Masters in Educational Practice team strike up international relationship with Chitkara University

Emmajane Milton, Senior Lecturer and Lead Mentor for the Masters in Educational Practice, has recently returned from hosting a mentoring for professional development conference by invitation of Chitkara University, India.

Following a discussion with Chitkara University representatives in July 2014, Emmajane and colleagues Melanie Squire and Kirsty McQueen travelled to India in the last week of January to host "Teaching makes a difference: Leading schools with professional development and personal mentoring at the core".

The main objective of the Chitkara Education Trust in inviting the School of Social Science representatives to deliver this conference was to provide a unique platform for policy makers, educators, school principals, counsellors and teachers to enhance their skills and knowledge in mentoring and high quality professional development to improve educational practice and learner outcomes.

In a programme jointly designed and developed by Cardiff University and Chitkara University, educational leaders and senior educators were introduced to effective mentoring skills and professional development opportunities. The hope is that educators will implement these skills to promote the development of students by framing schools as sustainable institutions of learning in an increasingly technology driven age.

Sanjeev Sahni, Director of International Programmes at Chitkara University, said, "We are extremely appreciative to the MEP team from Cardiff for their exceptional hard work, brilliant efforts and incredible support in making our joint programme a phenomenal success. This just wouldn't have been possible without their awesome and amazing contribution."

Around 200 representatives from 50 schools attended the event. It gained coverage in leading tabloids in the Chandigarh region of India with delegates praising it as "a wonderful learning experience" and describing Emmajane as "fantastic".

Emmajane said, "It was wonderful to be invited to share our experiences with so many enthusiastic participants. We hope that our presence at Chitkara University will be the start of a fruitful ongoing relationship between our institutions".