CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE A COURSE DESIGN: NATIONAL PLANS BASED

CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE ‐ A COURSE DESIGN:

NATIONAL PLANS BASED ON THE RESULTS FROM THE

2AGEPRO PROJECT

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2AgePro deliverable 8.1 ”Continuing Education Course – a Course Design: National Plans Based on the

results from the 2AgePro Project”

©2AgePro Consortium, 2010

2AgePro project has been funded by the European Commission. Responsibility for the content of this

document lies with the consortium and not with the European Commission or its agencies and the

Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained in this

document.

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Executive Summary

This document, which is for policymakers, headmasters and teachers who contemplate organising these types of course in their nation/region/school, gives practical examples of how courses could be designed and implemented based on the ideas and recommendations that have been produced in the 2AgePro project. It is important to emphasize that the content herein serves the purpose of showing different examples of what types of local courses could be organised and what the possible content of such courses could be.

The aim of this document is, thus, to give practical examples of how courses for teachers in Europe could be organised, to further disseminate and spread the information and results obtained in the 2AgePro pilot studies. In the end, it is of course up to the local organisers to determine how to execute the courses in their respective cultural and professional contexts. In summary, we hope that this compilation of examples, from five pilot countries – with their different cultural and professional settings – can serve as a point of departure for anyone who wants to conduct these types of professional training initiatives.

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Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

Partner 1: Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic ........................................................................... 6

Partner 2: The University of Oulu, Finland ................................................................................................ 14

Partner 3: Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany .................................................................. 17

Partner 4: Utrecht University, the Netherlands ......................................................................................... 20

Partner 5: Umeå University, Sweden ......................................................................................................... 25

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Introduction

The 2AgePro project was a project which ran December 2008 through November 2010 with the aim to develop and test different scenarios for fostering inter-generational exchange of skills, competences, experiences, and knowledge between junior (beginner) and senior (experienced) teachers in Europe. Pilots were conducted in five countries (Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden) and the results from this development work were disseminated via seminars, workshops, conferences and articles – for further information about this, please see the project web site: http://www.2agepro.eu.

This project was unique because it united young and old teachers in professional collaborative and reciprocal interactions which influenced their experiences and professional identities profoundly.

At the end of the project’s life cycle, the 2AgePro project group elaborated different ways for policymakers, headmasters and continuing educators to conduct courses in their regions for teachers who wanted to participate in these types of professional development activities. This document is the result of these discussions.

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Partner 1: Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

The Czech partner decided to design two courses. The first one “Collaborative model for novice teacher introduction into their profession” is dedicated to headmasters to motivate them to integrate 2AgePro European Joint Collaborative Model to their schools. The course is planned as a half-day workshop. The second one “Implementation of collaborative model to introduce novice teachers into their profession in schools” is intended to novice and senior teachers from schools those headmasters decide to apply this model to support novice teachers into their profession. This course is a long-term course, it takes one year and it serves also as a support of collaborative model implementation process in schools.

Title

Workshop

Collaborative model for novice teacher introduction into their profession

(In Czech: Kolaborativní model pro uvedení začínajících učitelů do jejich profese)

Target group

Principals and school management representatives of basic/secondary schools who follow up how to provide novice teachers a professional support to introduce them into their profession and integrate them into teacher community at school in making the most of collaboration among novice teachers and senior teachers.

The organization that will implement the course

Course organiser 1

The workshop will be implemented, organised and evaluated by the university team at the Faculty of Education that will submit a workshop proposal to the Ministry of Education to approve it as a part of the system of professional teacher development. The workshop will be organised by the Dept. of Information Technology and Technical Education which has a lot of experiences such type of courses accredited by the Ministry of Education.

Note:

Teachers in the Czech Republic are obliged to continue in education in a frame of life-long learning system. Schools receive financial resources to pay course fee and travel costs for teachers´ attendance in courses accredited by the Ministry of Education (http://www.msmt.cz/vzdelavani/akreditace-v-systemu-dvpp). These

1 The workshop can be organised also by the faculties of education or by regional centres for further

education of pedagogical staff in a frame of courses accredited by the Ministry of Education. The university team from the Faculty of Education in Prague will disseminate the idea about the 2AgePro European Joint Model to faculties of education and regional centres for further education of pedagogical staff and recommend them to organise such workshop for principals. It depends on these institutions if they ask the Ministry of Education to accredit the workshop as a part of the system of professional teacher development.

