CRS/Honduras – Empowering Teachers and Directors to Create Nurturing Classrooms

• In Event: Changing attitudes, behaviors and performance through a nurturing classroom: Adapting pedagogy, enhancing teacher resilience, and catalyzing community action

Proposal

Catholic Relief Services Honduras (CRS/HN) implements the USDA McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in the department of Intibucá to increase literacy and provide nutritious school meals to over 52,000 children. One of the poorest departments in the country, over half of school-aged children in Intibucá live in poverty and many struggle with food insecurity, which presents numerous educational and nutritional challenges.
The panelist will discuss work with school directors and teachers to create a student-centered, interactive classroom environment. The team has found that school directors are key in promoting this change. The program provides scholarships for a certificate program for teachers and school directors each year. The training focuses on teaching reading and writing, promoting student participation, and a positive classroom environment. The training also includes coaching and supervision units designed to accompany teachers and provide them with ongoing support as they implement new techniques in the classroom. As with HRA’s work, this is a shift from a traditionally evaluative approach where teachers often felt threatened by supervisors observing their classrooms.

Author

• jennifer mallman, CRS