(ZIZ News) The Ministry of Education’s Teachers’ Induction Course themed ‘Equipping New Teachers with Requisite Skills, Attitude, and Knowledge’ came to a close on Friday.
At least 50 prospective teachers took part in the course.
Daryll Lloyd, Chair of the Organizing Committee, said the focus is really to prepare prospective teachers for the classroom.
“The Ministry felt that in recent years, we have hired persons who they felt were not properly equipped and so we decided to bring together a committee,” he said.
Throughout the course, seasoned educators made presentations on topics including ‘The Teacher as a Professional’, ‘Classroom Management’, ‘The Teacher And The Law’ and ‘Work Prep and Lesson Planning’.
Minister of Education, Honorable Shawn Richards welcomed the prospective teachers to the education fraternity and wished them well.
“I am glad that all of you were chosen to become a teacher. May you possess a strong sense of mission and embrace the true purpose of teaching,” he said.
While Bertina Marsham said preparation on all levels is crucial, her colleague Joshua Salters said there is so much more to the teaching process than writing notes on the board and hope learning takes place.
“A teacher must be creative, a teacher must be interactive. You must reach out to your students and you must impact their lives positively. A teacher is a lifesaver,” Salters said.
“It’s so important for teachers to plan their lessons and make their work prep and prep for themselves also in terms of self management so you would know what guidelines you would go to and what guidelines you would set for your students,” Marsham added.
Zoe Quinlan, much like Salters, said teaching is an important job and what she learnt as an observing student is not all that it takes to be a teacher.
“There are so many things that go on behind the curtain: before school, after school, on the weekend, it takes a lot more than coming into the classroom, jotting some notes on the board and sitting down at your desk. I understand now there’s work prep, classroom management and all of these things that we have been learning at this workshop I think have been very beneficial,” she said.
The chosen candidates from the recent training course will soon enter into a weekly training program known as ‘In-Service’ Training.