Practice-Based Teacher Training in Uganda and Zambia

• In Event: The Power of Practice: Effective practice-based teacher learning models

Proposal

PEAS, a not-for-profit organisation, exists to expand access to quality, inclusive secondary education. We do this through our network of 36 secondary schools in rural areas of Uganda and Zambia and by working hand-in-hand with governments to support national change. External evidence has shown that PEAS schools help students to make faster learning progress than other school types (EPRC, 2018).
Over 15 years PEAS has developed an effective, practice-based approach to continuous teacher professional development in low-resource contexts. PEAS's approach to teacher development is centered around our Top 10 Teaching Practices, developed based on best practice across our networks and grounded in a body of evidence from cognitive science about how our brains learn. A recent external evaluation identified PEAS teachers’ “learner-centred” approach as a distinct area of PEAS’ expertise that should be replicated in other schools (Jigsaw, 2021).
PEAS Top 10 Teaching Practices are often new to many teachers in the contexts we work in. We therefore invest in helping PEAS teachers understand, develop, and master these skills by embedding an ongoing ‘culture of practice’ at the school level. Various studies have shown the importance of practice, particularly when it is accompanied by coaching, reflection, and feedback (See for example: Popova et al. 2016; Popova et al. 2018, Lemov et al. 2012, Kotze et al. 2018). In addition, PEAS’s teacher CPD model is school-based and incorporates modelling from instructional leaders, which evidence suggests is crucial to effective teacher development (Popova, Evans, and Arancibia 2016).
PEAS’ cycle of teacher professional development involves regular school-based training sessions, followed by formative lesson observations and feedback. Opportunities for practice are embedded at each stage to help teachers put new approaches into action. All training sessions include micro-teaching labs, in which small groups of teachers co-plan a mini-lesson using the new skill and take turns delivering this to other teachers, who take the role of students. Teachers then receive feedback from peers and facilitators. Following this, formative lesson observations focus on how effectively the teacher embeds the new approach in the classroom. Feedback focuses on what went well and what could be done differently to make the approach even more effective at driving student learning. All feedback sessions also include opportunities for modelling and practice.
Our school-based approach is led by Instructional Leadership Teams at each school who work together to identify the key developmental needs across the teaching staff and lead teacher development. Instructional Leadership Teams receive ongoing training, semi-scripted teacher training guides, and tools to support them to effectively lead teacher development in their school context.
The effectiveness of PEAS practice-based teacher development approach has been highlighted by external studies that note that it supports teachers to focus on individual students and their participation in learning (Jigsaw, 2021). This presentation will share the implementers’ key lessons learned on how to deliver practice-based teacher development at the school level and how it can foster a learner-centred approach. The presentation will also share our next steps toward scaling our approach in government schools.

Author

• Daniel Omaya, Promoting Equality in African Schools PEAS