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If you’re in charge of teacher training, then you recruit and manage teacher trainers. These people might be well-qualified and experienced but – nevertheless – still need managing! Here are some areas you probably want to consider….
Quality control
If you have assigned another trainer to give input sessions or mentor teachers then it may be necessary to observe the training in the same way you would observe a teacher. Make it clear to the teacher trainer what you are observing for and how feedback will be given all apply.
Professional support
Trainers like teachers need on-going professional support. This type of colleague may need opportunities to develop in terms of being sponsored to attend conferences or time for reading or research. Try to hold regular meetings for trainers which perhaps take the form of a workshop or address certain issues in training.
Involve trainers
As in any management situation, involve your staff in the decision making process. For example, after a course hold a meeting with your training team for any discussion relating to the course feedback. It should be a forum for trainers to comment on the course and how things might be improved n future programmes. This could also include suggestions from trainers for possible areas of staff and personal development.
Training new trainers
When running a training course use the opportunity to train up a member of staff to become a teacher trainer on future courses. This will need you to coordinate shadowing – in which the trainer in training will sit in on input sessions and observe the teaching practice-observation-feedback process. The novice trainer will need to understand the grade criteria and standardise their own assessment alongside experienced trainer. You will probably also need to observe and give feedback to this trainer once they begin their own initial steps into the training room.
Standardisation and peer observation
Trainers will learn a great deal from observing each other in input sessions and observing their peers giving feedback after teaching practice. This kind of shadowing will also help to avoid situations where a trainee complains that they are receiving contradictory feedback after teaching practice or differing views on teaching. Regular sharing of ideas and ‘good practice’ will mean that your trainers are providing similar (though not necessarily the same) content.
(c) John Hughes 2011 www.trainingelteachers.net
