Teachers benefit from Comenius in-service training programme

Franceanne Borg and Manola Mousù, guidance teachers within the Education Division, recently attended a five-day in-service course funded by Socrates - the European Community Programme and the Comenius In-service Training Programme.

The course, entitled "Using Portfolio in Careers Education and Guidance to enhance students' career learning and development", was held at the Hotel Stanley in Athens last October.

Participants included school teachers, advisers, careers advisers and careers co-ordinators from all over Europe.

The intensive course was aimed at gaining practical help in developing and implementing portolio-based learning in schools' career programme.

Course objectives included:

¤ to demonstrate the benefits of using portfolios in careers education and guidance to enhance students' career learning and development.

¤ to share the pratice of porfolio-based learning in careers education and guidance in Greece, the Netherlands and the UK.

¤ to provide participants with practical ideas for implementing portfolios in the classroom.

¤ to encourage networking and co-operation between participants based on a shared understanding of the importance of careers education and guidance for all our young people.

The methodology of the course involved lectures, discussions, co-operative learning and games. A salient part of the course was the visit to a Greek school in Agroupolis and a counselling and guidance unit at Alimos.

The experience which was made possible through Comenius funding, was highly enjoyable and valuable for the personal and professional development of teachers andl dissemination of the understanding of education for learning and work in Europe.