Dozens of Anguilla’s education professionals are participating in a workshop on positive behaviour management aimed at enhancing the learning environment.
The teachers and support staff from Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School joined members of the Department of Education from 5 to 7 March for the event.
Elaine King, a social development professional who has worked for UNICEF Eastern Caribbean as an education specialist, is leading the three-day workshop.
She is a proponent for safe schools policies and an advocate for student-centred, rights-based education, a Department of Education press release said on 7 March.
During the opening of the workshop, chief education officer Bren Romney spoke of the importance of a shared understanding in the high school’s behaviour management plan.
He said teachers and senior management are key but so are support staff such as security officers, truancy officers, education welfare officers, crossing guards, custodians, bus drivers and administrative staff.
On the second day, deputy principal, curriculum, Sherry Marcia Hodge, chaired the workshop.
The event featured a remote presentation from Sophia Edwards Gabriel, OECS PEARL national coordinator for St Lucia.
Teachers Jerica Crawford, Carina Tomlinson and Jevohn Martin shared their strategies for positive behaviour management and responded to questions from colleagues.
The key goal of the workshop is to revise the high school’s behaviour management plan, which will be shared with students and parents.
Deputy principal, pastoral, Cherise Gumbs, said this should fulfil what the high school lays out in its vision statement.
That is to establish “a positive, warm, predictable and safe school environment where educators and students are respectful, responsible and resilient”.
Key aspects of positive behaviour management include setting clear expectations, and rewarding desired behaviour to encourage its repetition, the press release said.
It also applies fair and expected consequence for inappropriate behaviour, modelling or demonstrating the principles and behaviour required, and using agreed upon strategies and actions to manage issues.
