hrs

Strategic Management 3-4 hrs

Interpersonal Relations 1-2

Topics in this module aim to cultivate the managerial competencies of school administrators. Assessment office, curriculum office and professional development office members and coordinators are also expected to establish strong communication channels with their team members as well as teachers and school administrators.


Module B: Assessment and Evaluation Module

This module aims to equip participants with the necessary skills to analyze their students’/participants’ achievement scores through demographic data analysis. This module is based on “action research model” in which participants analyze their students from a multi-dimensional perspective and present valuable tools for creating better learning opportunities at their institutions.

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION MODULE TARGET GROUP Duration

Portfolio Assessment

Teachers,

school / college / adult

education center

administrators

3 Hrs

Action Research 2-4 hrs

Analyzing Questionnaires 4-6 hrs

Analyzing Interviews and Focus Group Discussions

(with students, with various stakeholders such as faculty

members and administrators to meet the needs of the

faculty)

4-6 hrs


Module C: Professional Development

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODULE TARGET GROUP Duration

Mentoring (Self Mentoring, Peer Mentoring,

Mentoring for Students)

Trainers , teachers,

school / college / adult

education center

administrators, parents

2 Hrs

Reflective Practice 1-2 hrs

“Creating Communities of Practice” for

professional development

1-2 hrs

Teacher portfolios 1-2 hrs

Keeping diaries as a means for self-reflection 1-2 hrs

Topics in this module are developed to meet the needs of teachers, administrators, professional development office members, administrators working in adult education centers as well as parents.


Module D: Parent Professional Development

PARENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

MODULE

TARGET GROUP Duration

Mentoring (Self Mentoring, Peer Mentoring,

Mentoring for Students)

Parents 2 Hrs

Reflective Practice 1-2 hrs

Keeping Balance as a Parent 1-2 hrs

Being a Parent in the Digital Age 1-2 hrs

This module aims to hold a mirror for the parents to become aware of their won professional development priorities. Topics in this module are tailored to meet the needs of the parents in the digital age. The theme of Balance will also be introduced to present alternative strategies for the parents to keep balance in their private and professional lives as well as maintaining balance in their interpersonal relations.


CONCLUSION

Mentoring and Communities of Practice are suggested as two models to be adapted for professional development of educational administrators, teachers, trainers, program coordinators working for life-long learning and adult education as well as parents. The topics and sub-topics suggested in Part 3 could be a guideline for such an on-line professional development program. The sessions could be designed either as face-to-face interaction, focus group discussion or peer discussion methods and video recorded. Another alternative could be some of the sub-topics could be implemented by video-recording, some could be using video-conferencing system.


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Common borders. Common Solutions. INAUGURATION SEMINAR OF THE MANAGE.EDU NETWORK 25-26 March 2014 Venue: Moldova State University, Chisinau, Moldova PRIORITIES