Welcome to TEEC

        According to the "Three Laws on Experimental Education", after a school or a non-profit private legal person applies for a school-type experimental education plan and is approved, within the permitted experimental specifications, the restrictions of the "Regulations on the Appointment of Educational Personnel" or the "Teacher Law" may not be applied. Additionally when public primary and secondary schools entrust private schools, the teachers hired by the trustees are "prioritized" rather than "limited" to those with teacher certificates. （Jason C. Chan, 2017）The loosening of experimental education's qualifications for teacher employment shows that experimental education innovation is seeking alternative talent. Experimental education teacher training is designed to produce new models, replacing traditional cramming teaching method with teaching students to learn. We support teachers to be able to face the experimental education scene with flexibility, adaptability, and and innovation.
 
        Therefore, at the beginning of 2017, Associate Professor Zheng Tungliao, the project host of the Taiwan Experimental Education Center of the Ministry of Education of the National Chengchi University (TEEC) was entrusted by Mingwen Zhang, then Director of the Department of Teachers and Arts of the Ministry of Education, to conduct an investigation on the "Taiwan Experimental Education's Demand for Teacher Training." In addition to exploring the demand for experimental education teacher training in Taiwan. TEEC was charged with proposing a model of experimental education teacher training beyond the traditional teacher training system.

        In this pilot study, The TEEC traveled to a total of 42 units across Taiwan, visiting various types of the experimental education founders. We conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with principals, heads of the education bureaus of the county and city governments to conduct field investigations. The units included: various types of public and private experimental education schools, experimental education groups, institutions, teacher groups, relevant private teacher training units, university teacher training centers, and local county and city education directors. The research found that the ideal image of an experimental education teacher can be summarized in terms of "trait", "ability" and "life experience" (See figure):  

        Bergeron et al. (2005) pointed out that there are five success factors for short-term alternative teacher training, including: 1. Direct communication between program participants across units 2. Use of cooperative peer groups to achieve tasks 3. Practitioners who assist with intensive cross-stage field experience engagement 4. Creative partnerships 5. Effective use of technological tools. The "National Chengchi University Experimental Educator Training" model integrates the contemporary research on experimental education teachers and incorporates the literature teacher training in on alternative education settings . The National Chengchi University's "Experimental Educator Training Project" launched in 2018. Trainees complete the program over the course of 10 months. Over 100 participants have completed the training over the past 3 years . The program is iterative and we maintain an open to feedback from project participants, including project mentors, participating trainees, administrative teams, and internship partners. Through previous curriculum development conferences (members include program instructors, participating trainees, and administrative teams) we continuously revise the program to meet participants needs. We uphold the learner-centered spirit, designing semi-structured task-oriented teacher training model. The program includes four essential components："Mentor-Mentee Matching", "Course Content and Structure", "Creative Partnership" and "Cross-domain Communication Platform"：
1. Mentor-Mentee matchmaking：TEEC invites senior experimental education leaders and experienced practitioners in the field of experimental education to serve as mentors to program trainees teachers of elective courses. The administrative team matches the trainees with mentors with similar nature and personality to the trainees' respective practice plans. A mentor supports between 3-5 trainees over the course of the ten month program. Through regular meeting mentees are assisted in completing various stages of learning tasks such as developing practical plans, completing group and cooperative learning courses, and reflecting on internship experiences.

 

2. Course content and structure： The core goal of the training program is to help each trainee complete his or her individual or group practice plan. A draft practice plan is submitted upon registration. During the training process, trainees are encouraged to use what they are learning in professional required / elective courses, experimental education field practice and four-credit group courses to enact their practice plan. The various experiences and resources assist trainees as they develop their personal journey. Moreover, we each trainee to plans presentation to show their learning progression at each stage of the practice plan. They present at the end of the program at an event that is entitled a graduation exhibit that is attended by mentors, TEEC staff, and friends of the National Chengchi University Experimental Educator Training model.

