Supporting education development in Croatia
New education developments and trends in Europe have been recognised in Croatia. On its accession path to membership of the European Union, Croatia is faced with new challenges, and has recognised the need to transform its educational system, to meet new requirements and to acquire new knowledge, skills and competencies.
The British Council Croatia has established successful partnerships with local educational institutions and joint initiatives have already proved highly successful and have inspired and drive change.
Working in partnership with Education and Teacher Training Agency has resulted in a two year Education Development project whose aim is to develop and enhance good quality teaching and learning, to share knowledge and good practice, to raise standards and to secure progress and improvement.
During the two years, 20 head teachers, 8 senior education advisers and 25 teacher trainers will undertake trainer training techniques and coaching programmes during which the plan for dissemination and evaluation will be agreed. The courses aim to raise participants’ awareness of new methodologies and changes and to provide opportunities to discuss and evaluate developments.
Participants attend modular training in two groups:
- Teacher trainers and advisers
- Head teachers and senior education advisers
The training is in the following areas:
- Mentorship
The role of a mentor in teacher education. Mentoring systems and concepts of mentoring. Theories of mentoring. Focusing observation, target-setting, giving feedback, ‘I messages’ and summarising. - Presentation & skills
How to prepare a presentation that’s persuasive and professional. How to understand what effect your voice and body language has on audience. Importance and the best use of feedback, evaluation and follow up process. - Managing change
Personal and organisational change. Education development and change entail resistance. How to overcome obstacles and resistance in their school. How to make wide-ranging and comprehensive changes throughout the school which are supported by teachers, children and parents. - Standards and Competencies
Developments in education call for new professional competencies.
How to identify and develop competencies necessary for the future professional development
Key principles and areas of standards. Standards in engaging and delivery. Using the standards. - Inclusion
Special Education Needs – Education for All – includes particular attention for children with special needs. Valuing children with a disability or learning difficulties. Practical skills and approaches for supporting children with special needs (Autism, visual/hearing impairments, emotional and behavioural difficulties, valuing cultural and ethnic differences. - Professional development and training
Framework for professional development. Making progress in the teaching profession.
Continuing professional development – guidance and good practice.
The impact of teacher training. Head teacher’s support in induction as well as continuous professional development - Leading and managing others – staff performance management
Effective leadership: Every leader has their own leadership style. To know ones own strengths and weaknesses is a basis for improving one’s management capacities. Head teachers need assistance to discover which aspects of their leadership role need improvement and practice in wide range of effective school leadership strategies.
Module 1: Mentorship with Tim Cain (11 – 14 September 2006)
Course objectives:
- to develop participants’ understanding of the aims of teacher education
- to develop understanding of how mentors can help student teachers
- to raise awareness of pitfalls of mentoring
- to understand how to plan and carry out meetings with student teachers
- to understand how to assess student teachers
- to understand how to develop a system for mentoring
Module 2: Presentation skills with Caroline Pope (20 – 24 November 2006)
Course objectives:
- How to create and deliver presentations that are persuasive and professional.
- How to structure, edit and order the content of a presentation effectively.
- How to deal with follow up questions and discussions with confidence.
- Understanding what affect your voice and body language has on your audience.
- Collecting constructive feedback: methods and techniques.
- Lifelong learning: evaluating, using and acting on feedback effectively.
Module 3: Managing Change with Jean Lebrecht and Andrew Phillips (22 – 25 Jan 2007)
Course objectives:
- Understand the nature of change, and how it relates to performance;
- Know about the factors which affect the way change is managed and implemented
- Know about, and be able to plan for, stages of change
- Be able to identify, within the school, factors which have affected successful and nsuccessful changes
- Understand the importance of people in the change process, and be able to successfully manage people through the stage of change
- Be able to ensure that change is implemented with a positive and thoughtful approach, resulting in positive outcome for individuals and the whole school.
Module 4: Standards & Competencies - part 1with Glynn Kirkham (26 – 29 Mar 2007)
Course objectives:
- to develop participants’ understanding of the standards and competencies approach as utilised in the education of head teachers and teachers in England
- to raise participants' awareness of the benefits and disbenefits of a standards and competences approach
- to enable participants to self-evaluate against a set of standards
- to understand how an evidence-based approach can enable head teacher and teacher professional development
- to be able to utilise a nominal group technique approach to consensus decision-making
- to understand how (and be able to begin) to develop a Croatian system for standards and competences
Module 5: Standards & Competencies -part 2 with Glynn Kirkham (1 – 4 Oct 2007)
Course objectives:
Through active exploration of current, relevant material as primary source material as well as through principles of best practice to:
- review work (March 2007 +) on teacher and head teacher standards and competencies
- examine the latest standards documentation
- examine the function and purpose of a job description
- examine the function and purpose of a person specification for self-evaluation
- apply to phase of schools and locations in a Croatian setting
- achieve models for application and further development in Croatia
Module 6: Inclusion with Philip Garner (6 – 9 Nov 2007)
Course members will have opportunities to:
- develop realistic whole-school inclusion policy
- identify practical issues in supporting children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
- explore recent theory, legislation and practice relating to ‘Education for All’
- understand the benefits of using children’s voices in supporting policy and practice
- develop and refine skills in target-setting and individual education plans
Module 7: Professional development with Rod Bolitho (18 – 21 Feb 2008)
Course objectives:
- to raise participants' awareness of the role of professional development in educational reform and improvement
- to clarify with participants the key similarities and differences between development and training
- to locate professional development within teachers' professional life cycle
- to enable participants to explore the benefits of matching 'top-down', management led, institutional and systemic priorities with teachers' individual development needs
- to raise participants' awareness of school heads' role and responsibilities in supporting the professional development of their staff
- to explore good practice in continuing professional development in terms of opportunities, planning, appraisal, accreditation and evaluation
Module 8: Leading and managing others with Glynn Kirkham (10 – 13 Mar 2008)
Course objectives:
- to raise participants' awareness of the role of leader and of the manager in the development of educational establishments
- to clarify with participants the key differences between leadership and management
- to locate leadership and management of others within the process of pedagogy and andragogy
- to enable participants to explore the benefits of aligning their own practice with theoretical underpinning relating to the concepts of leadership, management and inspiration
- to raise participants' awareness of centrality of psychological contracts in leadership development
- to explore good practice in leadership and management in terms of individual and institutional growth
