Education Ministry Placing Emphasis on Comprehensive Teacher Training

Education Ministry Placing Emphasis on Comprehensive Teacher Training
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 10/12/2011

M inister of Education, Josefina Pimentel, and Dominican First Lady, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, stressed the importance of comprehensive teacher training programs that cover aspects of their human development as well as cognitive improvement.

At the event, the Ministry of Education stressed the importance of teacher training that goes beyond their cognitive skills but also trains teachers in the area of human interaction, conflict and stress management and maintaining their own feelings of adequate self-esteem.

The Education Minister and First Lady spoke at a certification event held for 570 teachers and 1,000 students who participated in the Effective and Affective Communication for Teaching and Learning workshops, held in the Santo Domingo Melia Hotel.

The training program was carried out as part of an agreement between the Ministry of Education (MINERD), the Office of the First Lady and the Institute of Terapia Psicocorporal Estancia. The purpose was to improve the attitudes and skills of teachers and students in order to promote personal development and better human interaction.

At the event, the Ministry of Education stressed the importance of teacher training that goes beyond their cognitive skills but also trains teachers in the area of human interaction, conflict and stress management and maintaining their own feelings of adequate self-esteem.

This being the case, said Minister Pimentel, teachers will be better trained to deal with conflicts that arise in the classroom and will create a more positive learning and teaching atmosphere.

She said that these focuses, based on modern knowledge of human behavior and development, should form the basis of teacher training in order to further comprehension in the areas of understanding, living and being together.

As such, she stressed that the Effective and Affective Communication for Teaching and Learning program, directed at teachers and students in the Regional 15 School District, is a significant contribution.

First Lady, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, expressed her support for a humanized education system that involves students and teachers together in a scheme in which the individual is the center of the learning process while also utilizing the tools provided by technology.

“For this very reason, we in the Dominican Republic, must establish a 2.0 education system, a modality that is applying competitiveness based on the individual, according to his/her unique condition and talents, creativity and capacity for innovation,” said Mrs. Cedeño de Fernández.

Elupina Tirado, coordinator of the Instituto de Terapia Psicosocial Estancia, pointed to a study done by the Instituto Nacional Inicial which attributed the high levels of violence in the schools to the fact that a large percentage of elementary and middle school teachers lack the necessary training to deal with children´s and teen conflicts that occur in the classroom.

She said that is why the program she directs is of great importance. She added that the goal of the program is to reach 360 teachers and 360 students per year, for a total of 1,080 each year for three years.

The program seeks to provide teachers and students the comprehensive tools of knowledge and practice while promoting skills necessary to manage emotions and non-verbal communication.

It also teaches how to integrate emotional stimulation with facial expression, voice tone and body language to draw attention and concentration of those involved, guaranteeing the quality of contact and communication.

Workshops focus on reading body language, facial expressions, the physiology of emotions, somatic stress, personal empowerment and effective and affective communication as well as learning values.

The event began with the singing of the National Anthem under the direction of the tenor Pedro Pablo Reyes. It was then blessed by the Reverend Jesús Castro. Dr.

The program is a strategy to provide individuals with the tools to improve emotional learning, expressing themselves, relationships and to improve communication which will ultimately contribute to the creation of a more positive learning atmosphere while promoting domestic and personal harmony, peace, solidarity as well as learning to share between students and teachers.

The event began with the singing of the National Anthem under the direction of the tenor Pedro Pablo Reyes. It was then blessed by the Reverend Jesús Castro. Dr. Elupina Tirado gave the main presentation of her project and explained its purposes, goals and achievements. She gave several examples of her 2-year experience with the program.

Professors Pedro Herniquillo Soñé and Marisol Cordero as well as a student, Ismelda Payano, offered their own testimony in which they explained that what they learned in the workshops had changed their lives.

The religious invocation was done by Reverend Jesús Castro. An artistic presentation was performed by Adalgisa Pantaleón and Pedro Pablo Reyes.

Minister of Education, Josefina Pimentel, and First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, hand out certificates to 570 teachers who successfully completed the Effective and Affective Communication for Teaching and Learning program given by Dr. Elupina Tiradon who appears to the right in the photo.