Teacher training is not something that is done overnight, it actually takes years and years to become a good teacher. To become the teacher you want to be ideal is that you are in a process of continuous training that does not just happen in the classroom. Of course, the experience does to the teacher but, it is not enough to dictate the class. You also have to do homework.
Courses offered by the SEP
In the Mexican educational model, there are various continuing education programs that the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) has implemented in order to provide teachers with greater skills to provide better classes and content that adapt to current learning needs.
The courses of the Continuing Education programs of the SEP are aimed at helping the figures involved in the different processes of what is known as the Professional Teaching Service. Competencies and skills identified in the professional profile are developed and in this way improvement strategies are implemented.
In order to continue the lines of action established by the program, the SEP divides it into different areas, which are the following:
Attention to the mechanisms and processes of the Professional Teaching Service
- Continuous training to achieve the professional profile that is required in the educational personnel in service.
- Development of competencies for the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in collaborative work.
Strengthening the school
- Training of School Assistance Service personnel.
- Development of leadership skills and school management.
- Development of competencies for internal evaluation.
- Domain of the disciplinary contents.
Attention to national educational priorities
- Update in the new educational model and institutional programs for inclusion and equity.
Each of these lines of action are divided in stages in order to comply with some of the objectives of the SEP and with this, the Continuing Education Program aims to:
- Comply with the Professional Teaching Service Law.
- Support the teacher to develop their skills according to the profiles, parameters and indicators required for their position.
- Support the Technical Assistance to School Service (SATE)
- And of course, putting the school at the center of all this.
The program also bases its proposal on three main concepts:
- The classroom inverted or the school upside down.
- Virtual or distance education.
- Learning based on the development of school application projects.
In this way, in the scheme proposed by the SEP, the main axis is project-based education. The cycle would be on a continuum as follows: school diagnosis / performance evaluation → design of a four-year training program → Courses / diplomas → classroom application project.
In that sense, it is essential that the training does not end with the course, but continues in the classroom. The training of teachers must be a virtuous circle based on a diagnosis of their weaknesses in order to design the training program, take the course and start applying what they have learned in the classroom.
The integration of a personal training program, as stipulated by the SEP, must last four years. Likewise, it is suggested to take courses in two different modalities: in virtual modules that include audiovisual material, interactive exercises and tutoring services via email, via the Higher Education Institutions (IES) platform, or by telephone.
The other form is the study circles that can be made up of groups of up to 25 people with sessions of 2 to 4 hours and in which the analysis, reflection and contextualization of the topics must prevail to apply them in the school. In addition, doubts should be clarified and discussed.
Depending on the type of program the duration of the program will be established, being 40 hours for courses, 120 for graduates, 2 years for specialties and 4 for masters. In administrative terms all participating teachers form a study group.
Remote group: same course, but they are from different distant schools. Individual registration, interact by chat or email.
School group: same course; they form the circle of study in the school; they develop the same application project on the same improvement route. Group registration by the director.
So, if you want to increase your knowledge and improve the quality of your classroom and your school, you should organize with other colleagues in order to attend one of these professionalization courses.
The SEP has the following courses always open
Name: Project the Teaching (Preschool)
Type of course: Distance with tutoring
Directed to: Teachers in front of preschool group
Duration: 40 Hours
Name: Project the Teaching (Primary)
Type of course: Distance with tutoring
Aimed at: Teachers versus primary education group
Duration: 40 hours
Name: Project the Teaching (Secondary)
Type of course: Distance with tutoring
Aimed at: Teachers vs. high school group
Duration: 40 hours
All these courses are free and the advantage is that not only the SEP has courses to improve. On a monthly basis, the Federal Educational Authority in Mexico City announces the registration periods for its continuous improvement courses.
With different approaches the courses range from Human Rights to the improvement of reading and writing practices inside the classrooms. You can consult current and previous calls by clicking here .
SINADEP training courses
The Foundation for the Educational Development, Research and Professional Development of the AC Masters, better known as the SINADEP, is a body that emerged from the structural reforms in education and has a wide range of courses that aim to train to all the country’s teachers at the basic level to improve the national educational level.
In addition, it has different catalogs such as accompaniment, professionalization and continuous training, and resources such as Amooxtli, a compendium of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS).
It also has a tool known as Machiala, a menu from which you can find hundreds of Open Educational Resources. These resources are freely accessible, and are teaching, learning or research materials that are in the public domain or that have been shared with the authorization of the author through a license for its use, adaptation and free distribution.
All SINADEP resources can be consulted on its website: https://www.sinadep.org.mx/
So, now that you have all this information, do not stop preparing to be the best teacher in your school. Remember that you also take homework home and that while you continue increasing your performance as a teacher you could have better salary opportunities and you can continue to shape the future of Mexico: children and young people.
Feel always with the freedom to be a better teacher as the years go by.
