Tips for planning a professional development program for international teaching staff and faculty

Professional development is a critical component of any educational institution, including international schools. It ensures your teachers and faculty stay up-to-date with the latest pedagogical trends, teaching methodologies, and technologies, while also providing opportunities for personal and professional growth.

At Schrole, we understand that planning a professional development program can be challenging, especially in an international school context. In this blog post, we explore the top five tips for planning a successful professional development program in your international school.

Tip 1: Assess your international teachers’ needs

Before planning any professional development program, it’s essential to assess your teachers’ needs. This can be done through surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews. The assessment should consider their current skills, areas for improvement, and interests. By doing so, you can tailor your program to meet your teachers’ needs and ensure that they will find the training valuable.

Tip 2: Align your professional development program with your international school’s mission and vision

Your professional development program should align with your international school’s mission and vision, with a focus on developing skills that will enable teachers to implement these core values and goals. For example, if your school’s mission is to promote global citizenship, your professional development program should include sessions on cultural sensitivity, language acquisition, and intercultural communication.

Tip 3: Provide opportunities for collaboration and networking

Collaboration and networking are crucial components of professional development. Encourage your international teachers to work together, share ideas, and learn from one another. If your international school is part of a group, encourage this collaboration between schools. One way to do this is to create a mentoring program, where experienced teachers can mentor new teachers. You can also organise workshops, seminars, and conferences where teachers can network and learn from experts in their field.

Tip 4: Offer a variety of professional development opportunities

Teachers have different learning styles and preferences. Some may prefer to attend workshops, while others may prefer online courses, webinars or conference. Therefore, it’s essential to offer a variety of professional development opportunities. By doing so, you can ensure that your teachers have access to training that suits their learning needs.

Tip 5: Evaluate the effectiveness of your professional development program

Evaluating the effectiveness of your professional development program is crucial to ensure that it meets your goals and objectives. You can do this through surveys, focus groups, or assessments. This feedback will help you identify areas for improvement and make necessary changes to your program.

Planning a professional development program for teachers in an international school requires careful consideration of their needs and alignment with your school’s mission and vision. If you don’t know quite where to start – or how to improve – Schrole is here to help.

In addition to offering a full suite of HR software especially designed for international schools, Schrole is a fully accredited Registered Training Organisation in Australia delivering a range of qualifications. In order to extend this expertise, Schrole offers contextualised leadership and management short courses derived from our Diploma of Leadership and Management qualification, designed for schools to develop leadership skills and capacity within their current staff.

Designed to help teaching staff take the step up into leadership roles within your school, course topics include Managing difficult conversations; Lead with emotional intelligence; and Develop critical thinking in others.

Workshops can be scheduled to suit the requirements of your individual school and can accommodate between 12 to 36 people. Depending on the course content, workshops normally include breakout sessions and group exercises designed to help build team interaction and engagement.

Get in touch to learn more about our short courses today.