Trainer Accreditation Example

In this case study we provide an overview of Michelle Appleby’s trainer accreditation journey and an account of how she has made it work alongside lots of other commitments including helping out with Emotion Works practice development tasks.

Background

Michelle is an experienced primary teacher based in Edinburgh with a background in youth work, community care, training and development work. She has been a class teacher in both mainstream and education support provisions, but is currently on a career break from her substantive post. As well as being a mum, she works privately as a Support for Learning tutor, and for Emotion Works, developing online resources and as a freelance Trainer.

My Trainer Accreditation pathway

Step 1: Accredited Practitioner with Mentor Status

• I gained Emotion Works Practitioner Accreditation in April 2018 following a practice sharing input at one of the Emotion Works classroom training days. It was a nerve-wracking affair, but the feedback from the trainees who were there was so positive, and the surprise of being awarded my accreditation there and then made it all worth it!
• My portfolio included tutoring and classroom practice examples with individual children, groups and whole class work.
• I was also able to include a number of practice planning and resource ideas I’d developed for the Emotion Works website and practitioner Facebook page on topics including Sports Day, Health Week, End of Term/Transition and Starting School.
• Claire explained she felt confident awarding me practitioner accreditation because I had recently been helping with reviewing the website practice examples and she’d been impressed with my understanding of practical applications across different ages and stages, different cog concepts, and with my educational support experience she was impressed with my appreciation of the resources and principles associated with the Additional Support Framework.
• My mentoring status was supported by endorsements from teachers at my school where I’d shared and explained my practice, and also with parents of children I was tutoring at home with Additional Support Needs.
• As part of my practice development role with Emotion Works I had started writing guidance articles for the website and was providing lots of advice, hints and tips on the Emotion Works Practitioners Facebook group. Both of these were seen as valuable for mentoring within the online community. 

Step 2. Line Management Support or Personal Commitment to Trainer Process

• Being on a career break from my substantive post, my decision to train as an Emotion Works Trainer was a personal one, following an invitation by Claire who helped me draw up a plan to fit in with my various work and home commitments.
  
• I took the decision because I’m so enthusiastic about the Emotion Works progamme and know how useful it can be.
• And once I got started in a mentoring role, I realised that I was loving showing the resources to others and sharing my personal experiences and case studies.
• I’m also very excited about the impact Emotion Works can have on children’s learning, emotional development and wellbeing.

Step 3. Train-the-trainer process including trainer mentoring and co-delivery

• I started off my training process by attending a number of training session and preview events, observing the training and facilitation process and making notes.
• I then shadowed a full day Introductory Training with Claire in May 2018 and provided my own practice input to the training group.
• The next step was to co-deliver the Introductory training day with Claire a month later.
• I was also involved in co-facilitating a series of parent workshops and reflecting on their impact.
• Throughout the training process I communicated regularly with Claire to plan and review my progress.
• I attended Train-the-Trainer day at the Emotion Works Classroom in July 2018 where we were all given our training kit and presentation materials, and an opportunity to address any particular areas of support required.
• I started delivering Emotion Works training on my own in August 2018.

Step 4. Trainer Network and Ongoing Support

• It was really helpful to meet other trainers at the Train-the-Trainer day and I’m find the Trainers Support Facebook page very helpful.
• I’m looking forward to my first Trainer refresher day to reflect on the progress I’ve made as a trainer and to share stories of Emotion Works capacity building with the others.

Please contact office@emotionworks.org.uk to book training or mentoring support with Michelle Appleby in Edinburgh and the Lothians, or further afield with plenty of notice.

Might Emotion Works trainer accreditation fit in well with your work and child-care arrangements? If you’re an educator and have a real passion for emotional learning and well-being, please feel free to drop us a line via our accreditation contact form to explore whether the Emotion Works trainer process could work for you.