Professional+Development+program+for+teachers-A+comparative+study

__**MADHU BALA SINGH, INDIA- ILEP FELLOW 2013**__ In this blog, I want to compare the professional development program practised in different countries like Kenya, Lebanon, Indonesia and America.;whether they are the same or are they vary from each other in their dimensions .Moreover, I would like to have a good videos on why do we need to have professional development programs for the teachers?and should there be a one time training or it should be an ongoing process?

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PDP in USA( SC) __**Professional Development Program for teachers in USA(South Carolina)**__ This effort of providing Professional Development to plenty of teachers around the globe is a marathon which USA exercises every year with meticulus planning and organisation .As part of this, there are myriad programmes of different duration .International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) is one such avenue ,which brings teachers together and they share their expertise in teaching field and also their culture and traditions with fellow from other countries.this four and a half month long program has its own merits :the first being developing intercultural understanding among teachers from 13 countries. Besides this, the school teachers are provided with ample opportunities to hone their teaching skills through various programs like:

i) Assistant Principal''s ii)Polyvision training- iii) Power School Gradebook iv) RBHS training v) Special Education Assistants'' Training vi) Subject specified training for ELA, Science, Social Studies and Mathematics vii) Elementary Guidance and counsellor ix)Elementary P E x) Curriculum meeting

This is very striking for me that teachers are provided with a list of all the meetings to be conducted throughout the semester the beginning of the semester and the teachers can get themseves registered online. it helps the teacher not only to develop the quality of self realisation and even makes them a conscientious citizen ,who believes in sharpening her teaching skill her moral responsibility.I saw my co teahcer going to attend this ELA meeting and on their return, they apprised me also of the techniques to be considered while teaching.

__**Professional Development in Indonesia**__

Indonesia is a developing country in South East Asia with a population of only a few millions.It is still in its early stages of its education system and is including the latest strategies in its system.In this programme, I got an opportunity to interact with two ILEP fellows from Indonesia and they were able to inform me about some of the programs ,which are instrumental in devloping the teaching skills of teachers in their countries.Some of them are: i) Teaching strategies-subject oriented workshop ii) Technology related workshop iii) Parent involvement iv) professional learning community-these are conducted once every month v) Current issues related to community vi) In House Teaching workshop For materials For current issues llike Techniques, pedagogy teachers'' work evaluation classroom action research vii) Toefl Exercises

All these courses are mandatory for the teachers so that they get trained professionally thus benefitting the learners finally.It is worth praising that these In Services courses are implementation in all the countries.

__**Professional Development Program in Lebanon**__

In this part of my writing, I am going to talk about the professional Development Programme undertaken by teachers of Al Kawthar Secondary School in Beirut ,Lebanon. This data is been contributed by Ms Nisreen Hammoud, a high Grade teacher of English in her home country.She has a rich experience of teaching and in her teaching period, she is exposed to many workshops and seminars for honing her teaching skills.some of them are almost the same as we have in many places.Som e of them are; i) ICT(Information Communication &Technologyfor three days(compulsory) ii) Effective Teaching Strategies-3 days(compulsory) iii) Classroom Management-(compulsory) iv) How to be a good coordinator(Optional) v) Learning Styles-one day (compulsory ) vi) Inquiry Learning-1 day (compulsory) vii) Drama in classroom -2 days(optional) viii) IEP (Individualized Eduction Program)-optional ix) Cooperative learning/STAD, Jigsaw- 3 days x) How to ba a good administrator-ongoing xi) Types of Questions.

__**Professional Development in Morocco:**__ As a reform of the educational system in Morocco, the ministry launched a plan called "EmergencyPlan"(2009/2012). The program funded by the ministry (51 billion Dirhams).teachers received trainingsss on an approach called Ïntegration Approach"A Belgian called "Geavies"was working with the ministry.

With the new ministry, this program was ignored or rejected.

During the plan period, teachers had to take up two training sessions during each year about the Implementatioon of the new approach-one training each semester for three days.

__**Professional Development in Kenya:**__ i) SMASSE PROGRAM:Smasse means strengthening of Mathematics and Science in Secondary education-this program is partly funded by Japan. Mathematics and Science teachers attend this program for fourteen days in an year during the school''s holidays. It has lead to improved performance in Mathematics and Sciences. Some skills taught include : lesson study Peer teaching lesson actualization ii) KESI-Kenya Education Staff-Institute offers school Administration and management courses for Principals and Deputy Principal.It is a capacity building agency in Kenya. It was funded by World Bank and government of Kenya.Initially teachers interested with coursses offered were not paying but today they pay $200.

iii) H.O.D.(Head of Department)- Training is given by book publishers like Longhorn, Oxford and Mcmillan. This training is given for four days in a year.

iv) H.O.D. Physical Education and team coaches go for a sports clinic for five days one in a year.

__**Professional Development in** **Philippines:**__

1.**District Level** English, Science and Mathematics(ENSCIMA)- Teachers handling /teaching these three content areas attend one week ( 5 days) training held in De La Salle University in Manila the country's capital city. One of the task is to create a pedagogoical plan dealing on constructivist approach. The teeachers are encouraged to use student''s prior knowledge and build on it. the lesson palns are also incited with the constructivist approach.This si usually done on May, Summer time and vacation period since classes starts in June and ends on March.

2.**National Level** Right now most of the period in the phil(in the national level) are found on K-12 since we have transition in the curriculum. All Grade 8 teahcers attend 1 week training workshop so that they know what competencies are covered for specific content area and how to adopt in classroom considering the available resources. The government as laws implemented by the Department of Education highlighted skills to be acquired by the students in the high school. Basically, that is the reason why high school curriculum includes /add two more years so the graduates equipped with skills as well, not theories only.