How can technology support teachers in conflict-affected contexts to be reflective practitioners? A case study from Afghanistan.

• In Event: Safeguarding the human element in technology-supported teacher professional development

Proposal

The second presentation in the panel will explore how technology has presented new opportunities to implement continuous, school-based teacher professional development in fragile or conflict-affected contexts. The discussion will explore how teachers in Afghanistan have been supported to develop their reflective capacities despite the ongoing instability in country.

Reflective thinking is a cyclical way of inquiry where teachers collect evidence about their teaching practice to analyse, interpret, and evaluate their experiences with the intention to improve their future teaching. Reflective practices are all about ensuring teacher growth and adaption. The presentation will introduce how technology has been leveraged to facilitate communication and support networks among teachers, guiding them through reflective inquiry and the promotion of professional resilience in the face of isolation and adversity.
The presenter will cover the critical elements of the blended training cascade and how each was designed to encourage a reframing of teachers as reflective practitioners.

The important role of local facilitators and mentors will be explored to understand how on-the-ground support can be designed to ensure that technology is used in a way that enhances, rather than diminishes, human connections. Voices from Afghani teachers and teacher educators will highlight their lived perspective on how a focus on reflection through technological methods has impacted their instruction and mindsets.

The presentation will conclude with reflections on the broader implications of Afghanistan's experience for TPD in other conflict-affected contexts and the somewhat paradoxical nature of promoting professional reflection through non-human delivery modes.

Authors

• Anne Njogu, Mott MacDonald Cambridge Education

• Jan Madad Madad, UNICEF