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courses can be organised as lecturers, workshops, seminars, course of lectures, practical exercises in labs, etc.

Overall vision/aim

A main idea of the workshop is based on a proposal to support novice teachers being introduced into their teaching practice and to promote then to overcome problems which they struggle with in the first years of their activities at school and at the same time to exploit senior teachers´ know-how and expertise. In the Czech Republic there is no a methodical promotion of novice teachers. A way how and whether novice teachers are being introduced in schools at the beginning of their practice falls within the competency of principals or headmasters.

The overall vision for this course is to provide and explain the 2AgePro Joint European Collaborative Model to motivate principals to think about how to apply it into school practice and to give them an opportunity to adapt this model and to design its real shape suitable for their school.

The implementation of this model into school practice could aid not only novice teachers, but also to senior teachers to share their knowledge and professional know-how with younger colleagues and to motivate them not to leave schools to retire.

Expected outcomes

A key outcome produced by each participant:

1. Each participant will design a collaborative model suitable for his/her school using the scripting methods which could be realised in collaboration with the Faculty of Education. A model designed by course participants would respect real conditions and needs of schools.

Three particular outcomes which will be useful for organisers and dissemination of 2AgePro Collaborative Model in the Czech Republic:

1. Dissemination of the 2AgePro model into school management of Czech schools

2. Collection of data about headmasters needs and visions how to support novice teachers in their schools

3. Collection of particular school projects of collaborative model including schedules.

Sessions and time plan

A half-day workshop is organised as one session interactive working meeting with headmasters and principals.

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Topics Time

(in hours)

Welcome. Introduction of participants.

1. Current situation about an induction process of novice teachers in school practice.

Main problems, examples from schools

(discussion)

1,0

2. Explanation of 2AgePro European Joint Collaborative Model. Method how to

measure impact of teachers collaboration

(Lecture)

0,5

3. Methods how to identify needs and problems of novice and senior teachers and

domains in which novice and senior teachers could collaborate and share their

expertise.

(Practical exercise in groups)

0,5

4. Moodle utilities applicable for the Collaborative Model

(Lecture, practical exercise)

2,0

5. Assignment for participants: To design an organisational scheme of school

collaborative model

(Six Hat Thinking Method)

(Creative activity)

(MindMap method)

2,0

Conclusion

Total 6,0

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Methods

A mixture of methods will be used, including:

Discussion: To get information from participants about their approaches how to integrate novice teachers into school practice

To collect information from participants how to motivate senior teachers to share their professional expertise

Lecture: European Joint Collaborative Model explanation and description

Explanation how to evaluate (“measure”) impact and effect of teachers´ collaboration

Moodle utilities presentation

Practical exercise in groups To understand a social context of teacher professional mutual collaboration

Practical exercise To get practical skills to use Moodle for the Collaborative Model needs

Creative activity (task): To design a school project of teacher collaboration

Six Thinking Hat: To analyse and evaluate principal proposals how to adapt Collaborative Model into their school

MindMap method To design a school project of teacher collaboration

Facilities and learning material

Computer lab

Printed materials

Moodle support

Financing

The fee amount paid to organisers (university) follows regulations for course organisation in a frame of DVPP (Professional teacher development) accredited by the Ministry of Education

Fee: 400 CZK/participants (circa 16 Euro).

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Evaluation

The evaluation process will give the participants an opportunity to engage with the topics that are in focus during the course. It will provide the participants an opportunity to continue in thinking about implementation of collaborative model into their schools. In the course the attention will be given to evaluation of proposals of school models which will be designed by each course participant.

Title

One year intensive course

Implementation of collaborative model to introduce novice teachers into their profession in schools. (In Czech: Implementace kolaborativního model pro uvedení začínajících učitelů do jejich profese do školské praxe.)

