A group of 20 middle school teachers have completed leadership training as part of a programme to raise professional standards within the Island’s public schools.

Education Minister Grant Gibbons said that improving teaching and learning in the classroom and strengthening leadership in schools were “key strategic priorities” for his Ministry, which has seen its budget for training and development increase by 80 percent

Speaking in the House of Assembly, Dr Gibbons said: “Improving teaching and learning in the classroom will happen by building the content knowledge of every teacher, raising expectations and providing teachers and administrators with coaching, professional development, and guidance.

“The department will continue to strengthen leadership by working with school leaders to increase their ability to lead change, and improve instruction and everyday operations. This means ensuring that all school leaders know what good instruction looks like and can build capacity for good teaching in their schools.

“The 2014/15 budget for school improvement and staff development was substantially increased by more than 80 percent in order to place greater emphasis on professional development this school year.

“As part of this effort, 20 of our Middle School Leaders were engaged in a four-day practical training programme entitled ‘Leading for Change in the 21st Century’.”

The sessions were presented by a US professional development firm which “has a proven track record of working closely with school administrators and leaders to support teacher development and enhance performance and learning in the classroom”.

The programme consisted of two components — instructional leadership to enable principals to develop a “vision” for their schools, followed by an assessment of teaching methods in the classroom.

“The walk-through proved to be extremely beneficial as the leadership teams from each middle school obtained immediate feedback about their observed performances,” Dr Gibbons said.

“I have been informed that the overall feedback from the participating educators was very encouraging. One of them commented that he had been ‘intellectually stimulated, personally motivated, and systemically encouraged by the wealth of leadership information’.

“Improving teaching and learning is an area that the Department of Education will continue to focus on during the upcoming academic school year. Professional development will be a key part of our education system and we are committed to ensuring that this culture is established in all schools and at every level for the benefit of our students. It also directly supports two of the priorities outlined in the Blue Print for Reform.”