GLOBAL GOALS

30 public school principals complete educational leadership training

The principals completed four months of in-person and online training, culminating in a presentation of their Transformational Action Plans that aim to address pressing issues in their schools

DT · Dec 11, 2023, 12:01 AM

WITH the principal-graduates: Professor Tony Bush, British professor and Author of books on educational leadership; Dr. Vicente Reyes, associate professor in educational leadership and management, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom; director Jennifer Lopez of National Educators Academy of the Philippines; Reverend Fr. Bienvenido Nebres; and Rafael F. Simpao, Jr, chairman, SBFI. | PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF SECURITY BANK

Thirty principals from public schools across the country, many from Security Bank Foundation Inc. beneficiary schools, completed the first phase of SBFI's newly launched three-year training program entitled "Mentoring Future Leaders for Nation-Building."

Dr. Vicente C. Reyes Jr., CESL project lead and University of Nottingham associate professor for educational leadership, provides feedback to the principals trained under the 'Mentoring Future Leaders for Nation-Building' initiative of Security Bank Foundation Inc.

The principals received their International Certificate in Educational Studies in Leadership, a program of the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom and The HEAD Foundation in Singapore, through Security Bank's partnership with the Ateneo Center for Educational Development.

The principals completed four months of in-person and online training, culminating in a presentation of their Transformational Action Plans. The certificates were awarded at the Security Bank Centre in Makati City in October.

The principals' TAPs aim to address pressing issues in their schools and are to be implemented for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year. The impact will be reported prior to the second year of the training curriculum by Ateneo de Manila University.

"According to studies, three things are necessary to enact educational reform, namely leadership, innovation and partnership. The CESL was created to bring all these elements together," said Dr. Vicente C. Reyes Jr., CESL project lead and University of Nottingham associate professor for educational leadership.

The TAPs followed the themes of "Leading Schools in Challenging Times, Leveraging Technology Affordances" and "Partnering with Stakeholders." Some notable TAPs included plans to transform free spaces such as gardens into mini-libraries/reading corners, establish safe spaces for learners with disabilities, create a reward system that incentivizes disciplined students to reduce incidents of bullying and unruly behavior, and the use of mobile applications for learning English at home to help students with low reading and comprehension levels.

"While your training has just started, we hope that this first phase of your training has given you many learnings, discernment and practical insights, and has made you more sensitive to the needs of your role as a principal. Your training is of utmost importance because leaders cannot show the way until they know the way," Rafael F. Simpao Jr., SBFI chairman, told the trainees.

"Through our partnership with SBFI, we can ensure that our transformative leadership initiative for empowering school leaders will not just result in a short spur of change, but rather, a sustainable improvement to the country's educational sector," said Vignesh Naidu, the HEAD Foundation director for operations.