KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Armenian School Principals received their certificates upon the completion of the “Quality School Management” professional development course within the framework of the international Better Teaching for a Better Future project under the professional content- and methodology-based and technical guidance and coordination of the Zurich University of Teacher Education (PHZH) (for more details see https://phzh.ch/en/about-phzh/topics-and-activities/projects/projectdetails/?id=420).

On March 22, 2024, principals of several schools in the provinces of the Republic of Armenia and the capital received certificates at the Pedagogical University. They participated in the professional development course on “Quality School Management” within the framework of the “BTBF” Swiss international program organized in cooperation with the ASMU and Pedagogical Universities of Zurich.

The three-day course was held in a mixed format and included issues related to the quality management of the school and its standards. Questions regarding the democratic society, the school as a democratic micro-society, the research of the internal mechanisms and tools for quality assurance in the school, and their application were also emphasized. The trainees got acquainted with pedagogical theories, innovative methods and strategies based on the priority of inclusion.

Marianna Harutyunyan, the Armenian coordinator of the project implementation expert group and vice-rector for staff and international cooperation at ASPU, congratulated the participants and thanked them for valuing professional growth and the development of their educational institutions. The Vice-rector emphasized education and quality improvement in the current stage of educational reforms, noting that everything starts with general education. “The Pedagogical University has been and remains next to teachers and schools: the best appreciation of our great work is you – ready to overcome all challenges together. We have a long way to go together: this was the first step to be followed by new projects and cooperation.”

The principals expressed their satisfaction with the course, emphasizing that it was effective and full of new ideas, and they received information and knowledge which will help to accurately present school development plans, designing new strategies of school community development – compulsory for principals’ reports. Most of the principals, who are graduates of the Pedagogical University, are full of hope that the coming generations will also be devotees, enthusiastic about the profession of pedagogy.

The trainer, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Tigran Mikayelyan, highly appreciated the potential of the community of principals and noted with joy that the national school is in reliable hands.