The Association of German International Schools Professional Development:

Working together to support learning

“Very happy with the programme, there was something for everybody.”
“What an amazing conference!”
“Friendly and supportive atmosphere.”
“Guest speaker excellent and relevant to whole school.”

With the unique ‘By teachers for teachers’ focus during the annual conference, professional development within the AGIS organization is one that provides colleagues with outstanding opportunities for their continued growth as educators.

By facilitating the dissemination of classroom pedagogy, best practice and proven teaching and learning strategies, our teachers learn from each other. This may take the form of attendance at the main conference held in Hanover, but also at the many school based conferences with invited guest speakers. These have recently included German, English Language Learning, First Steps and Mother Tongue program development.

Often teachers have applied latest research and innovational approaches with their children and then share their findings, resources and preparations with their peers. For those new to Germany and indeed those who have taught in our schools for a while, the professional opportunities to learn through classroom based research and reflections of their fellow AGIS colleagues are inspirational and highly motivating.

Teachers are also the presenters at the annual conference, many of them having been participants the previous year and are now themselves in a position to share their classroom skills with others. As classroom practitioners, they have tried and tested experiences that are rooted in presentations that honestly reflect the busy day-to-day realities of working in our International Schools. They do this through leading workshops, roundtables, job-a-like sessions and discussion groups in a supportive environment, where all opinions and ideas are valued and respected.

The annual conference has a series of strong thematic through-lines woven through over 100 sessions over the course of a weekend appealing to all aspects of learning, for all teachers, in every sector of our schools.

With a relaxed, supportive and creative environment teachers are able to network and learn from each other, formally during the day and informally through the course of a Saturday evening’s entertainment, again provided and in collaboration with our teachers.

What do teachers themselves like about Professional Development through AGIS?*

‘Being able to meet with experienced teachers.’
‘Learnt different ways to introduce topics to children.’
‘Practical ideas for the classroom.’ ‘
‘Exchanging views and ideas with other teachers with similar responsibilities’
‘Open honest discussion about everyday issues and strategies’

*Source: Your Opinion Counts Feedback from the annual conference February 2008