Target group

Groups of novice and senior teachers (pairs of novice and senior teachers).

Principals and school management representatives of Czech basic/secondary schools who decided to apply the 2AgePro European Joint Collaborative Model nominate pairs of novice and senior teachers to be trained in the course how to apply the collaborative model in their school.

The course is dedicated to novice teachers and senior teachers of schools in which headmasters decided to apply the collaborative model.


Course organiser 2

The course is run as one year training which consists of 4 face-to-face lecturers and intensive collaboration of pairs/three teachers whose work will be monitored and evaluated in moodle. The Tab 1 describes a structure of course activities. Its schedule respects a structure of school year. It starts on May and ends on April. It could be repeatedly applied in schools.

Note: Teachers in the Czech Republic are obliged to continue in education in a frame of life-long learning system. Schools receive financial resources to pay course fee and travel costs for teachers´ attendance in courses accredited by the Ministry of Education (http://www.msmt.cz/vzdelavani/akreditace-v-systemu-dvpp). These

2 The course can be organised also by the faculties of education or by regional centres for further

education of pedagogical staff in a frame of courses accredited by the Ministry of Education. The university team from the Faculty of Education in Prague will disseminate the idea about the 2AgePro European Joint Model to faculties of education and regional centres for further education of pedagogical staff and recommend them to organise such workshop for principals. It depends on these institutions if they ask the Ministry of Education to accredit the workshop as a part of the system of professional teacher development.

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courses can be organised as lecturers, workshops, seminars, course of lectures, practical exercises in labs, etc.

Overall vision/aim

A main idea of the course is to applied collaborative model of which aim is to support novice teachers being introduced into their teaching practice and to promote then to overcome problems which they struggle with in the first years of their activities at school and at the same time to exploit senior teachers´ know-how and expertise. A decision how and whether novice teachers are being introduced in schools at the beginning of their practice falls within the competency of principals or headmasters.

The course serves as a real implementation of collaborative model in schools of which headmasters decide to apply 2AgePro Joint European Collaborative Model for their novice teachers.

The lecturers explain the model to teachers, train teachers to share their knowledge and expertise and advice teachers during their collaborative activities from October to March at their schools.

Expected outcomes

Three key outcomes consist in:

1. schools getting experience with the collaborative model 2. the collaborative model implementation into school practice 3. establishment of a network of senior teachers who are willing and trained to

help novice teachers

The course outcomes are grounded in

1. Teachers exchange and creative work 2. Decision on novice teachers to continue in their profession 3. Senior teachers satisfaction to continue in their profession 4. Collection of teaching materials and products suitable for teaching at school

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Table 1. Schedule. Month Topic Form Place Time April-May Welcome

Explanation of collaborative model. Identification of key problems of novice and senior teachers

Face-to-face Faculty of Education

4 h

September Training in Moodle Collaborative methods. Coaching methods


4 h

October-March

Teacher collaboration. Sharing know-how. Control day. Valuation of teacher collaboration. Identification main problems of collaboration.

on-line support of daily activities Face-to-face

Schools 6 months 4 h

April Evaluation. Certificates. Conclusion


4 h

Total 20 h + six months

Methods

During one year course there will be applied a set of methods:

Brainstorming Discussion Lecture Practical exercise in groups Practical exercise Creative activity (task) Six Thinking Hat MindMap method


Computer lab

Moodle support

Printed materials, including the following documents:

SMOLOVÁ, J. a kol. Příručka pro začínající učitele zeměpisu. Trifox, s.r.o., 2009.

HRUBÝ, D. a kol. Příručka pro začínající učitele matematiky. Trifox, s.r.o., 2009.

MULLER, L. a kol. Příručka pro začínající učitele chemie. Trifox, s.r.o., 2009.

OTRUBA, K. a kol. Příručka pro začínající učitele fyziky. Trifox, s.r.o., 2009.

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VINTER, V. a kol. Příručka pro začínající učitele biologie. Trifox, s.r.o., 2009.

