One of the main reasons I am here!!

Professional Development Program: Inclusion= What I’ve been talking about and creating for Region 6 of Guyana!!!!!


Let me explain:
To be a teacher in Guyana all you need is a high school diploma….however, if you do go to college to get training, you will get paid more. Sooooo people do go to college, however, at the college level currently there is ZERO training for Special needs education. That means, that even at the special schools in the country, teachers have had little exposure to any disability education.
Me and a VSO want to change that.
So we created this Professional Development Program, that focuses on different disabilities as well as inclusion for all students. A program like this has never even been thought of , so we had to start form the ground up.
First we had to come up with a Proposal, which basically explains the logistics, goals, target area, focal study etc. Then once we submitted that to the REDO(Regional Education Department Officer) we had to wait for its approval. IT was approved, so now….we had to see if teachers in Region 6 were interested in being the leader and having a model school for the entire course. We sent out letter to the school clusters, and got quite a few applicants.(mind you this means more work for the teachers, without any incentive expect being a better teacher and creating a better school….no monetary incentive= more work, same amount of money…have to find people who are dedicated!!)
Sooooooo we have our applicants, now to the budget…the actually module/workshop production planning, scheduling a venue, food, travel expenses, creating teaching aids, getting resources etc…..
Which is what I have been working on all summer long!! The program starts September 21st!!

This is just a general overview of the process and how things sorta work! It might not sound like much of a big deal…but AHHHHH Im so excited!! How great would it be if teachers knew how to teach all of their students? And if they could focus more on active learning instead of blackboard copying?!?!

oh and recently we found out that after talking to the REDO that they worked into the budget a 10,000 stipend starting in 2011 for each teacher per month! (That’s 50 US dollars!!! = a large sum of money for here!!) OWOWOWO(unfortunately it doesn’t apply to me ..haha)

Anyways, just wanted to explain the program a bit more, I mention it a lot because its one of the bigger projects I am doing here, if not the biggest!!

YAY education!!!

Peace, Love and Inclusion!!