EQUIP-Tanzania has been working with institutional partners to design, implement and refine a professional development model to achieve a high-quality, cost-effective and scalable continuous professional development process... [ view full abstract ]
EQUIP-Tanzania has been working with institutional partners to design, implement and refine a professional development model to achieve a high-quality, cost-effective and scalable continuous professional development process with support structures for all teachers. To-date the focus has been on general and gender-responsive pedagogy as well as early primary literacy and numeracy to facilitate teaching and learning improvements in these areas.
This paper presents the model, which focuses on:
- Continuous professional development: moving away from the historical reliance on one-off training events to a continuous process of learning, implementation the classroom and professional reflection on effectiveness.
- Sustainable school communities of learning and support structures that place teachers at the centre of their own development: materials and support systems that allow greater autonomy, less dependence on centralised delivery and maximisation of available local resources
- Strengthening decentralised implementation: connecting and strengthening Universities, Teacher Training Colleges, Local Government Authorities and schools to build ownership and improve the likelihood of sustainability after programme exit
Regular school-based training on general pedagogy, numeracy and literacy has now been delivered to as many as 35,000 teachers in 4,500 schools (75% of all primary teachers in the programme areas). The paper will also present preliminary findings from a robust independent impact evaluation of programme interventions, conducted in 2016, showing evidence of more inclusive pedagogical practices, improved teacher motivation and a reduction in teacher classroom absenteeism. Most importantly, results show the programme has had a positive impact on the literacy skills of the lowest performing pupils.
These positive results helped give Tanzania Institute of Education the confidence to adopt a similar decentralised, school-centred approach as the basis for its draft National CPD Framework, introducing a policy-level pathway to developing sustainable support for all teachers in the country.