Financing

The fee amount paid to organisers (university) follows regulations for course organisation in a frame of DVPP (Professional teacher development) accredited by the Ministry of Education

Fee: 2600 CZK/participant (circa 100 Euro).

Evaluation

The evaluation process will give the participants an opportunity to engage with the topics that are in focus during the course and the effectiveness of the collaborative model for all participants - novice teachers, senior teachers and school management.

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Partner 2: The University of Oulu, Finland

Title

The title of the Finnish continuing education course is “Introductory course to teachers’ reciprocal collaboration – Models and tools for action” (In Finnish: “Johdantokurssi opettajien vastavuoroisen yhteistyön käynnistämiseksi kouluissa”).

Target group

The course has three target groups: 1. Teachers, 2. Mentors, Coaches and Group leaders, 3. Headmasters, Local education authorities and Policy makers. The course includes three modules, one for each target group.

1. The module for teachers aims to reach teachers of different age groups and to provide them with basic information about the idea of teacher collaboration and to introduce different models how to execute reciprocal collaboration.

2. The module for Mentors, Coaches and Group leaders is aimed at people who are interested to take the role of being a mentor, a coach or a group leader in the reciprocal collaboration activities. They can be teachers, headmasters or university staff.

3. The module for Headmasters, Local education authorities and policy makers aims to bring together parties whose responsibilities are related to the management of teachers’ work and their professional development.


This course will be organized, implemented and evaluated by the Learning and Research Services (LRS) of the University of Oulu. LRS is the biggest special unit at Oulu University, carrying out tasks of continuing education, Open University, regional development and research services. The Educational Excellence Unit of the LRS is a major player in developing, and providing training in the field of education all over Finland.

Overall vision/aim

The overall aim of this Continuing Education Course is to promote and start the reciprocal collaboration between teachers and introduce the 2AgePro Joint European Model to the target groups.

After the course participants are willing to start teacher collaboration and all target groups have agreed how the teacher collaboration will be organised.

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Expected outcomes

At the end of the introductory course, the participants have learned different models to organise reciprocal collaboration and they have skills to start teacher collaboration. All target groups have understanding about the importance of the reciprocal collaboration and their roles and responsibilities during activities. Participants know how to proceed when they want to start the collaboration.


The introductory course is 3 ECTS, including all three modules. There will be two afternoon sessions per group during the 10 week period.

Methods during the introductory course


- Lectures about the following themes: “Ideology of reciprocal collaboration”, “2AgePro Joint European Model (deliverable 6.1)”, “Different methods for grouping and to support group spirit”

- Workshops according the course design in deliverable 6.3

- Assignments between two sessions

- Demonstrations about the collaboration models

Teacher collaboration will start after the introductory course. There will be at least 5 collaboration meetings/group or pair.

Equipment/material

Handouts and lecture notes will be distributed among the participants. They will be used as a starting point for discussions. ICT-tools to support collaborative activities will be introduced.

Financing

Learning and Research Services (LRS) will apply funding from the Finnish National Board of Education to organise and implement the introductory course. The sessions will be held mostly in the afternoons, so the teachers will participate during their own time.

The teacher collaboration itself will take place after the introductory course. Municipalities and cities’ departments of education are responsible to organise the means for teacher collaboration. If extra financing is needed, LRS will help municipalities/departments of education to apply funding from e.g. national Osaava-programme which is coordinated by the Ministry of Education.

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Evaluation

The course will be evaluated trough the questionnaire which teachers fill in at the end of the course. The organiser (LRS) will collect the feedback and discuss it. The implementation of the course will be further developed according the feedback. Conclusions of the feedback will be sent to the Finnish National Board of Education.

The teacher collaboration will be evaluated by the municipalities/ education departments and rectors. LRS will help above-mentioned if needed..

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Partner 3: Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

Title

The title for the German course is: “2AgePro - Intergenerational Continuing Education Course”. (In German: “2AgePro – Intergenerationelle Lehrerfortbildung”.)

Target group

All teachers interested in the 2AgePro – Intergenerational Continuing Education Course can take part in it. We will include junior teachers, which are new in their job (five years or less working experience), senior teachers (15 years or more working experience), and so-called “middle teachers” (teaching experience is from 6 to 15 years). The teachers can be from all school types, elementary and secondary schools as well as from special education schools.

