How Collaboration through a Regional Network Supports Teachers to improve Learning for children most left behind

• In Event: Sustainable Networking for Strengthened collective impact for Education

Proposal

Across different sectors networking plays a central role in the exchange and dissemination of knowledge and information among different actors and it is normally based on the needs and motivation to face challenges. As a matter of practice and creating a common ground of joining forces to work together, networking provides an opportunity to strengthen capacity of members and for the case of civil societies, it provides an opportunity to achieve outcomes that could not have been possible by working in isolation. The Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) has brought together over 70 organisations working to improve learning outcomes for all children in East Africa. For the past five years RELI has demonstrated the power of working through a network and what can be achieved through a collective effort. The network has proved to be particularly relevant in difficult times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. This paper focuses on how the network has supported teachers to learn and acquire an alternative pedagogy called Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) to support learners acquire foundational literacy and numeracy skills.
In the effort to realize the evidence generation pillar and living the value of collaboration across the region, RELI members through the teachers’ development and support thematic group adapted the teaching at the right level approach and contextualized it to different country specific needs. In Tanzania for example the approach was translated into Kiswahili language, tool kit to support teachers was developed that comprised of foundational numeracy and literacy resources. Lessons from the contextualisation of the toolkit shows that engaging teachers with the understanding of the local context helps to come up with resources that are more relevant.
The journey to develop the pedagogical tools to support teachers to teach foundational literacy and numeracy through the network started by an induction training from a team of expertise which sparked its importance to address the increasing trend of illiteracy among learners at the age where they are supposed to be fully fluent and difficulties to acquire foundational numeracy skills.
In Tanzania, the contextualization exercise was led by trained Teaching at the Right Level champions and other members were invited to learn in the process. Following the success of this collaborative initiative, more RELI members have enrolled into TaRL training, organised by ‘TaRL Africa’ and upon completing their training the qualified trainers are supporting the in-service and pre-service teachers to acquire the knowledge as they volunteer in schools and in teacher colleges.
The teaching at the right level approach has reached the attention of curriculum development institute in Tanzania that has earmarked it as one of the resources in the Teachers continuous professional development plan to be implemented to all teachers. In thinking about the future of this initiative, RELI members will advocate for the adoption of Teaching at the Right Level into teachers’ training colleges and institutions which are well placed to support its roll out as an important resource for teachers’ continuous professional development to support learners.

Author

• Gaudence Kapinga, RELI