Pioneering teacher-created, student-centered English lessons designed for RACHEL/Solar Spell digital libraries across rural Malawian secondary schools

• In Event: Global Perspectives on Teacher Education Policies and Leadership

Proposal

Sub-Themes: Accessibility and Relationship Building


1. What is the impact of a blended curriculum implementing digital literacy, offline resources, and teacher-created content on enhancing digital competencies and reducing the global digital divide in rural secondary schools?

2. How can digital collaboration among countries with varying digital capacities and scarcities strengthen critical and creative thinking, social and emotional learning, and play and inclusion for teachers and students using a digital library?

Background:

According to the World Bank (April 2023), Malawi is the world’s fourth poorest country. UNESCO’s International Institute for Capacity Building’s Education Country Brief highlights Malawi’s learning crisis, reflected in its low SDG4 ranking in the 2024 Sustainable Development Report. Malawi’s National Education Sector Investment Plan (2020-2030) notes the primary-to-secondary transition rate was 38.3% in 2018, up slightly from 36% in 2014, showing limited access to secondary education with the lower secondary school completion rate at just 22% in 2022 (World Bank Group’s Gender Data Portal).

The Malawi Ministry of Education’s 2022 Education Statistics Report reveals a 2018 population and housing census showed 80% of secondary schools are in rural areas, with 78% being public schools. While access to teaching and learning resources is a Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST) priority, digital accessibility is concentrated in urban and semi-urban schools, risking underdevelopment in rural areas and leaving many Malawian youth without this 21st century skill. Rural Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS) face high dropout rates due to limited space and unpaid fees, leaving little money for technology investments without external support. CDSS libraries also lack essential teaching, learning, and supplementary resources.

In 2021, Malawi received Virtual Service Pilot Participants (VSPP), where Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV) virtually support the Peace Corps’ mission. An education program, backed by Computers for Enhanced Education (CEE), provides RACHEL/Solar Spell servers and loans laptops to CDSS libraries, ensuring access to the secondary education curricula despite challenges from weather, teacher attendance, or electricity. Initially, with support by the MoEST and Peace Corps Malawi Education Manager, the VSPP’s education project was to develop the digital library-based curriculum by identifying and adding Form 1 English resources. Alternatively, the VSPP and Malawi Learning Partnership (MLP) proposed including CDSS teachers’ voices and talent, which was approved. After MLP’s termination in 2022, the VSPP continued with eight teachers, though only two remained committed by 2023.


Methods:

The following methods have been used to assess the impact of this work on teachers. Student outcomes have not yet been measured, as we are awaiting a project extension.

The VSPP and two teachers apply qualitative research and Connectivism Learning Theory (CLT) to co-develop blended learning, enhance digital collaboration, and strengthen relationships and skills, fostering personal agency and professional development. They share ideas and resources, problem solve, and make decisions semiweekly on WhatsApp, modeling connectivism before using it with their students.

The VSPP trained CDSS teachers to use Google Docs to co-create differentiated English lessons (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) focusing on play, inclusivity, critical and creative thinking, and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). Activities and assessments include class materials, Teaching and Learning Using Locally Available Resources (TALULAR) creations, and curriculum screenshots linked to relevant online videos, articles, and websites. The team analyzes anecdotal notes, the Form 1 English Syllabus, discussions, and reflections weekly to determine activities and assessments align with Secondary Education Outcomes (SEO) and the 17 SDGs, integrating global awareness with local and national themes and looking for key words and phrases that align with Bloom’s Taxonomy’s Digital Planning Verbs.

The team collaboratively discusses and practices new digital skills and pedagogical approaches before applying them independently in the classroom. They alternate designing English lessons, being mindful to incorporate Chichewa for beginner language support, while monitoring progress and giving feedback via Google Docs and WhatsApp. Additionally, they practiced recording a teacher reading a curriculum story for students with visual and hearing impairments and created a SEL sun with seven domains, aligned with the Life Skills curriculum, to guide lessons for teacher and student well-being.

Findings:

Their digital collaboration is hindered by high network costs due to Airtel Malawi and TMN’s market dominance, making technology and Wifi access difficult. Although network quality affects weekly goals, teachers remain motivated about digital collaboration. Using digital skills with traditional materials has improved communication and cultural responsiveness, with the team feeling valued, appreciated, and a sense of belonging expressed in meetings and messages.

The team strengthens their creative and critical thinking by using guiding questions to develop culturally-relevant, project-based assessments with reflection, framed by visible thinking and Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

Semi-weekly meetings are impacted by absences and handled with cultural sensitivity because of religious and national holidays, multiple funerals, varying school schedules, personal holidays, time zone differences, JCE and MSCE exam marking, and costly data bundles.

Volunteering is uncommon in Malawi, making it difficult to retain English teachers and find sign language teachers willing to assist without payment.

Most CDSS students lack smartphones, making laptops and digital libraries crucial for closing the digital divide. Other challenges include a shortage of computers, lack of computer rooms, minimal training for less experienced teachers, and unreliable electricity or solar power, even in schools with servers. Additionally, most trainers were not trained to save information in the digital libraries.

Conclusions:

The Peace Corps Malawi Education Manager’s evaluation of the English lessons affirms they align with the blended curriculum and digital collaboration needed for Form 1 students to use the digital library. The team is committed to expanding and practicing these lessons with students and fellow CDSS teachers, pioneering teacher-created content for student-centered supplemental English lessons in CDSS digital libraries across Malawi.

The team has learned that working with rural CDSS teachers in these digital platforms is a time and equity investment, providing access and support pang’ono, pang’ono (little by little), that the MoEST does not offer. The lessons are not yet embedded in the digital library, as the team is redesigning the format into an interactive flipbook and awaiting their presentation to the Ministry of Education.

Authors

• Alison Holstad, Peace Corps

• Sarah Mkatawila, Ntonda Community Day Secondary School

• Rowland Mhango, Mkaika Community Day Secondary School