Teachers as learners for learning schools

This was the title of a six-day Comenius 2.2 Action in-service training course held on May 10-16 in Viareggio, Italy. The course was developed as an in-service training activity within the Developing European Schools into Learning Organisations (DESLO) Project, co-ordinated by Dr Giovanna Barzanò.

The underlying premise was that nowadays learning is not just for young learners. It is a priority for all individuals, organisations and societies, and in the school setting, teachers should consider themselves as both the prime learners.

The course focused on the crucial issues related to school development as a means to contribute to quality education and lifelong learning. Providing evidence from literature as well as concrete examples from the classroom and school context, it offered opportunities to reflect on the concept of organisational learning and the tools to understand, support and implement learning in a proactive manner.

Eight participants and eight course tutors from England, Finland, Italy, Holland, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Turkey formed the learning team. Most of them were teachers but the team included an assistant head of school, a head of school, a teacher trainer, an education officer, an inspector, an orchestra conductor and a university lecturer.

The participants were first invited to visit and acquaint themselves with the contents of the DESLO Project homepage: www.desloproject.it. Other tasks included reading academic papers, collating materials about the respective schools and the national settings they function in and finally completing a profiling questionnaire.

The theoretical aspect of the course was delivered through lectures, presentations and copious documentation. Participation and interaction during lectures was emphasised during pairwork and groupwork activities.

Different techniques and learning exercises were discussed and proposals, which can inspire projects and new initiatives at school level, were explored.

Four participants visited the Istituto Professionale Sandro Pertini, an upper secondary school in Lucca, while the rest of the group visited a primary school, Scuola Elementare Massa Macinaia, in Capannora.

That same afternoon, the participants joined a group of teachers for an after-school professional development session. Daniele Agiman, an orchestra conductor at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatorio in Milan, gave an informative lecture on "Working with the Orchestra".

The orchestra metaphor was used to highlight the similarity between a conductor's and a teacher's profession. This metaphor is extremely powerful, multidimensional and provides food for thought.

Media education was effectively used to help participants understand better the teaching/learning process. The film Être et Avoir directed by Nicolas Philibert, highlighted the importance of reaching each child on his/her own level and the processes children go through, not only while they are learning but also when growing up.

The course content was varied and particularly interesting. The first unit illustrated the number of forces in our society that are constantly affecting and changing learning and schooling. As a result, schools are becoming more competitive and are preparing future workers, emphasising new skills and competences. Schools need to be learning organisations. This depends on their ability to be creative, analytical and open to new challenges, that is, on their capacity for organisational learning.

The theories of educational leadership and the key differences between leadership and management were thoroughly discussed. The participants were invited to complete a questionnaire which focused on identifying one's strengths in learning as well as determining the knowledge and the skills required for contemporary learning competences. The answers to this questionnaire provided each participant with his/her own learning leader profile.

Another unit focused on evaluation which operates at the macro- and micro-level of the school. Indeed, both school evaluation and individual self-evaluation are a structured on-going exercise of looking at one's strengths and areas requiring deve-lopment, so that improvement can be planned and implemented accordingly.

Peer observation should not be considered as a threatening activity, but as a highly productive form of in-house training. Classroom doors should be opened for collaborative and organisational learning, enlightenment and professional development.

The course also highlighted the international and European competences of the school teacher involved in European and/or international projects. Ten key competences were discussed, together with four levels of teacher involvement, varying from basic knowledge to active involvement. The participants were also given a valuable insight on the Italian educational system, with particular focus on the much debated Moratti reform.

The concluding session was devoted to sharing ideas about follow-up activities.

This inset activity, which was made possible through the co-sponsorship of the Socrates National Agency and the Education Division, proved to be very enriching both from the intercultural and professional points of view.

Joseph Micallef is an assistant head at Maria Assumpta Girls' Secondary School, Hamrun; Anne Marie Camilleri is a teacher at Tumas Dingli Primary School, Attard.