Description
The course is designed to offer an incomparable occasion to reflect on yourself as a Teacher. It addresses both young teachers wanting to build a long and satisfying career and experienced teachers willing to refresh their approach to teaching.
Teaching is somehow a mission, and being a teacher is a wonderful job that doesn’t often finish when you leave the school building every day, so it can be difficult to disconnect. Teachers involved in the program will acquire a certain level of self-awareness about their role, their approach to teaching, and their being part of a bigger team, in order to prevent stress and promote a healthy work-life balance, satisfaction, and effectiveness.
By the end of the course, teachers will learn how to set healthy boundaries to cope with overworking, how to regulate emotions, how to use assertiveness to respond properly to colleagues, students, and families’ demands, and how to maximize their strengths in order to minimize hurriedness and time-wasting. They will participate in group dynamic exercises and share their experiences in an international environment, experiencing effective communication techniques, mindfulness, and creative management tools.
The program of the course will follow a general structure but will actually be influenced by the topics, needs, and situations that will emerge in the group, that may be different throughout different course editions.
Concept by: Marta Mandolini
Learning Outcomes
The course will help the participants to:
- Become self-aware of your role as a teacher and what it means to be part of a bigger team;
- Promote work-life balance, satisfaction, and effectiveness in order to prevent stress in the workplace;
- Set healthy boundaries to cope with being overworked, such as fully disconnecting once the day in the classroom is over;
- Reflect and refresh your approach to teaching, while learning to maximize your strengths and build yourself as a teacher;
- Practice effective communication techniques and mindfulness, as well as experience creative management tools.
Tentative Schedule
Day 1 – Course introduction & Setting goals
- Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
- Icebreaker activities using drama for trust and ensemble building;
- Identification of needs and goals for each participant and relevant populations;
- Being Teacher: are you the teacher you want to be? Swot analysis for teachers. Emotions regulation. Individual and group exercises;
- Presentations of the participants’ schools.
Day 2 – Finding a work/life balance
- Being Teacher: work life balance is possible! Happiness and flow;
- The healthy mind platter;
- Introduction to mindfulness;
- Time management strategies.
Day 3 – Expressing emotions and opinions
- Teachers issues presentation and discussion;
- Assertivity in and out of the classroom: how can we communicate our emotions and opinions in a constructive way;
- Role playing.
Day 4 – Preventing stress
- Teachers issues presentation and discussion;
- Stress prevention: tips and tools for happier teacher.
Day 5 – Coping with overwork
- Teaching environment: how to cope with overwork and improve effective communication with colleagues, students and their families;
- Sharing the experience once back home.
Day 6 – Course Closure & Excursion
- Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
- Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
- Excursion and other external cultural activities.