Overview
As the primary mediators of children’s learning in school settings, teachers are critical actors if ‘Learning and Teaching for sustainable development’ are to be achieved. This symposium will seek to elucidate what the terms ‘sustainable’ and ‘teacher transformation’ can mean in practice. Drawing on research, learning and current practice in the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)’s support to Early Childhood and Education settings in sixteen countries globally, the discussion will be framed around four short presentations, and two interactive sessions:
- Afghanistan Teacher Learning Circles
- Supporting teachers through public-private partnership in Zanzibar
- Teachers’ and children’s learning in East Africa
- Teachers’ role in implementing a values-based curriculum in Kenya
- How can technology help?
- How to measure any change?
Results from a recent endline evaluation in Afghanistan have highlighted the positive impact of Teacher Learning Circles (TLCs) on students’ academic results. Endorsed by Ministry of Education policy, TLCs promote a mentorship approach, enabling teachers to learn from and support each other. Led by senior teachers in government schools - embedding ownership and accountability - the involvement of adjacent community-based class teachers facilitates cross-learning. Challenges identified – such as pressure on teachers’ time and the need for more structured organisation – will be addressed going forward; but TLCs have great potential to support ‘sustainably’ teacher development and children’s learning.
In 2014, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and partner the Madrasa Early Childhood Programme (MECP) embarked on a public private partnership with the Ministry of Education of Zanzibar to increase access and quality in pre-primary education. While adopting a multi-faceted approach, a core component focused on teacher transformation. By supporting teachers’ long-term professional growth through extended courses and on-going cluster meetings, the project has shown that these teachers now deliver a higher standard of pre-primary education.
This notion of teacher transformation was not initially as explicit in the Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa (SESEA) project, but it has permeated later work. AKDN has developed a professional development pathway for East African teachers culminating in a Masters of Education from the Aga Khan University Institute for Education (AKU-IED). SESEA’s focus on students’ academic learning achievement will also evolve. Drawing on AKDN’s core theme of ‘pluralism’ - embracing and celebrating difference, going beyond tolerance to active engagement – continuing teacher professional development will support teachers to facilitate children’s learning of ‘21st century skills’, complementing knowledge acquisition with social emotional skills and character competencies.
Illustrating this, AKDN is implementing a pilot Value Based Education project programme in Coast County in partnership with the Government of Kenya. This is in the context of the government’s shift from a strongly academic, exam-oriented system to a competency-based curriculum designed to develop engaged, empowered and ethical citizens. Teachers’ critical role in this process will be supported with resource books and training to help them make a reality of ‘pluralism’, by engaging learners to nurture values through experiential and enquiry-based learning.
To ensure that technology serves teachers, rather than becoming a distraction, mobile and offline education Communities of Practice have been developed in Uganda and Kenya. The remarkable popularity amongst teachers of mobile-based activities will be demonstrated.
Participants will have the opportunity to experience the prototype of an app currently being developed by AKF for use globally. Informed by school-based consultations, the app will allow school leaders, teachers, parents and students across diverse contexts to collect and analyse in real time data on, for example, attendance, dropout, learning achievement, health and nutrition. Critical to understanding children’s progression through school, little or no useable data is generally available on these areas in resource-poor contexts.
Discussant: Caroline Arnold, Aga Khan Foundation
