Ministry Encourages Professional Development Days

Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 18, 2014 (SKNIS): “Enhancing Best Practices for Interactive Ongoing Development” was the theme given to the annual Joint Staff Professional Development Day for teachers at the St. Paul’s and Newton Ground Primary Schools held on February 17.

“These two schools not only serve over the years as a model but continue to demonstrate positive approaches and best practices today,” said Education Officer and Chairperson Daryll Lloyd.

“Current challenges make great demands on our education system but Newton Ground Primary and St. Paul’s Primary Schools understand the value of a Ministry, a school and a community partnership, one in which everyone unites to achieve common goals,” he added.

Chief Education Officer Clarice Cotton stated that the Ministry of Education encourages Professional Development Day and also encourages teachers to do their own personal professional development.

Ms. Cotton added that one of the things the Ministry looks at when it evaluates its principals is their instructional leadership, that is, whether they are encouraging staff to learn and if they are providing opportunities for the staff to learn and develop.

“So when principals come and say they want to have a professional development day, we always say yes because this goes towards instructional leadership,” Ms. Cotton noted.

The Chief Education Officer further noted that that the day is also encouraged because one of the goals in the Ministry is to provide lifelong learning for the citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis.

“That means all of us should never stop learning, it should be ongoing and as teachers we have to pass on that to our students.”

Topics covered during the Development Day included Staff Collegiality and The Civil Service Act: What we need to know, Teaching of Mathematics and Professionalism in the Workplace.

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