WWETB staff across the Further Education and Training sector continue to engage in a variety of professional learning activities, showing great commitment to developing their competencies. WWETB recognises this commitment and is supporting this culture. On a national level, the FET Professional Development Strategy builds on this, while the Teaching Council’s Cosán is in the middle of a four-year development process for teachers’ learning. For the moment, it is best simply to recognise, and give recognition, to professional development, which has taken place throughout the year.
TESOL 2 (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) was a module delivered by WIT for staff involved in English language provision. This was a weeklong course, which built on competencies gained by staff from TESOL 1 in 2017.
Developing Literacies 1 was another module delivered by WIT, as part of their Higher Cert in Literacy Development. Staff from a variety of programmes attended this initial literacy tutor training. The aim was to give practitioners an understanding of, and practice in, the potential of literacy as a tool for personal and social transformation.
16 staff from across WWETB programmes took part in a 10 week blended learning Technology Enhanced Learning course, run by An Cosán Virtual Community College. It consisted of workshops and eight online evening sessions, delivered through IT Carlow’s Blackboard, a virtual/online classroom. It blended education theory and practical digital skills, and aimed to give participants the competencies in using technology relevant to improve the learning experience for our learners.
SOLAS NUIG/NCI Pilot programmes in the priority areas of TEL and Change Management are underway, with three staff from WWETB participating on both the NUIG Change Management and TEL courses. We have a further three places on each of Level 6 and 7 TEL to offer. These are fully funded by WWETB.
An initial subject group meeting for staff delivering Art, Craft and Design subjects took place last May. It is hoped that this network can be developed
and further networks established.
Training continues to be provided in Office 365 applications across FET centres, further developing the skills of staff year on year and developing capacity. Other FET training and professional development which has taken place across centres and programmes includes, amongst others: Restorative Practice, HSE SafeTALK, AHEAD Start, Anti-Bullying training, CAD training,
Instructional Leadership, Children First training, FESS workshops, SOLAS eCollege courses, GDPR, First Aid and Academic Writing. PLC teachers from dual-campus post-primary colleges have also attended Teaching and Learning workshops on Magenta Principles with author and trainer Mike Hughes.
Training is currently being organised in areas in which needs have been identified by staff and departments. These include Work Experience and Communications delivery, supporting adult learners with ASD, dyslexia training workshops and Integrating Literacy with NALA.
Funding support is also offered to FET staff studying on accredited courses, which are directly relevant to their area of work and competent performance of their post. For further details or anything else related to professional development please contact [email protected] or [email protected].