Basseterre: St. Kitts, Tuesday, November 12, 2024: The Early Childhood Development Unit (ECDU) is currently hosting a five-week training workshop to support and equip new teachers across both the public and private pre-school centers with the necessary skills and knowledge.
On Thursday, November 7, Director of the ECDU, Ms. Kimona Browne, informed the Education Media Unit (EMU) that the training sessions are now in its second week. She shared that each week would focus on providing practical strategies and hands-on learning experiences to ensure participants are better prepared for the classroom.
The week two training session focused on Active Learning: making Learning Fun, which is a component of the High Scope Curriculum. The new teachers were exposed to various teaching strategies which they can utilize in their classrooms to promote student participation.
Resource teacher Travia Tyson shared, “We (ECDU) felt that it was important for new teachers to understand what active learning is. Active Learning helps children to discover and explore the world around them with their whole beings, their hands, their eyes, their feet, all their senses. Thereby, developing a better understanding of their world. We hope that after today’s session, they can go in the classroom and execute the knowledge that they gain in the session to become better teachers and to better enable the children’s learning.”
Teacher Jalexia Matthew and teacher Sherika Benjmain expressed their appreciation for the sessions and outlined how beneficial the information received will be.
“This training session gives me the necessary knowledge to provide the children with the emotional support and the academic knowledge that they need to go on. Right now, at the Salvation Army Preschool, we are facing a barrier language with the Spanish speaking children, so I would like to learn how to deal with those children,” noted teacher Matthew.
“I have gained a lot of knowledge; I have learnt how to use different methods and strategies and how to go down to the children’s level and plan appropriate hands-on lesson plans for them,” she said. “I have also learnt about child development, (and) this week the five active ingredients for active learning. We have gained a lot of knowledge,” she said. “I am looking forward to learning more, so I am able to help develop these children holistically and (be) able to be a great teacher in the classroom,” shared teacher Benjamin.
