New Principal at Erdiston Teachers’ Training College

The Erdiston Teachers’ Training College (ETTC) has a new principal. He is Dr. Colin Cumberbatch, an educator of 32 years.

Dr. Cumberbatch possesses a Doctor of Education Leadership and Learning Degree with honours from Aspen University.  His specialisation at this level was instructional design.

In addition, he holds an undergraduate degree in Linguistics with History (Honours) and a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration, both from the University of the West Indies.

Dr. Cumberbatch graduated as Student of the Year in the In-service Teacher Training Programme in 1999. The educator has facilitated several workshops in both primary and secondary schools in Barbados in the areas of Cross Curricular Integration, Test Item Writing, Tables of Specification and the Assessment of Reading, as well as the Language Arts component of the Induction Course for novice teachers, organised by the ETTC.

Additionally, he has undertaken research in instructional leadership and instructional planning, as well as facilitated the peer review of research projects at Aspen University.

Prior to taking up the new role as Principal of the College, Dr.  Cumberbatch spent 18 years as a classroom teacher, before becoming an Education Officer in the Ministry of Education.

After spending five years at the Ministry, he returned to the primary school system as a principal in 2012. Dr. Cumberbatch served in that position at the St. Stephen’s Primary School for eight years, where he sought to positively influence the instructional programme.

During his tenure there, he established a Virtual Reality Classroom for “the provision of vicarious learning opportunities” for students, and discontinued “the use of traditional textbooks for the more developmentally suited and culturally relevant electronic modules of work”.

Chairman of the Board of Management of ETTC, Dr. Sylvia Henry, said the Board was delighted to welcome Dr. Cumberbatch, and pledged full support as he works collaboratively to chart a new vision for teacher and leader preparation, while empowering faculty and staff. (BGIS)