June 2004 Marisa Agostinelli

Tutors’ meeting programme REPORTING AND REFLECTING on the teachers’ training course.REPORTING AND REFLECTING BREAKING NEWS: News from our regionBREAKING NEWS WORKSHOP : Accomplishment of 3 tasks and group reportingWORKSHOP

Aim of meeting To analyse and reflect on the F2F meetings you have already or you are still running as tutors. Reflection related to 1.The tutor’s role 2.The trainee’s role 3.The training content (Platform) 4.Benefits and drawbacks

Reflecting on your role Here is some feedback to help you reflect: trainees’ attention was focused on both the processes and products of the learning

Reflecting on your role Trainees were encouraged to assume responsibility for their learning. You acted as facilitator of learning. Trainee interaction was promoted

Reflecting on your role You helped them to select topics which encouraged them to draw upon their knowledge, theories and experience. You negotiated together with the trainees the topics they had to work on and collaborated with them in all the decisions concerning the training process.

Reflecting on your role Positive tutor/trainee and trainee-trainee relationships were promoted. Training was concerned with both the personal and the professional development of trainees.

Reflecting on your role Cooperative work was encouraged The experience brought by the trainees was valued and exploited

Reflecting on the trainees Trainees worked in a practice-oriented context.

Reflecting on the trainees They developed as autonomous learners (i.e. accepted added responsibility for their own learning) They adopted a collaborative/cooperative approach to learning (i.e. learned to work with others to achieve common goals)

Reflecting on the trainees They developed personally and professionally (i.e. learned about themselves, not just about the content under study) They developed interpersonally (i.e. became sensitive to the needs of other participants in the same situation) They got used to working on the platform

Reflecting on the trainees They found the material on the platform useful for their professional development. They were familiar with the themes and methodology dealt with on the platform. They selected topics which could be useful in their everyday teaching practice

The training content Some questions for you: 1.Were all the trainees familiar with the approaches/methods presented on the Platform? If No : which ones didn’t they know ?

The training content 2. Did you plan sessions on methodology in addition to the activities presented by the Platform ? If yes Why? What methodological aspects did you focus on?

The training content 3. While analysing the teachers’needs did you feel the necessity to plan modules on specific topics? If yes - Why ? - Which ones were of most interest among your trainees?

Focus on… the virtual class 1.Did you come across any difficulties in using it? If yes - Which ones ? 2.Were all the course members willing to use it ? If No - Why not? - What didn’t work properly?

Focus on… the virtual class 3.Was it only a place in which to store material or a meeting point for discussion and sharing ideas ? 4.Are you satisfied with the way you led it ? If No - Why not?

Feedback on the on going training process Ask your course members for feedback on their training process. It will be an excellent source of feedback on the job you are doing. A structured questionnaire is one possibility to get them to respond to the questions you are interested in.

Final evaluation Provide your trainees with a final evaluation questionnaire,ask them what most influenced their personal thinking, or proved most useful for their teaching

And last but not least… If you dare …. Ask them for an evaluation of the job you have done.

Breaking news Some proposals from our Region A space in the regional website in which to store valuable material produced by the trainees. A web school net which will enable teachers to start or carry on their co- operation

WORKSHOP TASK 1 – You will be provided with a grid which will help you to reflect on the job you have already done or you are still carrying on in order to have feedback and improve professionally.

WORKSHOP TASK 2 – Foresee a trainee feedback sheet on the on going training process. ( see example)

WORKSHOP TASK 3 – Foresee a final trainee evaluation sheet on the training course. (see example)