The junior teachers have a need for mentoring from more experienced colleagues and the senior teachers have a need for new input from younger colleagues, for example regarding ICT (see Deliverable 6.3.) At present, junior and senior teachers do not have any opportunities to communicate and exchange ideas and knowledge. The senior teachers have lots of experiences that will contribute to the group. And the junior teachers have recently left the university and have updated skills and knowledge for the teaching profession.


This course will be organized, implemented, and evaluated by the Chair of Education and Educational Psychology and the Chair of Elementary School Education of the Ludwig-Maximilians University, (LMU Munich), Germany.

Overall vision/aim

The aim of 2AgePro project is to develop an intergenerational teacher collaboration model that supports and motivates:

junior teachers through the first years of their professional career so that they are equipped with the necessary tacit and practical knowledge to meet the demands of their professional work

junior teachers to impart their expertise regarding new scientific knowledge and ICT skills on senior teachers

senior teachers so that they remain in their jobs senior/retiring teachers to share and transfer the valuable knowledge and

expertise gained (e.g. teaching practice skills, knowledge of the school’s micro culture, etc.) to junior teachers.

Expected outcomes

Teachers will experience this course useful for developing their teaching practice and they learn to communicate and collaborate with their colleagues. Teachers learn to

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set the goals for collaboration and they will be engaged in various activities and in discussions about the issues at hand. Junior teachers will learn to solve practical and specific issues with the help of the senior colleagues. Senior teachers have an opportunity to pass their experiences and knowledge to younger teachers as one elementary teacher has put it: “I will soon retire, and I would like to pass on my experience. It would be sad if everything would be lost“. Senior teachers will learn recent trends on teaching and learning from junior teachers. Furthermore, teachers will get familiar with each other and are able to create social networks in order to receive support and help when they need it.

Aims of the course are:

junior teachers are equipped with the practical and tacit knowledge in order to meet the demands of teaching profession

senior teachers are equipped with new scientific knowledge, new teaching methods, and use of ICT in education

creating social networks increasing informal collaboration between generations at schools


The number of sessions will be at least four:

1. One introductory meeting; presenting 2AgePro-project and its aims as well as the joint European model for collaboration between junior and senior teachers, agreement with teachers about the requirements, teacher pairs/groups forming

2. Two training sessions; presenting collaboration scenario and important elements for successful collaboration, including separate session for junior and senior teachers on communication and collaboration; index cards will be presented, pairs/groups will plan and set goals for teacher collaboration meetings

3. At least 5 teacher collaboration meetings; teachers meet and collaborate with the help of the index cards, place and time will be chosen by the teachers themselves

4. A final workshop; experiences will be shared between the participating teachers, headmasters and university staff, the outcomes of the course will be discussed in order to develop collaboration model further

Time plan

This course will be implemented over a period of one school term (20 weeks).

Methods


individual interviews with teachers to recruit participants and to determine needs

discussions with headmasters to determine needs group meetings with the teachers

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Equipment/material

2AgePro Index Cards will be distributed among the participants, which include the instructions for teachers’ meetings, such as the topic, thought-provoking questions, joint assignments and links for the useful materials in the web sites on that particular topic. These cards will be used for discussions and collaboration between teachers. Teachers will be also encouraged to use ICT in communication and collaboration, for example, offering the technology-enhanced environment, where they can communicate with their colleagues. The organisers of the course can keep a contact with the participating teachers and monitor their progress in the log-diaries which are electronic documents written and uploaded to the environment by teachers. Teachers are also asked to upload their joint assignments to the environment. Index cards and other materials, articles and links to the web sites of the interesting topics will be available in the technology-enhanced environment.

Financing

No extra funds will be used to implement the course. The teachers will meet after their working hours.

Evaluation

The evaluation will be both formative and summative. Formative evaluation will take place during the course in the form of discussions with the participants regarding the course and its content. The summative evaluation will take place at the end of the course where the teachers will participate in a final workshop. At this workshop, the teachers and their respective headmasters will attend, and the outcomes of the course will be discussed (log diaries, assignments, questionnaires or interviews).

