Teachers have the power and the responsibility to make the world a better place. Our responsibility in this department is to prepare teachers who will make a difference in the lives of the students, their schools and their communities. The department aims to form professional in teaching, learning, and counselling who will be able to support students' development in an ethical and cooperative way and strengthen their learning skills in the changing world.

Strengths

Faculty Resource

The staff at the Teaching Training is the bedrock of our strength. There are twelve (12) staff members all of whom are hardworking, productive and committed to modelling the best practices in current educational research and practice.

The Teacher Training Department has always trained teachers who work in Primary schools, but in October 2002 the Department began offering training to the Secondary School teachers as well. Up to 1999, only 21% of the Secondary school teachers in Antigua and Barbuda was trained. In the past, the Government of Antigua was not always able to send teachers overseas for training. However since this new programme began, the Ministry of Education has proposed to train twenty (20) teachers annually.

Goals

1. Improve the delivery of the programmes offered
2. Provide training for teachers in both Primary and Secondary schools.
3. Adjust the entry requirement for the programme
4. Initiate the Associate degree programme.
5. Sensitize the nation to the issues pursued in the department
6. Improve the professionalism of teachers
7. Improve the quality of basic education nation wide

Strategies

1. Improve the delivery of the programmes offered

(i) Evaluate our strengths and weaknesses
(ii) Suggest ways to address these issues
(iii) Identify the resources needed
(iv) Implement quality control (teacher appraisal form)
(v) Explore opportunities for staff development

2. Provide training for teachers in both the Primary and the Secondary schools

(i) Offer programme to persons who wish to specialize in the teaching of primary or secondary education.
(ii) Offer programme to persons who already hold a degree.

3. Adjust the entry requirement for the programme.

Teachers should have a minimum of five (5) subjects including:

a. English A (General 1, 2, or 3)
b. Mathematics (at least Basic 1)
c. A Science subject (e.g. Biology, Integrated Science, Chemistry)
d. A Social Science subject (e.g. History, Geography Social Studies)

4. Initiate the Associate Degree in Education (AE) programme.

(i) Examine the AE handbook
(ii) Assess the needs (for personnel /resources)
(iii) Create syllabi for some of the courses

5. Sensitise the nation to issues pursued in the Department.

(i) Share with the Min. of Education, schools and national newspapers current research findings (in Antigua) on both educational and social issues in Antigua.
(ii) Place in the newspapers current approaches to teaching of core subjects at the Primary level.

In Antigua and Barbuda Teaching is regarded as a profession, especially since 1986. It is accepted as a form of public service which requires of teachers expert knowledge and specialized skills, acquired and maintained through vigorous and continuing study. It calls also for a sense of individual and corporate responsibility for the welfare of the pupils in their charge as outline in the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers.

The word Corporate sends a clear statement, in the context of the recommendation, about the professional responsibility of a teacher's organization. To make the reference to the professional responsibility of a teachers' organization unmistakable, the Recommendation adds:

Teachers' organizations should be recognized as a force which can contribute greatly to educational advance and which therefore should be associated with the determination of educational policy.

Without prejudice to the normal and necessary rights of employees and employers in a contractual situation, the Recommendation emphasizes some of the necessary areas of collaboration. Thus, paragraph 76 reads:

Authorities and teachers should recognize the importance of the
participation of teachers through their organizations and in other ways, in steps designed to improve the quality of the education service, in educational research, and in the development and dissemination of new improved methods.

Financing Education