Sampoerna Foundation Teacher Institute and BHP Billiton initiated a programme to improve the quality of teachers and principals in parts of Central Kalimantan province. The programme, called Principal and Teacher Professional Development Programme, entered its third workshop on May 31-June 1, 2008, at SMAN 1 Muara Laung. Four teachers and seven principals as well as vice principals took part in this workshop which was facilitated by two SF TI’s facilitators, Raymond Setiawan and Marc Alexander.

The workshop discussed the topics of cooperative learning, which covers various types of practical techniques that can be readily applied in a classroom setting. Furthermore, the implementation of school policy for students was also discussed. In this topic, school administrators as decision makers learnt on how to make and prepare policies and strategies on how to manage students’ behaviour.

Participants activities in BHP Billiton and SF TI Teacher & Principal Professional Development Programme

The workshops were conducted in an engaging and interactive way, providing participants with the chance to actively partake in the workshops. A number of activities that was designed to give participants hands-on experience were also conducted as opposed to a one-way lecture. It was received very well by the participants, who responded positively by showing good enthusiasm during the whole workshop and during the reflection and evaluation session at the end of the workshop.