This evaluation process will give the participants an opportunity to reflect their activities and learning during the course in order to collaborate effectively with their colleague and at the end of the course in order to raise positive experiences and motivate teachers to continue to learn with their colleagues at schools.

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Partner 4: Utrecht University, the Netherlands

Title

The course or the program for reciprocal learning for junior and senior teachers is headed as Learning Together, junior and senior teachers learn from each other. It is a series of interconnected educational workshops for enlarging skills and practices of teachers.

Introduction

The aim of the course for reciprocal learning for junior and senior teachers is:

for the junior teacher to give enduring learning, teaching and development of the teacher profession a serious and robust start;

for the senior teacher to give an enduring invitation for an organized way of lifelong learning, including the professional experience.

Reciprocal learning can be executed by the junior and senior teachers themselves, without a programme of supportive learning and coaching, but learning skills and reflective methods in a parallel course enlarge the yields. That is why in Holland traditionally there is a framework of courses, methods and plans to implement this type of learning, available when needed, applied specifically, never obligatory or general (unless asked by the teachers themselves). Learning can best be stimulated by the connection with desires, demands and curiosity. Learning is free.

This way of enlarging the professional knowledge and skills are regularly applied in the curriculum of starting teachers in Holland, but now reciprocally for senior teachers too. It connects with a standard practice in Holland, but enlarges it. Usually this supportive package is implemented by university collaborators.

Target group

The participants of the course are junior and senior teachers, of different types of schools: primary, secondary and tertiary education. Of course we will differentiate the participants per type, but the general approach is as far as concerns the methods the same. The junior teachers have 1 to 4 years of teaching experience; the senior teachers have 15 years or more teacher experience, but are usually for a long time out of education themselves. Junior teachers have a need for mentoring from an experienced teacher, capable of coaching; senior teachers have a need for new input by junior teachers, for instance ict-skills (see Deliverable 6.3). Now at present there is not much of an opportunity for junior and senior teachers to have professional communication with each other. In this way of collaboration the junior is given the

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opportunity to ‘teach’ a senior teacher, at the same time growing in his role as teacher; the senior is given the opportunity to learn, turning around his usual behaviour as a teacher. Of course the experienced teacher will mentor his young colleague, in the same relation. It is however imperative to recruit couples per school, otherwise the reciprocal learning will only happen by mail or telephone. Junior and senior teachers learn from each other by collaborating, observing and giving feedback. Of course each couple per school should be formed voluntarily.


The course will be organized, implemented, and evaluated by the educational department of the University of Utrecht (IVLOS). The leaders of the educational program will be very experienced university teachers/trainers. These trainers themselves have a standing practice in training, counselling and coaching of teachers and of advising headmasters of schools. IVLOS has a long tradition of activating and reflexive courses in matters of preparing and coaching 0f junior teachers, of solving problems with experienced teachers, and of reciprocal exchange of information and problems within age groups of teachers. Our mission is enduring learning, especially within the teaching profession.

The course is activating and inviting to participation, that is to say: the learning and developmental questions of the participating teachers will play an important motivating framework for the course. In this broader sense the teachers and schools themselves participate in the implementation of the course.

Overall vision/aim

The reciprocal model offers educational, social and technical support to teachers in primary, secondary and higher education, reinforced by utilising and broadening concepts and practices of coaching. In that way we stress our aim: enduring learning and development as the essential basis of the teaching profession. This concerns any age group. When the teaching profession itself develops and learns, the profession will remain attractive and inviting, will enhance vitality and joy, and this way enhances the joy of learning of children.

Expected outcomes

Reciprocal learning by junior and senior teachers gives practice to a score of activities, essential for good professional teaching behaviour. The couples learn to set themselves goals and work towards results; they will therefore learn to plan their own learning activities; the steps will be made visible, by observation and by reflection; they practice coaching skills and reflective skills; they deepen their knowledge of the profession by explicating implicit knowledge, to investigate their own qualities en to learn their own constraints. Where possible, they acquire ICT

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skills. They learn how to evaluate their own learning processes and results and design ways to improve upon them.

