The webinar “Effective pedagogical practices in teacher training programs” was held within the framework of the teacher training reform project at the University of the West Indies. This webinar was organised by SUMMA, the Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, with the support of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the University of the West Indies.
The objective of this meeting was to initiate discussion on reforming teacher education in the Eastern Caribbean by introducing effective pedagogical practices that enhance student learning and impact student performance in terms of feedback, collaborative learning, and metacognition.
Rafael Carrasco, Deputy Director of SUMMA, thanked the speakers and the more than 50 attendees from institutions in the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana, and Haiti for participating in the meeting. SUMMA has been working intensively on issues of teacher professional development in the region. An example is the Chaka Program developed in collaboration with the Luksic Foundation and five high schools in Arica and Parinacota, Chile. This program is applied in classrooms using pedagogical strategies included in the Effective Practices Platform, such as metacognition, dialogue, collaborative reflection, and formative feedback.
Amy Faux, International Project Manager at EEF, thanked SUMMA for the joint work and introduced the theme of the event, detailing the work they have been doing in relation to research, data collection, and effective tools for teacher training.
Professor Zemira Mevarech, senior lecturer and dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University (Tel Aviv), and Dr. Ornit Spektor-Levi, head of the science teacher training program and director of the Da-Gan Center – National Center for STEM Education Teachers in Preschool at Bar-Ilan University, presented the main features of the IMPROVE model and the 4 strategies and practices that are the basis of this approach: cognitive, social, emotional, and sensorimotor.
Dr. Joel Warrican, Dean of the Faculty of Education of the University of the West Indies* (Cave Hill), thanked SUMMA for its work to support the University’s efforts to reform the curricula of its two pre-service teacher training programs: the Associate Degree in Education and the Bachelor of Education.
Finally, Raúl Chacón, director of the KIX LAC hub, thanked the speakers for their presentation, highlighting the importance of continuing with these spaces for dialogue to learn from the different experiences at the global level and to be able to adapt them to the Latin American reality, promoting improvements in the region’s education systems.
Video in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDkh2Rjh8Ms
Video in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBLbXZ87ojc