        The main basic and professional courses include: "Experimental Education Philosophy and Practice"and "Life Dialogue and Exploration ". The over-archng purpose of Life Dialogue and Exploration course is to echo the pilot research on effective student-centered and experimental learning theory and practice . The founders of the field experiment education attach great importance to the development and reflection of teacher's personal "life experiences". Taking into account the diverse learning interests of trainees, this course has three different approaches. Trainees select two life dialogue approaches from the following themes : "philosophy reading club", "consulting inner dialogue", "experiential special needs student activities”. Dialogue with each trainee’s inner life occurs in multiple ways, helping trainees gain a sense of self-awareness, and exploring their intention of investing in education. This experience also allows trainees to connect with the "heart" of each child and to synchronize with the child's inner self. After understanding the child, the teacher reflects and adjusts the curriculum and pedagogy to meet the needs of each learner. The link between theory and practice is critical the student-centered education respects individual differences within and across cultures.

3. Creative Partnerships：Effective and lasting partnerships are explored in the group course co-learning process. The plan requires all students to complete a four-credit self-organized course design. The content and goals of the group courses must are directly connected to the content each trainee's practice plan. In addition to hosting group lessons, they are also required to participate in group lessons initiated by other trainees. The underlying purpose is to promote cross-domain integration and for peers to serve as resources for each other . The group class co-learning course requires trainees to discuss independent courses, design courses, and recruit peer learning communities for their own courses. 

        They stimulate cross-disciplinary curriculum design and cultivate cross-team communication and problem solving skills. These are critical for becoming experimental education teachers in the future. Effective educators need to create “something out of nothing” and facilitate students to create various cross-domain curriculum designs. Trainees report that receiving feedback from their peers was extremely rewarding. It allowed them to find a partner they can trust and cooperate with in the future. Teaching is not a solo endeavor and experimental teachers flourish in environments where they  teach each other, encourage and support each other, and form a close-knit mutual aid network.

4. Cross-domain communication platform：The program has many moving parts and it is critical to have clear communication across the various components. Connections exist throughout recruitment, mentor matchmaking , course opening coordination, semi-structure-oriented task design, internship in the field of experimental education, practical visit communication, network platform integration, and graduation. The team conducted extensive research of online course platforms to support operations during the epidemic. Strong administrative support personnel and information network platform systems were crucial to assist trainees, and mentors, and field site communication and collaboration.


        Associate Professor Zheng Tung-liao, project director , believes that teachers trained by the traditional teacher training system must undergo transformation and abandon traditional teacher-centered approaches to learning . Otherwise, they will be unable to support the development of teachers to teach in the growing experimental education movement.
However, non-academic systems or individual experimental schools tend to be small and have high costs associated with training teachers . Increasing the number of trained experimental educators faces challenges of the political environment and financial restrictions. The Taiwan Experimental Education Center (TEEC), of National Chengchi University has stepped up to take a leading role of " Taiwan Experimental Educator Training ".
The TEEC training system is poised to support the long-term sustainability of experimental education teachers and continued professional development of teachers.

        We hope that in the future such training will not be limited to the workers currently involved in experimental education, but extend to more teachers. They can learn from each other to create diverse and innovative educational experiences for more and more students in Taiwan. Eventually the training model of experimental educators has the ability to make meaningful change in the traditional education system, while still maintaining the commitment the 108 year of Educational Authority of "achieving every child-adaptive talent, lifelong learning"！
 

• References：

Jason C. Chan（2017）Learning the spirit of experimental education, the blue ocean strategy of teacher training. Research on Education Parenting Family Lifestyle, 92 , P.86-88. Referenced from https://flipedu.parenting.com.tw/article/3736
 
Bergeron, B. S., Larson, B., Prest, A., Dumas-Hopper, L. A., & Wenhart, J. C. （2005）Innovation in teacher preparation:Creating alternative routes to teacher quality. In J. R. Dangel & E. M. Guyton (Eds.), Research on alternative and non-traditional education:Teacher education yearbook XIII(pp.59-72). Lanham, MD: Association of Teacher Educators.