Student teachers enrolled in the Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme, at the Anguilla Community College (ACC), participated in a Best Practices Seminar on Monday, April 7.
According to Dr LeRoy Hill, Director of Humanities & Education, the 9 am – 12.15 noon event was “a capstone seminar which provided the teachers in training with an opportunity to interact in a learning environment designed to deal with best practices in education.” It also engaged the student teachers “in panel discussions and in presenting their research thinking and planning during a poster presentation session.”
A statement in the programme brochure gave the following further explanation: “An educational Best Practice is used to describe what works in a particular socio-cultural context. When research supports the accomplishment of a practice, it is referred to as a research-based practice. The implementation of research-based practice is what some refer to as evidence-based education.
“The professional development goal as educators therefore is to operationalize evidence-based practices that allow us to think globally but act locally. It would be noted that a particular practice that has worked within one setting may not yield the same result in other educational environments.
“The aim of the poster session therefore is to allow student teachers the opportunity to receive constructive feedback towards the advancement of their research into various Best Practices in education.”
Professor Delroy Louden took the opportunity to express gratitude to Mrs Chanelle Petty Barrett for her overall great support of the College and ensuring that it is in a position to move forward with its varied programmes. He also addressed the participants in the seminar on various matters related to best practices in education.
There were two panel discussions on Best Practice moderated by Mrs Rita Celestine Carty, Head of the English Language Department at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School. The participants in the first panel discussion were Mrs Marilyn Hodge, Pastoral Care & Counselling; Mrs Tracelyn Hamilton, Differential Instruction; Mrs Janiera Challenger-Gibson, Classroom Management; and Mrs Tamara Pradel, Technology Integration.
The participants in second panel discussion were Mrs Njeri Richardson-Carty, Collaborative Knowledge Building; Mr Brent Romney, Educational Research; and Mrs Chanelle Petty Barrett, Educational Leadership.