Teachers take centre stage in regional conference

Today, Belizean teachers took centre stage as the University of Belize hosted the third triennial regional conference of the Joint Board of Teacher Education. And while the conference focused on tertiary level education, representatives say the benefits will be felt at all levels.

Joan Tucker, Chairman, Joint Board of Teacher Education
?Generally, that the work of joint board of teacher education is not only as an examining or accrediting board, but a lot of our work is focused on institutional strengthening and the professional development. Therefore, our conference comes within the ambit of professional development. And as such we intend to, for this conference and for all other conferences, workshops, our job is to share information, to share best practices, to look for common challenges and to look for common strategies to address them. So as a body of people we come together, as teacher educators dealing with different countries within a particular part of the Caribbean. We come together to share and to address the problems and challenges within our respective countries.?

Dr. Vilma Joseph, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Belize
?Well this conference looks at teachers as learners. We believe that teachers should be lifelong learners. How can you teach if you are not constantly looking at information, re-evaluating information and reanalyzing information? So you constantly have to be in that process of learning, hence the theme.?

?If the teachers are trained, and the joint board of teacher education is policing if you may say policing, everything that is being done and the Ministry of Education continues to supervise teachers after training, it can be so beneficial to our children. I believe we would not have the breakdown that we are having right now.?

Some thirty-five educators from Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, participated in the conference.