FOCI-XV
by Mine Bağ
FOCI-XV was held at Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta North Cyprus on 11th and 12th May 2017. As the gathering also included a T-Plus event as “2 in 1” at the same venue, we had the chance to join a plenary and meet more colleagues. The theme of the FOCI event this time comprised issues concerning “collaboration for curricular & professional development”.
The participants were as usual put into three “focus groups” for discussions, exchange of experiences and ideas and to create a presentation to share with the other teams at a whole-group session. The aim of the discussion groups was to create a guiding document for a virtual newly established FOCITEPE UNIVERSITY involving cooperation and coordination between and the scope of responsibilities of Curriculum Teams and Teacher Development Teams / Units.
The areas of discussions for exploration were
•Definition of professional development
•Professional development role of the curriculum team
•The role of professional development units / teams in curricular development
•Benefits of and the obstacles to the collaboration between PD and CT, and
•Decision making processes
You may find one groups’ ppt at the link here to see the points of suggestions and ideas.
Although the gathering aimed to question “curricular innovation” and explore implications of it for teacher training and professional development, I personally believe the activities and organizations to be done does not entail that there should always be a change for us to emphasize these issues.
As was raised at the discussions, there is need for awareness raising for all stakeholders but specifically teachers and learners for an institution to reach its goals.
Mine Bağ, SU SL CAT Member