Hello, my name is Dunja.

Just as every student learns differently, teachers have many different learning styles and use a variety of teaching practices influenced by their own culture and education. When offering professional development, it is crucial to empower teachers and to individualize their training accordingly. 

​

Workshops need to provide active learning opportunities for teachers. They need to include plenty of practical and hands-on activities that can be directly applied to any classroom and any subject. Participants need to be encouraged to apply their ideas to their own circumstances in the classroom and plan their own tasks and activities applicable to their learners’ needs.

​

Workshops should ideally be followed by individual coaching sessions to provide support to the challenges associated with implementing new strategies and changing classroom practices and to provide an opportunity to deepen the learning. According to a study by French (1997), “teachers may need as many as 50 hours of instruction, practice and coaching before a new strategy is mastered and implemented in class”.