“TeachUNITED is a Powerhouse!”

Patriciah Shares How the Training Helped Her Take Her Teaching to the Next Level

Curious about what it’s like to be an educator participating in TeachUNITED’s teacher training program?

Kenyan teacher Patriciah Mutuku says “I have taken several professional development courses as an educator, but the TeachUnited program surpassed them all.” Patriciah graciously details her experience learning about and adopting new strategies and sharing them with fellow teachers as an instructional coach.

The unit on Personalization was a complete makeover! I tried it in my classes and it was magical! Thanks to TeachUNITED, I no longer struggle to find out what to do with students who learn at different paces within the same class. Personalization solved the puzzle for me, and I am a happy teacher. The students enjoy it the most because they are under no pressure to complete a task by a rigid deadline, but do it at their own pace.

At the beginning of every semester, I use the data-driven strategies before teaching anything. Since I teach language to young adults, I ask them to write one paragraph about anything they wish to talk about. I get amazing results, and this helps me know the challenges they may be facing in writing and expressing themselves. I help them overcome some of these challenges along the way.

Upon comparing TeachUNITED with other professional development programs that I have been through, I would confidently say that TeachUNITED is a powerhouse! I am actively sharing these new strategies with my fellow teachers in school.

I came to the realization that I can become a competent instructional coach since TeachUnited produces an ‘instructional coach and not a trainer.’ As stated in one of the modules, Instructional coaches ‘use professional development and differentiated coaching to increase teacher effectiveness by teaching educators how to successfully implement effective, research-based teaching techniques and practices.’

“This program should be rolled out in every continent in the world. Every educator needs this knowledge. Keep it up TeachUNITED! You are the game changers in the education sector on a global scale.”

Fifteen schools participate in TeachUNITED coaching to improve learning outcomes

CONCORD, NH — Educators throughout the state are learning how to engage students, communicate better and reach instructional improvement goals through an innovative program with TeachUNITED. 

Fifty-two teachers from fifteen schools recently completed year one of the TeachUNITED Coaching for Impact Program , which offers rural schools with individualized professional development for their leadership teams and educators. 

“By designing lessons that encourage student engagement and support student interest, educators are making real strides to improve student outcomes. The feedback we are receiving is both positive and uplifting, reaffirming that teachers are finding the work to be sincere and purposeful,” said Frank Edelblut, education commissioner.  

Heather Hiebsch, CEO of TeachUNITED, says the teachers and school leaders participating in the program already have very solid instructional practices, but are using their time with TeachUNITED coaches to dig in and apply strategies and efficiencies in their classroom. 

“In other words, making teachers’ lives easier while increasing the impact in their classrooms,” explained Hiebsch. “To have an administrator say, ‘I walk into my teachers’ classrooms and the energy is different. The students are more engaged, and the teachers are collaborating,’ just underscores the power of effective professional learning. Together, we’re making a tangible impact on education in the state.”

The program is designed to support teachers and rural school leaders with strategies necessary to set and reach ambitious student goals by highlighting strategies for mindset, data-driven instruction, personalized learning and student engagement.

Testimonials from the Henry W. Moore School in Candia: 

• “TeachUNITED has completely changed my entire world for how we approach mistakes in my classroom. I always struggle with helping students realize it’s OK to make mistakes when I struggle with that myself. It helped me specifically with math instruction. I was always concerned with getting them to the right strategy and answer, but now I let them guide the conversation and see what mistakes they catch. It’s just changed the way we work through math problems altogether.” – Teacher Hannah Withee. 
• “Some of the strategies really are just basic, good practice. Some of them are things we need to be reminded of. It’s a valuable experience for both new teachers and teachers who have been in the practice for twenty-some years. There’s something for everyone to learn.” – Principal Becky Wing.

The Importance of Practical, Contextualized Teacher Training:

A conversation with Jesús Darío Loeza of the Secretary of Education of Yucatán, Mexico

Did you know that our team in Latin America hosts regional thought leaders on the TU Podcast? 

We are excited to have kicked off season two in May with an interview with Jesús Darío Loeza, an education expert and Coordinator of the Continuous Training and Professional Development Program of the Secretary of Education of Yucatán, Mexico.

In 2023, TeachUNITED began working with the Yucatán Ministry of Education to improve educational quality and address inequities in rural and indigenous communities. The three-year project is well on its way to improving learning outcomes for 400,000+ students. 

