Fostering systematic every-day use of different internal support forms and peer-based professional development activities to make them part of schools’ culture.
Context
Rapidly changing and challenging times place the development of supportive and resilient environments in educational institutions, as well as well-being of teaching staff and school leadership, at the centre of attention. Staff at educational institutions often see themselves facing insurmountable number of tasks, they have to perform their everyday work while at the same time new structures, processes and procedures have to be developed and implemented. This can lead to a burnout, depression, mixed emotions and misunderstandings within a team, etc. Therefore, teachers need opportunities for collegial support to best serve their students and communities, to make their work more meaningful, and to transform teaching/learning process in a way that keeps it vibrant and relevant to the ever-changing world.
Research shows that such forms of collegial support as coaching, mentoring, counselling and supervision have impact and benefits on the staff moral support, increase efficiency, improve effectiveness, reduce overload, and increase capacity for reflection, organizational responsiveness, opportunities to learn and continuous learning.
Objectives
- To identify the needs of educational leaders in their effort to enhance the culture of collegial support and peer-based learning in schools, in order to create a Handbook on how to sustain different forms of collegial support;
- To enhance the understanding of various support forms and their impact on staff & school development, and to gain practical experience of using the diverse techniques and methods through a CPD course;
- To share the best practices among consortium partners and deepen their knowledge.
Activities
- Production of online Handbook on how to enhance the use of different forms of collegial support (coaching, supervision, mentoring, etc) for resilience and growth in education;
- Creation & piloting of a hybrid modular CPD (Continuous professional development) course & materials with digital elements for educational leadership on creating a climate geared towards collegial support and growth mindset;
- Learning visits in partner countries to share best practice, deepen knowledge of the project topic & build capacity of staff.
Resources
- Handbook on collegial support in education
- CPD course & digital materials
Impact
- Enhanced awareness of the main needs to foster a culture of collegial support & peer-based learning in education;
- Improved understanding of various support forms and their impact on staff and school development, and enhanced experience to use these techniques and methods;
- Strengthened innovation in CPD course creation and implementation based on better knowledge exchange as regards various forms of collegial support and peer-based learning.
Partners
- Valsts Izglitibas Satura Centrs (Latvia, coordinator)
- Masarykova univerzita (Czech Republic)
- Latvijas Lauksaimniecib As Universitate (Latvia)
- CARDET (Cyprus)
- Spectrum Research Centre CLG (Ireland)
- CESIE (Italy)
- National Center for Teacher Professional Development (Georgia)