As can be seen from the above enumeration they work steadily to a deepened and strong professional set of knowledge and skills, enhanced by collaboration and by training and supervision.

Sessions, methods and time plan

Components of the

program

Aim of each component Participants of

each

component

Duration of

each

component

ICT tool

used

1. Individual intake

Selecting participants Determining needs, wishes, constraints and willingness to learn

Adjusting expectations to reality

Individual

conversation

with each

participant

1 hour per

participant

E‐mail

2. Starting meeting for total group of junior and senior teachers

Getting to know each other Recognizing each other’s qualities and constraints

Formulating personal learning questions

Forming pairs of junior and senior teachers

Making appointments about the working in pairs

Min 5 and max

8 senior

teachers

Min 5 and max

8 junior

teachers

One session

of 3 hours

E‐mail

3. Training for group of junior teachers

Acquiring coaching skills Explicating implicit knowledge & beliefs

Min 5 and max

8 junior

teachers

3 sessions of

3 hours

E‐mail

4. Training for group of senior teachers

Acquiring or increasing coaching skills

Getting insight in own practices and habits

Explicating implicit knowledge, experiences & beliefs

Min 5 and max

8 senior

teachers

3 sessions of

3 hours

E‐mail

5. Working in pairs (junior/senior): classroom observation & reflection, reciprocal coaching, developing learning materials etc.

Sharing knowledge and skills Reflecting on improvement of practices or habits

Increasing specific knowledge and skills

Deepening coaching skills

1 junior and 1

senior teacher

At least 4

times in

between

training

sessions

Electric

learning

environ

ment

(ELE) or

Wiki‐

environ

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ment

6. Individual assignments / "homework"

Reflecting on the learning process and results

Deepening and applying insights Acquiring or increasing ICT skills

Individual

teacher

After each

training

session and

working in a

pair

Digital

log

7. Learning community's (2 or 3 pairs together)

Exchanging of experiences Reflecting on learning results Formulating opportunities for improvement the working in pairs

Acquiring or increasing ICT skills

Min 2 and max

3 junior

teachers and

min 2 and max 3

senior teachers

After each

time working

in a pair

ELE or

Wiki ‐

environ

ment

8. Feedback of trainers Stimulating deeper reflection

Stimulating more and better results

Individual

teacher and

individual

trainer

ELE or

Wiki‐

environ

ment


Short training manuals, for instance, excerpts from F. Achterberg. e.a., Steunen Leren Stimuleren, and from F. Achterberg, Nestor Project. Of course there are a lot of exercises for each skill to do.

Text materials, for deeper introduction into the domain of adult learning and development

DVD materials: situations and examples of class behaviour, for mutual reflection and discussion

Observation in real life situations; making DVD recordings. The use of an Electronic Learning Environment (ELE) is recommended; if not

available a Wiki-environment can be used instead.

Financing

The schools of the participants will have to pay a certain amount to the university for organizing the course, guiding the couples and organizing and leading the meetings. The collaboration between couples of a junior and a senior teacher can take place without extra funds. When the participating teachers per couple collaborate in their school in the normal working hours, then the headmaster will facilitate (in hours) their participation beforehand.

Activities outside the frame and extra to it will be done by the participants free and for nothing, as it is their own learning process.

When there are participants of different schools, the costs will be evenly divided between the schools. In schools in Holland budget is reserved for the coaching of junior teachers, but there is also a budget in money and hours for professional development and training each year. This course can be fitted into this budget.

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Evaluation

Formative evaluation takes place during the course. Discussions take place about form and content of the course, effectiveness of methods, and especially their own efforts to perform in the course. The formative evaluation helps the participating teachers to investigate their own personal motives and willingness to learn, even in difficult situations. They are invited to contribute themes and methods of learning.

Summative evaluation takes place at the end of the course on two levels.