Our team was honored to host Jesús Darío Loeza and is proud to share a few highlights from that rich conversation on teacher professional development.  

TeachUNITED Coach Coordinator Mikel Webb: How has professional development and continuous teacher training affected your career and your knowledge? And how is that personal growth affecting teachers in the area? 

Jesús Darío Loeza: I think the first thing, the important thing, is that we can define together what we understand by professional development. From the Secretariat, we have a national overview of what happens in Mexico. We have a national commission for education improvement, MEJOREDU, and MEJOREDU has a concept of professional development that refers to a learning process of the profession and the construction of the teacher’s identity. I find this concept very curious because it talks about learning the profession.

One would think that when one completes their training at university, at teacher training school, they have already learned everything they had to learn. In this field, in the educational realm, we must continuously learn about our profession, by gaining knowledge.

Personally, I believe that we have to lead by example, a figure who has the responsibility of working with teacher development, also has to be a person who is constantly seeking to stay up to date, learning about new perspectives in education. But it’s always a personal job for teachers.

Mikel: In your extensive experience, have you seen the impact of teachers’ professional development? 

Darío: We have very, very good experiences from here at the Secretariat. In the training part, we have the direct responsibility to present trainings each year. We have to look for options that align with what they determine as their needs. We work with many institutions, foundations, and associations.

For example, we have a project with the Robotics Foundation, where we work on STEM topics, technology topics, and programming which has allowed teachers to learn how to bring technology into the classroom from their contexts, which is very important.

Of course, there are also international relations like the collaboration we have with TeachUNITED, which has permitted us to open up beyond the national level. The people who have participated have realized how things work within the country, but also that in other countries sometimes things are different. And we can question why things are done in a certain way there, or how we can improve if we do things in a different way. And also discover things we share, perhaps the same issues. The fact of sharing them, of discussing them, will lead us to important solutions.

Darío: We have had the opportunity for a team who have taken the TeachUNITED training to participate in an international event in Costa Rica where they could interact with educators from other countries and be able to share their experience, visit schools, and discover the similarities or challenges we face together. I think it’s very interesting because it shows a real application of what they are learning.

Mikel: Considering those experiences, could you say that TeachUNITED has generated a positive impact within the training program?

Darío: Yes, yes, yes, it has been generated. Educators seek tools that can be applied in the short- and medium-term. Sometimes we focus too much on theory trainings, courses, workshops are very theoretical and do not take into account the contexts. TeachUNITED has strived to understand the local contexts, to understand how different participants operate.

Through this program, we have collaborated with directors, supervisors, pedagogical technical advisors (ATPs), technical advisors (ATs), tutors, and teachers who are integrated into the function. For each of them, there has been an effort to understand what their needs are. And I think the best part of this good experience is that they have been able to apply it. They have succeeded.

For example, there is a supervisor who is more than a supervisor, she works with school principals, but she also has to coordinate other supervisors. With the TeachUNITED tools that are presented to them, she can immediately implement them in the meeting next week. I think it is important for teachers to be trained, but if they cannot bring it to the classroom, then that intention is lost.

The TeachUNITED Team and Jesús Darío Loeza with participants at the program launch in January 2024

Mikel: What challenges have been the most difficult in the region and how have they been addressed? How have they been overcome?

Darío: I think one could be connectivity, which is a challenge that is being addressed in a state strategy. Currently, in Yucatán more than 90% of our schools have connectivity, and we are reaching full coverage. The intention is that before the end of this school year, 100% of schools have connectivity. 

Another important challenge is understanding the local context. Even within the same state, what happens in one municipality or region is not the same as what happens in others. The needs are not always the same. 

Mikel: What advice could you give to those teachers who are seeking better professional development?

Darío: Well, I think the most important thing is to always have that desire to continue learning. I think it’s something that a person dedicated to education usually has. But to not let that go, because sometimes it can become more bureaucratic — to seek training to obtain a score or to obtain some pass to another level. We have to be careful that the essence of the training is not lost and that we do it for personal and professional development. 

I think that would be the advice: not to lose sight of that. Always seek to improve what they do, which is something that not only goes for the topic of education but for anything we dedicate ourselves to. 

TeachUNITED’s government partnerships are driving sustainable impact on teachers and students in Mexico and beyond. Learn more about the effect of our work with Jesús Darío Loeza and his team at the Yucatán Secretary of Education in this blog.