Author: marie

In this project from Plan International, facilitators of an existing project had to quickly adapt their teaching approach and curriculum to suit remote learning due to the COVID-19 crisis. In total, 50 to 60 facilitators of informal and non-formal programmes were targeted, who were training adolescents and youth aged 12 to 24 years old. 

To support these facilitators with the switch to remote facilitation, a phased approached was used, informed by contextual factors:

• An emergency phase: daily intensive communication with facilitators to provide immediate support using Zoom and Teams for synchronous training and WhatsApp for both synchronous and asynchronous training.
• A less intensive phase: a more structured modality during which facilitators meet synchronously 3 times/week, with a shift towards self-study by providing guides and manuals. 
• A blended (in-person/remote) phase: facilitators meet once a week in-person, combined with asynchronous learning.

During these three phases, education specialists from Plan International set up a WhatsApp group with facilitators to:

• Create a sense of presence to support facilitators in the shift to remote facilitation.
• Give facilitators ample opportunities to ask questions about using digital tools.
• Build rapport and motivation with facilitators. 
• Provide both asynchronous and synchronous support to facilitators to cater for facilitators with weak connectivity.

BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED) has implemented the “Champion Teachers” initiative that empowers teachers by enhancing their knowledge and skills in play pedagogy. 

The Champion Teachers initiative used a blended design. A fully in-person modality would have been too expensive and would not have been feasible, as some schools are located in remote regions. 

The training is centred around four broad areas: play and play pedagogy; well-being and teacher-student relationship; utilisation of available space and materials to apply play pedagogy in school compounds; and play-based lesson plan. Teachers are equipped with the required skills and knowledge to integrate play-based pedagogy in lessons and facilitate active participation by students. 

25 teachers were selected for the piloting of the intervention. A 5-day virtual training session was designed for the teachers to ensure the effectiveness and successful implementation of the intervention. Following this training, supportive meetings were conducted face-to-face and online. After the completion of the training, teachers went on to apply play-based pedagogy in the classrooms for approximately 2 months as a piloting phase. 

The initial synchronous online sessions indicated that some teachers were not actively participating and needed more guidance. The wide use of smartphones played a crucial role to overcome this problem. Teachers were given SIM cards of carriers with strong network coverage and internet packages to avoid disruptions during the sessions. Field managers with content team members have been assigned to ensure proper communication, accessibility and guidance is in place to encourage participation and monitor implementation. 

Based on the outcome of this piloting, the design will be modified as needed. In 2023, a larger group of teachers will participate in blended CPD to increase their skills to incorporate play-based pedagogy in classrooms.

The Learning Assistant Programme in Sierra Leone emerged from the GATE-GEC project, funded by UK aid through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) Girls’ Education Challenge. 

GATE-GEC aimed to support marginalised girls and children with disabilities in primary and junior secondary schools in Sierra Leone to attend school, reach their full learning potential, learn in a safe and inclusive environment, and successfully transition to further education and beyond. In Sierra Leone, only 27% of teachers at primary level and 14% at secondary level are female; this has immediate consequences on girls’ enrolment, retention and achievement as well as school culture, with longer-term impact on girls’ aspirations, safety in school and job prospects. 

This programme was designed to support young women, who had not previously completed their own primary education, through their professionalisation to qualify as primary school teachers. The programme was delivered through a partnership with Plan International, Open University, the Teaching Services Commission and initial teacher training providers within Sierra Leone. The project currently has 483 graduates from two cohorts; a third cohort of 228 teachers have been trained and sat their NCTVA teacher qualification exams at the end of 2021. Participants initially worked as Learning Assistants in schools within their local communities, undertaking a practical work placement and engaged in a distance learning programme (Maths and English) supported by a tutor, before sitting their entrance examinations for Initial Teacher Training Colleges (ITTCs). 

This model is not an example of blended continuous professional development per se, it is a blended model of initial teacher training. An initial work placement is accompanied by a foundational literacy and numeracy skills development programme. After passing their ITTC entrance exams, participants begin the distance model of ITT training. The model requires a combination of face-to-face mentoring and support from Programme Study Mentors who visit the teachers throughout their school-based placements, ensuring that participants are receiving appropriate support from head teachers in the school setting with access to relevant teacher training materials. 

Materials for distance learning included paper-based learning materials and the use of digital technology in the form of tablet-based teacher training modules. The tablets allow trainees to access digital content in the form of ITT modules including literacy, numeracy, child protection, safeguarding and inclusive pedagogy and others via a mobile Moodle application. This mitigates internet connectivity issues within rural areas in Sierra Leone, with content updates and maintenance accessed by the trainees periodically while visiting an area with connectivity and when attending face-to-face training. In additional to the distance learning and school-based training, trainees met for face-to face training to encourage reflective practice and enable participants to form regional communities of practice. 

The programme was adapted throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with newly-qualified teachers trained to support vulnerable girls and children with disabilities in their localities during school closures, providing telephone-based home learning, child welfare and protection.

For further information visit the following website.

In Vietnam, VVOB works in close partnership with the Ministry of Education on strengthening blended learning approaches with teachers and school leaders. Through a blended CPD trajectory that embeds play-based learning approaches, school leaders and teachers are trained to provide responsive and engaging learning experiences to their learners. 

The blended CPD trajectory starts with a Digital Literacy course to ensure that all participants have the required digital knowledge, skills, and tools. This Digital Literacy course was in-person, tailormade for this trajectory and addresses both general digital literacy as well as programme-specific content with a focus on Moodle, as this is the main course platform. The course takes 1.5 days to complete. 

As this was a newly developed course, VVOB decided to organise both a dry run and a pilot. The dry run consisted of a run of the complete course, with all the course facilitators present to go through the course with a group of learners composed of VVOB staff and focal points of the Ministry of Education and Training. At the end of the course, all participants of the dry run shared their feedback on the content of the course, the design of the activities and the facilitation methods. 

After this dry run, there were still a few uncertainties about the practical organisation of the course with many learners in one room (70-100 people), all needing access to Wi-Fi and personal support. Therefore, a pilot of two cohorts was conducted with the target group of teachers in one of the target provinces. This pilot allowed VVOB to analyse organisational challenges and find ways to solve these challenges. Both VVOB staff and the course participants shared their feedback after the pilot. The focus of the pilot was more on the organisation of the course, but feedback on content, facilitation, methods and learning outcomes was also collected. 

Both the dry run and the pilot contributed to a stronger course. Nevertheless, VVOB opted to take an iterative approach throughout the whole course cycle and kept organising feedback moments with the facilitators after every cohort to finetune the course.