Some 71 teachers benefited from training during the Limited Resources Teachers Training (LRTT) programme, which was extended to Region One when a team comprising 23 inspirational teachers left their homes in the United States to visit Guyana.
The programme, which was founded in 2011 by Tom Greenwood, who resided in Guyana for six years and married a Guyanese, was held in collaboration with the Education Ministry and Nations University.
Being the fourth visit by the organisation to Guyana, trained teachers from countries such as the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand came to the local shores to share the skills which they have utilised over the years in the profession over a period of three weeks.
The teachers visited some eight schools in the Region. Additionally, the teachers hosted four one-day workshops focusing on the six principles of education which is expected to assist the Region One teachers with self-sustenance.
Director of School of the Nations, Dr Brian O’Toole, described the visit which is to be done twice yearly, as a fruitful one and a tremendous success.
“We are very excited about the possibilities…We are particularly excited to partner with LRTT because what they do is exciting,” O’Toole said on Sunday.
However, in order for the programme to continue along a successful path, Nations will be providing a certificate programme through the Cambridge University for the trainees as well as the trainers.
“If only they come in for a few weeks and leave, there would be no continuity. So when we had discussions with Greenwood, we decided to partner together on a
The visiting group of teachers
certificate programme that we are doing from the Cambridge University, a certificate in educational leadership… the visiting teachers will be a part of the training in the certificate programme so that they can see what they can do to support the said programme,” O’Toole disclosed.
Memorable experience
Guyana Times sat down and chatted with a number of the visiting teachers who shared their experiences, delightfully so.
Elizabeth Journo said: “I’m new out of college and thought that this would be an opportunity to see the world and to see what our countries are doing in education. I really didn’t have any expectations, but it was very inspiring and humbling at the same time. I saw teachers that love their students and the creativity is just amazing, I was floored by how creative the teachers that we worked with were.”
While Jamie Joyce, whose love of travelling and teaching led her to join LRTT, explained, “I love to travel and I’ve always worked in education, so throughout my years I have been looking for a programme that would marry the two and that’s when I came across LRTT and their mission. I feel grateful to be able to help with every child to be able to receive an education. It was humbling to see the change and the excitement from before and after we left,”
Brittany Barran, who was used to working in low-income areas, said: “I have been teaching for five years and I live in Chicago so I’m used to working in low-income areas; however, I felt like I needed to expand that into other parts of the world. So this programme just kind of fell into my lap. My experience here has been memorable, the people have been hospitable: kind, caring, they make us feel like we were a part of their family, which is something that you don’t always feel in the United States … I feel like I learned just as much if not more from the teachers.”
“I have been teaching for 25 years and my job now is as an instructional coach in
A LRTT teacher sits in a classroom in Region One as the class teacher pursues her day’s work
the classrooms. I love to work with teachers; I love to see them grow and the excitement for children when they get to do new things. I watched teachers really embrace us and really accept us and I realised that we really are all the same and in it for the same reasons and that is for the children,” another teacher, Juliana Smyth, related. She added, “I was at a river school and I watch these children come to school canoeing and they were paddling themselves and this was very powerful to watch. They were at school before the teachers and when we got there, they were waving at us. I’ve grown as a professional and as a person as well, and to be able to take this home with me and to talk to others about this experience is just amazing.”
The teachers who visited are Lexa Hernandez, Eric Dejesus, Summer Hass, Chelsey Smith, Brittany Barran, Jobeth Aenchbacher, Bola Disu, Kristen Quintana, Juliana Smyth, Monica Benn, Eugenia Damron, Ramona Gray, Liz Giradot, Tyler Thomas, Mary Louise Delaney, Trish Milhiser, Misty Butterfield, Natasha Woode, Silvia Gonzalez, Abby Hubber, Debricka Peete, Jamie Joyce, and Lisa Narramore. LRTT is a global teacher movement of some 1500 teachers who have to date recorded training 3750 teachers in 11 countries. Their motto is “Every child has a right to quality education, regardless of the context they are born into.”
The 23 teachers who visited Guyana will be journeying back to their homelands today.
