National Trainers Meet – an ACT initiative brings together all regional trainers under one umbrella
31st July 2019
The National Trainers’ Meet, 2019 conducted by Asian College of Teachers (ACT) from 27th July – 29th July, 2019 in Kolkata has been truly engaging and highly interactive for all the ACT teacher trainers and has been a great professional development format for those who are in the role of preparing global educators - who will look beyond teaching and more on reflecting and developing life skills of the future generations and make them informed and active members of the society. The focus of the Meet was to identify and address the underlying causes of instructional and delivery challenges while imparting training to future educators.
The first day started with the message from Dr Sanjib Neil Chakraborty, Dean, Asian College of Teachers about the purpose of the Meet followed by the individual presentations by respective Zonal Heads. Our Dean’s message touched on mainly preparing the ground for the year 2020-21 by bringing in modern courses, designing innovative curriculum and putting something fresh on the training platter. He emphasized, “We are in a robust growth mode and looking at 27 – 30 trainers around the year 2020.”
Day 1 moved on with an informative session on “Managing special kids in an inclusive classroom” presented by guest trainer, Ms. Sharmistha Dutta, a soft skill trainer, wellness coach and mental health professional who deals with special kids. The day ended with a presentation on Microsoft Educator Program by Ms. Mandira Mazumdar.
Day 2 of the Meet was the most engaging with the perfect blend of both mental as well as physical pursuits as the trainers were provided with enriching learning opportunities with two unique sessions – “Teacher burnout and their emotional well-being” conducted by Ms. Suparna Ghosh, Clinical Psychologist and ACT Academic Board member followed by “Dance Movement Therapy” - an innovative therapy to use the creativity and the rhythm of dance to drain out negative thinking. The session was conducted by the Dance Movement therapy practitioners, Ms. Sobha Pahari and Ms. Sayani Hore from a Kolkata based NGO ‘Sanved’.
Day 3 started with a session on “Needs Assessment and Creative Methodologies in Teacher Training” conducted by Dr Arna Seal, sociologist, teacher-educator, child rights and cultural activist, lyricist and storyteller. The latter half of the final day of the Meet comprised of a mixed bag of discussions on 21st Century Teaching Skills, TESOL Canada Board Exam and Phonics and Phonology. The meet wrapped up with a presentation on Social Media and Branding by Mr Suman Chakraborty.
The Meet, which lasted for 3 Days concluded with hopes, promises and the very best of intentions to return to the classrooms and implement all the things that have been learned and discussed to prepare competent educators for global classrooms.
