Submitted by Tracy Walter
When first hearing about the LearnERS platform, there may be part of you despairing over the addition of another training and professional development to integrate into your routine and daily duties. This may lead to asking, “Why should I use this platform,” or essentially, “What’s in it for me?”
LearnERS is a comprehensive platform that allows teachers, directors, and coaches all to work with the CQI process, increase quality and embrace the best practices in early childhood education.
As teachers, we often feel lonely and isolated throughout the day. We spend our entire days immersed completely in the needs and lives of the children we work with. LearnERS is a tool to allow for not only individual learning, but also collaborative efforts among colleagues. It creates a space for brainstorming, interacting, and networking with people in your organization, and possibly outside of it as well. It allows for time to share with others our successes and challenges and to gain insight into ideas others may offer. LearnERS allows for teachers to have the control over their own professional development while improving the quality in their classrooms.
There are different modules in the LearnERS platform that work simultaneously to help you improve your own practices. There is a CQI journal that allows you to take time to reflect and reevaluate your current practices. It guides you through the CQI process and helps you achieve your goals. The peer learning sessions bring it all together to allow for networking and collaboration between colleagues.
Upon enrollment to LearnERS you will be provided a support system to help you get started and guide you along your CQI journey. Your director, quality coach and Program Quality Assessor are available and are happy to help you experience for yourself exactly what’s in it for you.
Feedback that has been received by center directors and teachers is that they learned a lot in each module they complete in LearnERS. It has been stated that the platform is diverse and teachers like that they can make it “your own.” Teachers have reported that they love coming together as a group with other centers through the peer learning sessions. They love sharing ideas with one another and feel they have learned so much not just with the modules, but from each other as well. Directors appreciate the fact that their staff are seeing the “why” behind what they are doing in their classrooms.
If you have not enrolled in LearnERS and are interested in doing so, please talk with your director and quality coach. We look forward to working with you in the LearnERS community!
