The important of ECE professional development is crucial for our teachers. Coming into work on a Saturday may seem unorthodox to some people, until you step foot into a room full of inspirational and knowledge-yearning teachers. Bear Park Remuera is set up in an alluring fashion – you get lost in thought about all that you will learn. When 9am strikes, the enlightening begins.
Did you know that when using watercolour, you should scrape your brush against the side of the container to lighten the load of the paint? Or that before you introduce wire to construct a 3D object, you should first draw a blueprint? The majority of us did not know this until the guest speakers shared this at one of our bi-monthly ‘Inservice’, Professional Development days. To gather a large amount of teachers into one room to share wisdom from years of teaching is pure genius. Our bond as a team strengthens as we band together to be the best teachers we can be, and then some. We are given the opportunity to learn together so that we know how to support each other along our teaching paths. When we discover new teaching strategies through professional development, we are able to go back to the classroom and to adjust our teaching styles and the curriculum to better suit the needs of our children.
It seams as though we become re-inspired every time that we attend. The passion of teaching ignites our souls and becomes our whole world. We leave the Inservice with fresh eyes and a determination to repurpose any materials along the way. A new understanding of mediums leaves us impatiently waiting for Monday to come, to show the children everything that we have learnt, and share in our learning journey together. We wonder how the children will take what we have shared with them and to make it into their own. We wonder what the children will teach us with the materials we have introduced.
