Early Childhood Education has been defined as an important sector of learning. This was stressed as the Ministry and Department of Education in Anguilla; UNICEF; and two St Kitts-Nevis facilitators, collaborated in a three-day workshop for thirty teachers across the island.
Mrs Susan Smith, Education Officer, Preschool and Primary School Education, delivered the opening remarks to the gathering at the certificate presentation ceremony at La Vue on January 22. “The thirty participants included preschool, kindergarten and special needs teachers. They were exposed to a wide range of information on Active Participatory Learning,” she stated. “They also had several opportunities to reflect on ways to improve their current practice.”
Mrs Smith added: “I thank each participant for your active participation and significant contribution to this workshop. I must say I admire your enthusiasm for the three days. I trust you are now sufficiently enlightened and motivated to introduce various aspects of the workshop when you return to your settings.”
Mrs Chanelle Petty Barrett, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, expressed gratitude to Ms Shelly Ann Harper, the UNICEF Representative, for her organisation’s continued assistance to Anguilla and for securing the services of the facilitators, Mrs Florence Mooving-Smithen and Mrs Rosalind Warner-Otto; the Ministry of Education in the Federation of St Kitts-Nevis for lending them to Anguilla; and the facilitators themselves for ensuring that the workshop was meaningful for everyone involved.
The Permanent Secretary told the teachers in part: “We want to continue to support your work by giving you the tools that you need to serve our children. Our Ministry is committed to raising standards throughout our education system and this includes the Early Childhood sector. We believe that every child deserves the best foundation on which to build a progressive future. We want you to come along with us as we try to make the changes necessary to ensure the success of every child. That is why this training has been offered, and that is why we will continue to provide opportunities for your professional growth.”
Ms Shelly Ann Harper observed that the participation of the teachers in the workshop had given them an opportunity to reflect on, and better understand, the implications of their decision to become involved in the Early Childhood Education sector. “As practitioners, you have positioned yourself to influence developmental and learning outcome of the boys and girls in your care,” she commented. “Of equal importance is that you have positioned yourself to influence the kind of adolescents and adults that they will become.”
Mrs Mooving-Smithen, speaking on her own behalf, and that of her fellow facilitator, said they enjoyed sharing their knowledge with the Anguillian teachers. She emphasised that Early Childhood Education was the learning cycle needed for children so that they could achieve the best.
Among other matters, she advised the teachers to share what they had learnt with other colleagues who were not at the workshop. She also admonished them to implement in their classrooms the new methods, they were taught, that would be easier for the children to understand.
Teacher Thelma Griffin “expressed deep appreciation to the Department of Education for organising the timely workshop and UNICEF for making it happen”. She described the workshop as having been “enlightening, enjoyable and reflective.” She went on: “We were engaged and focussed from the beginning. We were exposed to a lot about active learning – including the elements of high quality programmes, the high scope curriculum content, change, the daily routine and much more. Some of the information is new to us but I am sure we are eager, willing and ready to give it a try – even though we are all not fully equipped with the material. We were very fortunate to have such passionate facilitators who gave us much food for thought.”
The Certificates of Attendance were distributed by Mrs Rosalind Warner-Otto, one of the two workshop facilitators, assisted by Mrs Susan Smith.
