The Ministry of Education and Higher Education and CRDP in partnership with UNICEF launch the new Teacher Training Curriculum Model

Beirut, 8 May 2019 – Under the auspices of the Minister of Education & Higher Education, Mr. Akram Chehayeb and in partnership with UNICEF, the Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP) launched today the Teacher Training Curriculum Model (TTCM), a programme that aims to enhance the quality of teacher training in public schools.

Funded by the government of Canada and the EU Regional Trust Fund “MADAD”, the training programme comes in response to the second pillar of the plan RACE II, “Enhancing the Quality of the Educational Services”. It will build the competencies of teachers and educators to meet the requirements of the national competency framework, and thus enhance the quality of educational services in Lebanon.

“CRDP strongly believes in the teachers’ impact on the learning process and the enhanced outcomes of learners,” said Dr. Nada Oweijane, President of CRDP. “As such, we are bringing to the educational forefront a full-fledged framework that can drive the conversation of the different stakeholders concerned with the teachers’ professional development”.

The TTCM seeks the continuous professional development of teachers through quality training focusing on conceptual understanding and transfer to develop reflective, life-long learning, inquiring, quality teachers, empowered to deliver learner-centered pedagogy. The model adopts a competency-based approach focusing on understanding for transfer and offering personalized training services through the teachers’ training electronic portfolio. It also supports the induction of new teachers into public school practice through a curriculum of learning paths based on their pre-service education and professional background.

“We all agree that it is important for all children to access education, but we also all agree that improving access to education without quality defeats the purpose,” said Tanya Chapuisat, Representative of UNICEF Lebanon. “Teachers need to be empowered and this is only made possible when teachers have access to a solid system of training and professional development that allows them to build their capacities and provide all children with quality education”.

Since 2017, more than 400 educators, experts, university professors and trainers worked collaboratively to develop the Teacher Training Curriculum Model, a framework that can accommodate a whole variety of training content areas with an emphasis on knowledge, skills and attitudes that can eventually be transferred to professional practice in the aim of enhancing the quality of the teaching performance.