Schools try out Behaviour Training Programme

Ripple Effects Trainer Sarah Berg discusses the
programme with teachers.

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

Moving on from the various educational aspects of the ITALIC (Improving Teaching and Learning in the Cayman Islands) programme, Cayman Brac High School and the Alternative Education Centre on Grand Cayman are trying out �Ripple Effects�, a behaviour training programme aimed at raising grades, reducing truancy, building character and preventing bullying. After the recent training sessions for teachers of both schools, ITALIC Programme Manager Ann Hale said: �The Ripple Effects training for the Relate for Teens and Teaching Coach software were very well attended by teachers from both schools, along with counsellors from John Gray and George Hicks High Schools, who are looking forward to introducing the programmes into their schools this fall.�

Relate for Teens, is described as a comprehensive, interactive life skills training programme for students aged 11 - 16, addressing social-emotional, academic, health and behaviour issues. Approximately 70 students will take part in the pilot, having access to more than 2,000 interactive online screens to help them build strengths, solve problems and understand the reasons behind problems related to school.

The programme can be used for systematic group training, targeted intervention or for individualised guidance. Teachers can combine topics in different ways to meet their students� specific goals and needs. A full topic takes about 15 minutes to complete and teachers can track student progress, blocking topics they feel are not appropriate.

During the pilot, Teaching Coach will be evaluated by 10 teachers. The programme aims to enhance staff development, achieve better behaviour and academic progress for students by addressing four areas that are critical to teacher success: learning issues, behaviour issues, socio-cultural and social-emotional issues.

A series of simple online questionnaires provide broad screening tools to help teachers quickly identify student issues and aptitudes, and then receive coaching in effectively individualising teaching to reach them. Another set of questionnaires help teachers better understand themselves in areas critical to success. Equipped with this information on students and themselves, teachers can then receive online coaching on how to work with individual students most effectively.

�Teaching Coach helps teachers identify problematic behaviour quickly and effectively and then allows teachers to individualize their approach to meet specific students� needs, boosting educational outcomes and improving student-teacher relations,� explained Mrs. Hale.

�The Ripple Effects programmes Relate for Teens and Teaching Coach will be used to enhance the Quest life skills programme currently being used in secondary schools, and we hope to introduce Ripple Effects for Kids into primary schools in the near future,� she concluded.

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