Welcome to the website of the project RELEASE - Towards Achieving Self REgulated LEArning as a Core in Teachers´ In- SErvice Training in Cyprus

The project RELEASE is co-financed by the European Union under the Lifelong Learning Programme "Support for European cooperation in education and training". The concrete aims of this project are the following:

a) To conduct a meta-analytic research on different teacher training practices surveyed in different scientific researches and help towards establishing a set of quality indicators for quality teacher training programmes based on the following categories proposed by the EU: Ensuring that all teachers have access to the knowledge, attitudes and pedagogic skills that they require to be effective; Ensuring that provision for teachers' education and professional development is coordinated, coherent, and adequately resourced; Promoting a culture of reflective practice and research among teachers; Promoting the status and recognition of the teaching profession and Supporting the professionalisation of teaching (European Commission, 2007),

b) to guide the revision of the existing in-service teacher training program in Cyprus aiming to the enhancement of the lifelong learning character of their content, methods and activities,

c) to design appropriate training programs and activities recognizing educators' learning potential at school and helping them to achieve self-regulated learning in the following six ways: Organizing powerful learning environments and facilitating learning process, Working in teams with teachers/trainers, Acting in an investigative or problem-solving way, Steering and promoting their own professional development in a lifelong learning perspective, Promoting the development of competences of pupils/trainers for the knowledge society, Linking the development of new curriculum competences with subject learning.

d) to design appropriate training programs and activities helping educators implement and evaluate differentiated teaching and learning for meeting the needs of different students,

e) to produce a Guide of best in-service training practices helping towards self regulated learning and lifelong professional development at the national level and a teachers' manual on self-directed learning and situated learning

f) to publish a Manual with Principles and procedures of customised subject matter curricula, that tailor objectives, content, teaching and learning on the specific context of the school,

g) to promote wide access to in-service teacher training programmes in a non-discriminatory way with respect to the school context and the gender of

the participants in two ways: by facilitating and using both synchronous and asynchronous communication tools/procedures and by enabling the construction of separate action plans by different groups of educators with respect to each school context

h) to disseminate good in-service teacher training practices helping towards self regulated learning and lifelong professional development at the national level through the organization of one conference and one press conference and through the production of a set of materials (checklist, guide) facilitating their implementation

i) to create an interface between educators, educational stakeholders and researchers-trainers for the enhancement of the lifelong learning character of teacher in-service training activities in Cyprus.

Τhe successful implementation of the project RELEASE is strongly dependent on the voluntary participation of teachers-educators who believe in the possible benefits of doing action research at the classroom level and at the school level in increasing their decision making skills and their school effectiveness.

The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute participation as a partner of the University of Cyprus in this project is meant to help towards the successful realization of the project RELEASE, offering its expertise and experience in the project's topic.

Professor Mary Koutselini UCY
Scientific Coordinator of the Project

Dr Athena Michaelidou PI
Partner's coordinator/leader

Frosoula Patsalidou- University of Cyprus
Main Researcher