Teacher quality has a powerful impact on student performance and is reflected in the standards set to teachers and teachers’ self-development efforts. In addition to setting minimum requirements to teachers in terms of their professional knowledge and skills, teaching standards should inform the development of professional learning goals and provide a framework by which teachers can judge the success of their learning and assist in their self-reflection and self-assessment.
This presentation will outline the main steps in developing and testing professional standards in Montenegro based on the Teaching for Success (TfS) framework. The British Council in Montenegro has been working very intensively on the integration of the TfS model in the local education system at a number of different levels within a 3-year large-scale policy project. We initiated redrafting of the national teaching standards because the educational system did not have a single overarching document of the kind; standards of various sorts were scattered across different documents and departments, substantially lowering the quality of both teaching and learning. We introduced TfS last year as the basis for a professional development model, making explicit the elements of effective teaching in the 21st century schools, and it is now very much at home in the Ministry of Education. However, the changes at the policy level need to be supported by teachers, who should internalize the standards and see their value. Developing professional standards for teachers that can guide professional learning, practice and engagement was complemented by intensive 10-week teacher training sessions for primary and secondary school teachers, piloting new primary and secondary school curricula, Aptis testing of teachers, piloting CLIL in high schools and introducing English in kindergartens across the country.
About the speaker:
Svetlana is a teacher, teacher trainer and materials writer. She has taught every age group and every skill level, and conducted teacher training and spoken at many national and international conferences. She works as an expert in the areas of impact assessment, leadership teacher training and is currently leading the English Policy Project in Montenegro. Svetlana is an avid blogger who loves to share her ideas about teaching and learning and professional development with other teachers and teacher educators.