Workshops

Developmentally Appropriate Practice refers to applying child development knowledge in making thoughtful decision on what and how to teach effectively in the early years. Developmentally appropriate practice matches teaching and learning practices to children’s ability to learn and understand. This means that developmentally appropriate practice is based on what is currently known and understood about children’s developmental patterns.

Teaching is an art that requires continuous self-reflection and development to meet the challenges of teaching in a changing world. Like most professions, teaching depends on a complex set of individual judgements based on personal experiences. This short course has been designed to explore the different dimensions of professionalism in ones’ personal and professional lives and identify professional development goals.

As we move further into the new millennium, it becomes clear that the focus of the 21st Century classroom is on students experiencing the environment they will enter as 21st Century workers. The interdisciplinary nature of the 21st Century classroom sets it apart from the 20th Century classroom. The focus of classrooms today needs to be on producing students who are skilled collaborators and communicators, inventive thinkers and problem solvers, self-directed and self-regulated learners.

Cooperative Learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, with students of different ability levels, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is not only responsible for learning what is taught, but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement.

Active children are healthy, happy and ready for school. Use of kinesthetic style of learning can positively influence and develop all the three domains of learning: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Physical literacy combines Visual, Aural, Verbal, Physical, Logical, Social and Solitary learning that caters to individual learning styles. Combining core curriculum with Physical Activity has been proven to have positive effects on students’ growth and development.

From birth, children begin to explore how the social world works. Exploring and learning to manage feelings, behaviour, rights and responsibilities is a complex process. Educators play an important role in supporting children to manage their own behaviour. Positive, respectful daily interactions with children can support them to learn about interdependence and to become considerate citizens. These relationships provide a solid foundation from which to guide and support children as they develop the self-confidence and skills to manage their own behaviour, make decisions and relate positively and effectively to others.

In today’s result-driven world, there has been a rise in adolescent depression, abusive trends, and substance abuse. Self-reflection is necessary for educators so they can evaluate their own behavior in the classroom, ensuring that class-time inspires, and adds value to young, impressionable minds. Teachers who are reflective, and skilled at adopting meaningful approaches can do wonders for a child’s mental and emotional stability, which then translates into academic success.

Children who hear more words learn more words and have a better vocabulary. Early Years’ Teachers play a pivotal role in developing the language skills that pay off exponentially as the child progresses through school. This two-day workshop will focus on language development in Early Years, exploring classroom language activities, games, read aloud, prompts and story telling techniques.

Recent studies show that teachers suffer more than other professional groups from the occupational lack of motivation. A global understanding of teacher motivation requires an adequate framework for its study. Many educational psychologists are already working in this area and new findings and helpful tools are being suggested for teachers and educational managers. This workshop will not only help teachers to self-assess their levels of motivation but also find ways to keep these boasted throughout their teaching career.

A science project is an experiment, a demonstration, a research effort, a collection of scientific items, or display of scientific apparatus presented for viewing. It provides an opportunity to represent the efforts of a student’s investigation into some area of interest and to share the results of those investigations.