Chief Education Officer, Wendy Griffith-Watson (File photo)
Chief Education Officer, Wendy Griffith-Watson is appealing to teachers to engage in continuous learning.
She made this assertion while delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony for Erdiston Teacher Training College’s Diploma in Education (Primary and Secondary) and the Certificate in Educational Management and Administration programmes yesterday. Ms Griffith-Watson also urged teachers not to view teacher training as a “one-stop shop”.
“People who are professionals have to constantly refresh their training. Continuous training is therefore necessary to keep teachers on the cutting edge of the teaching profession,” she stated.
Ms Griffith-Watson added that the Ministry of Education, Human Resource and Development is “preparing to introduce a programme that will see teachers being retrained every three years.
“Training must be revised to empower teachers. It is only through continuous learning that a teacher can fully capture the attention of students,” she pointed out.
A former teacher and principal herself, Ms. Griffith-Watson also advised the teachers who are about to embark on the three programmes, to “always treat your students with dignity and respect.”
“Teaching is like a boomerang…it comes back to you. Learn to discipline in love. Always keep the humanity of your students in the forefront of your minds,” she said.
The training programmes for the 2008 to 2009 academic year attracted 180 participants and are important components of this island’s tertiary educational initiatives.