WORKING WITH TEACHERS: INNOVATION IN TRAINING AND SUPPORT

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WORKING WITH TEACHERS INNOVATION IN TRAINING
AND SUPPORT

• 8th International PATHS Conference - PATHS
  Curriculum Diffusion
• MIRANDA NOVAK, JOSIPA MIHIC, JOSIPA BAŠIC

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HOW TEACHERS IN CROATIA FEEL
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HOW TEACHERS IN CROATIA FEEL

• Overwhelmed with the changes in the school system
  and curricula made by government
• Frustrated with the salary reduction
• Facing continuous worsening of working conditions
• Getting more and more obligations for the same
  time frame
• Meeting more complex needs of children and
  society
• Loaded with the expectations of parents
• Have to implement other programs
• Finding their education outdated

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SUPPORTING TEACHERS FOR SEL

• Diffusion of PATHS in Croatia in bigger scale
  made us realize that our teachers need additional
  and tailored support to implement prevention
  programs

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SUPPORTING TEACHERS FOR SEL

• Implementation monitoring showed Croatian
  teachers need
• More background on socio-emotional learning
• More background on school prevention
• Support for developing their own socio-emotional
  skills
• Emotional support regarding the workload and
  climate in schools
• Suggestions for the classroom management
• More creative and interactive ideas for working
  with children

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INNOVATION WITH TEACHER SUPPORT

• During the 2-year project PATHS-RASTEM financed
  by the World Bank i.e. Unity Through Knowledge
  Fund and Ministry of Science and Education
  implementation of PATHS was supported by
  engagement of school counselors
• Research team has supported teachers through
  monthly meetings with teachers
• Once a month in school visiting classroom and
  analyzing the lessons and teacher approach
  afterwards
• Once a month at the Faculty of Education and
  Rehabilitation having a workshop/mini training

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INNOVATION WITH TEACHER SUPPORT

• Mini training once a month at the Faculty of
  Education and
• Rehabilitation held in a form of meeting
• All teachers from PATHS classrooms were collected
  together
• Research team was in the same time the
  implementation expert team and has the prepared
  agenda
• 30 minutes of PATHS lesson analysis and exchange
  of experiences 30 minutes of SEL activities
  analysis of bottlenecks

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INNOVATION WITH TEACHER SUPPORT

• Mini training themes covered during the 2 year
  period
• Personal SEL competencies of teachers
• Communication with parents
• Self-esteem of children as a milestone for
  development
• Giving feedback to children
• Classroom management handling difficult
  situation
• Generalization of PATHS curricula to other areas
• Including parents in SEL activities
• How to handle teacher stress and burnout

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INNOVATION WITH TEACHER SUPPORT

• Those experiences were included in the training
  of teachers during last two years
• We are using the concept for the training
  provided by Elaine Berrena and Celene Domitrovich
  with the addition of forementioned themes
• We have realized that training has to prepare
  teachers to deliver PATHS they needed some
  background to understand why lessons are
  structured in the special way and what is the
  theory behind that
• Additionaly, we are still developing the themes
  covered during the mutual meetings with teachers
  according to the needs of teachers and our
  development

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INNOVATION WITH TEACHER SUPPORT

• Giving teachers smaller bits of knowledge
  reinforced with creative activities gave teachers
  the feeling they are appreciated and important,
  getting something in return for their effort
• That developed our relationship and mutual
  respect
• Has helped our teachers to be more motivated to
  implement PATHS
• Has given teachers ideas for the creative
  activities which could be used with children and
  led to improvement in their teacher skills
  generally

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