Professional Development Training for Grenadian Educators

Professional Development training for Grenadian educators, funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, kicked off for the second time since the programme’s inception, during an opening ceremony at the Grenada Boys Secondary School on 6 July 2015.

Mrs Jacinta Joseph, Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Human Resource Development (Ag.), Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, said, “Ongoing teacher professional development is embraced by policy makers, as a principal mechanism to professionalize the teaching service and provide sustained capacity building for best practice instruction in schools. Cognizant of this, Government has undertaken to include a professional development certificate programme, as a key component of the School Rehabilitation and Reconstruction project — Phase 2, which is funded by the Caribbean Development Bank.”

The training, which will be conducted by a 3–person team, from the University of the West Indies (UWI), will focus on teacher evaluation, reflective practice and differentiated instruction, which examines gender differences in learning.

Dr Jennifer Obidah, Lead Facilitator and Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Education, UWI Cave Hill, said, “At this time, in the region, many countries are asking for professional development and Grenada was the first to actually put a programme in place where, when you came off from school, there’s a professional development programme.”

Mr Elvis Morain, Acting Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, told the participants, “If you ought to remain current in this practice, you must commit yourself to professional development. We must all commit ourselves to lifelong learning.”

Successful participants will receive three course credits towards a master’s degree program, if enrolled at the UWI. Participants include senior teachers, heads of department and principals. The training will be executed from 6–17 July.

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