Training the Trainers in Cyprus

With the achievement of high level standards in police education as a guiding principle, Cyprus Police Academy organised a CEPOL course 'Train the Trainers – Step 1' in Nicosia on 7 – 10 June 2010.

The course provided the opportunity to competent trainers from 14 EU Member States to meet and work together in an effort to create an effective learning environment with a European dimension. Each participant’s expertise and competences contributed positively to the efforts to meet the course objectives.

Through group discussions, exchange of ideas and experiences, participants had the opportunity to identify diverse issues amongst European police training institutions, enabling them to discuss and identify possible common standards in order to deliver successful CEPOL learning activities.

In his closing speech Michael Papageorgiou, Chief of Cyprus Police, said: 'One should not ignore recent challenges in policing, such as cross-border crime, multiculturalism, new and modern forms of crime, while preparing new police training courses and programmes. These challenges should always be addressed, as without any doubt, they make your work as trainers more difficult and demanding.'

The objectives of the first of this two-step course included:

• Organise effective learning environments in accordance with CEPOL standards;
• Identify and clarify the differences among European participants and identify added value in the diversity of the participants’ knowledge, skills and experiences;
• Correlate the chosen learning methods with the context and level of CEPOL’s target groups and justify the choices;
• Explore a variety of scientific and other knowledge sources (through the use of Internet and CEPOL’s databases) and to evaluate their validity and relevance to serve as course content and as a means for further professional development;
• Identify and make use of opportunities for continuous quality improvement during courses (via evaluation, reflection, peer review etc);
• Evaluate the effectiveness of CEPOL’s Learning Management System in the learning environment and upload content to it.

Juliana Papne Vegso, a course participant from Hungary, said: 'This is the first CEPOL course I have attended. I was curious and surprised at how trainers can teach people from different countries. There was a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and the course was well organised. Thank you to all the trainers and organisers.”

The Cyprus Police Academy would like to express its gratitude to the members of CEPOL’s Working Group on Learning, Theo Brekelmans, Joao Cabaco, Dr. Wolfgang Kokoska, and to colleagues from Slovenia and Spain for the valuable support and constructive cooperation.