The British Council held an event at the DAL Excellence Centre to showcase impact from our education project ‘Connecting Classrooms’ which is co funded by UKAID and locally funded by DAL Food. The event brought together teachers, principals and training managers from the localities where we conducted training. Representatives from the National Centre for Teacher Training (NCTT) and key stakeholders from DAL Food also participated.
Presentations were given by teachers from 12 schools who had received training in core skills, inclusive pedagogies and school leadership. They elaborated on how they were able to manage numerous challenges in the classrooms after their training. Some discussed actions regarding social inclusion, mental disability, behavioural change, school dropout rates, absenteeism, economic obstacles, learning difficulties, prejudice, unconscious bias, bullying, community involvement, recognising different forms of intelligence, pair learning, student leadership, students health and well-being, stress, positive enforcement, advocacy for environment, and so much more.
The examples were testimony to general and marked improvement in numeracy and literacy, a clear tangible enhancement in students’ scores, stronger bonding and better communication among teachers and students. There was advocacy for non-physical punishments as well as the positive reflection of easing stress on students from homework and exams (less is more). Furthermore, all the teachers stated that they cascaded all of their learnings to their peers in each school.
The strong bond between representatives from the Ministry (NCTT) and the teachers was very evident. There was learning about the obstacles faced , and the efforts made, by teachers and how the Ministry can support.
The NCTT representative said: ‘I suggest that all these success stories are considered for higher studies and be used instead of all the theoretical inapplicable PHD papers’.
Two of the British Council facilitators are researching and experimenting with application of core skills through curricula for their PHDs. Challenges that surfaced during this discussion were the issues of financing and the development of curricula, with possible solutions presented.