- evaluation of reaction: what do participants think of the program, the activities and the approach in this course, the role of the trainers, the cooperation in the couples; and what can be done better in the next course. This will happen by use of an evaluation form and oral discussions during the last meeting of the course.

- evaluation of learning: what did the participants really learn in this course; to what extent they reached the goals of this program and to what extent reciprocal learning has really taken place. Another aim is to locate further points of personal and professional development for the participants. We use the intake conversations before the course as a pre-test. The outcomes of the course will be discussed in the final meeting by participants, headmasters and university officials and in interviews per couple with the participants. In a personal story they will tell the most striking aspects of the course and the collaboration and they tell examples of learning experiences. For the headmaster it is an opportunity to evaluate the contribution of this course to the overall improvement of his personnel.

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Partner 5: Umeå University, Sweden

Title

The title for this course is: “Fostering mentoring capabilities: A small course for junior and senior primary school teachers”. (In Swedish: “Att uppmuntra mentoring: En kortkurs för grundskolelärare”.)

Target group

The participants will be junior and senior primary school teachers. The junior teachers are new in their job (five years or less working experience), and the senior teachers (15 years or more working experience) have been out of education for a long time. The junior teachers have a need for mentoring from more experienced colleagues and the senior teachers have a need for new input from younger colleagues, for example regarding ICT. (See Deliverable 6.3.) At present, junior and senior teachers do not have any opportunities to communicate and exchange ideas and knowledge. The senior teachers have lots of experiences that will contribute to the group. And the junior teachers have recently left the university and have updated skills and knowledge for the teaching profession. All participants live and work in the same geographical area (the municipality of Umeå, Sweden)


This course will be organized, implemented, and evaluated by a university department. The course leader will be a university lecturer. The university department (The Department of Education at Umeå University, Sweden) has a long tradition of conducting courses of this kind.

Overall vision/aim

The overall vision for this course is to provide junior and senior primary school teachers with an opportunity to interact and learn more about mentoring. They will also be provided with opportunities to learn from each other.

Expected outcomes

At the end of the course, the participants will have practised their skills regarding mentoring. They will be more aware of factors related to the intergenerational exchange of ideas, knowledge and skills. They will have explored different forms of communication in different context, such as intergenerational pairs meetings and discussions, small group meetings and discussions and larger group meetings and discussions. Both the junior and the senior teachers will have participated in a course where they have increased their skills regarding communicating and exchanging ideas and knowledge with colleagues. They have expanded their skills regarding mentoring and coaching colleagues. At the conclusion of the course, the participants should be able to describe the meaning of the term mentoring from the perspective of junior and senior teachers, and be able to give an example of something that they

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can do at their working place to enhance communication between junior and senior teachers.


There will be five sessions:

1. Introduction.

2. Junior and senior teachers

3. Mentoring

4. Communication

5. Completion and evaluation

Time plan

This course will be implemented over a period of one school term (20 weeks).

Methods


individual interviews with teachers to recruit participants and to determine needs;

dialogue with headmasters to determine needs; large group meetings (10-14 persons); lectures given by the course leaders; creative activities that involve and engage the participants.

Equipment/material

Handouts and lecture notes will be distributed among the participants. The 2AgePro cards will also be used, together with the handouts and lecture notes, as starting points for discussions.

Financing

No extra funds will be used to implement the course. The teachers will participate during their ordinary working hours which, in turn, mean that their respective headmaster will have to sanction their participation in the course on beforehand. The course leader (a university lecturer) will also participate during his or her ordinary working hours, as part of the time earmarked for these types of work activities. The course leader’s participation will be sanctioned by his or her head of department.

Evaluation

The evaluation will be both formative and summative. Formative evaluation will take place during the course in the form of discussions with the participants regarding the course and its content. The summative evaluation will take place at the end of the course where the teachers will participate in a small workshop. At this workshop, the

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teachers and their respective headmasters will attend, and the outcomes of the course will be discussed.

This evaluation process will give the participants an opportunity to engage with the topics that are in focus during the course. This will provide the participants an opportunity to continue to learn, since the examination will have elements of reflection.

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Documents

CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE A COURSE DESIGN: NATIONAL PLANS BASED