Abstract:

In the Czech Republic the common current practice does not provide support and guidance to teachers through their career. After graduation, they are left to mercy of the headmaster and colleagues in the school where they start their professional life. There is no official system to help them in the start and further development of their teaching competences.

In reaction to the situation, the project “From the Beginner to the Mentor” was developed and realized at the Faculty of Humanities, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, and supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR. It is intended for teachers at various levels of schools, from kindergartens to secondary schools, and deals with various aspects of teachers´ way from first steps to mastering their roles - from novice, through advanced beginner and competent, to proficient teacher. In 16 modules it brings theoretical background and applications of topics like adaption support for the beginning teacher, project and cooperative teaching, teacher´s self-regulation, team work support, preparation of the mentor, work with disordered children, possible research at schools, strategies to improve the teacher´s memory, cooperation of school with parents, or specific conditions of few-class schools, just to name some of them. Individual modules are aimed to teachers on a certain level of experience.

So far, several of the topics have been the content of the Faculty´s life-long learning courses for teachers from the region, the remaining are being made publicly available as e-books for those participating in the project.

The virtual presentation will give the review of the modules and also experience from their practical application. Thus it can help teachers and managers in a similar situation to adopt or be inspired by the best practices.

Keywords:

Project, module, teacher, in-service training, course, e-learning.