Teachers from several states attend summer courses for professional development

Laura Poy Solano

The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, August 1, 2024, p. 13

Teachers and principals from various states are participating this summer in professional development courses and workshops to develop new pedagogical and teaching proposals before the 2024-2025 school year begins on August 26.

In Michoacán, teachers from section 18 will attend the 21st Workshop of the State Popular Educator on August 12, 13 and 14, which will be taught virtually and in person.

According to the calendar alternative of the Michoacan teachers’ union, from August 19 to 23, there will also be a call for regional workshops for popular educators, and during the school year, people will be invited to attend two monthly sessions of the so-called study circles, in which educators reflect on their own pedagogical work.

The Popular Educator Workshop includes lectures on the New Mexican School (NEM), creative activity workshops, development of teaching materials through artificial intelligence, neuronal and linguistic development, and even the use of the nepohualtzintzin, a pre-Hispanic mathematical and calculation instrument, in the classroom.

In Oaxaca, state workshops on alternative education are held, in which strategies are analyzed to promote a true transformation of education from a critical dialectic.

In the country’s capital, the dissident teachers’ union of Section 9, headed by Pedro Hernández Morales, also launched a call to participate in workshops, including on the application of nepohualtzintzin in mathematics classes, as well as the creation of reading clubs in collaboration with the Fondo de Cultura Económica y Educal.

Aimed at teachers interested in promoting reading and who want to start a reading club, the virtual sessions have been held from July 31 to August 2 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Among the main axes to be reviewed, teachers from Michoacán, Guerrero and Chiapas pointed out, We have the NEM and its first year of application. What is the balance we have, how do we value its application in the classroom and school, and whether or not we consider that there is a better result in student learning?.

Teachers from Chihuahua and Sonora highlighted that Many of us also invest our own resources and time to attend private courses on topics that we consider urgent, such as knowing how to manage conflicts in the classroom and the high rates of violence that our students face at home and on the streets..

According to the official calendar issued by the Ministry of Public Education, the 2024-2025 school year will begin for teachers on August 19, and for students on August 26, although managers and supervisors will return to work no later than August 15.