Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Co-Creating a National Teacher Training Program on Bangla Literacy

• In Event: Pedagogies & possibilities: Evidence from literacy studies across contexts and spaces

Proposal

The Bangla language is central to Bangladeshi pride and national identity, so much so that people protested and risked their lives for the right to speak, study, and work in their native language. On February 21, 1952, students, political activists, and concerned citizens were killed by police during language movement protests near the campus of the University of Dhaka. They were the first-ever martyrs to die for the right to speak their mother tongue and Bangladesh has since observed February 21 as Shaheed Dibosh (Martyrs Day) to remember their sacrifice. In 2000 UNESCO further commemorated it as International Mother Language Day. Bangladesh’s language movement served as a catalyst for the broader movements that eventually led to independence from Pakistan in 1971. Reinforcing the importance and centrality of mother language in Bangladesh, the 2010 National Education Policy included the major objective to “teach the Bangla language with correct pronunciation and in a standardized way.” Bangla remains the language of instruction for all primary education and literacy is a priority for the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) in its 2018 Fourth Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP4).

In response to civic voices demanding mother tongue instruction, USAID’s Esho Shikhi Activity (Esho Shikhi) is a 5-year $38.5 million Bangla literacy intervention working side-by-side with the MoPME’s Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) to support the implementation of PEDP4. A primary focus of this support has been the development of resources to support Bangla teaching and learning, -instruction in grades one and two. The training materials are designed according to best practices for interactive adult learning and include frequent opportunities for hands-on practice for classroom instruction. They also include linguistic activities, techniques for using technology, and strategies for engaging students. This supports the right of students to receive quality primary education in their mother tongue as medium of instruction, as fought for by the original language martyrs.

Notably, all these materials have been co-created and co-developed in close collaboration between Esho Shikhi and the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). Over several months a joint team consisting of a Bangla subject specialist from DPE, diploma in education specialist from National Academy for Primary Education (NAPE), curriculum and textbook development specialist from National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) and technical primary education experts from Esho Shikhi designed and developed the materials through an iterative process. These materials include Bangla literacy focused master trainer training manuals, teacher training manuals, teacher resource books, and classroom instructional materials such as letter cards, charts, workbooks, and story cards.

These materials will be used in all 10,000 Esho Shikhi intervention schools and have also been approved by the GoB for use in government primary schools nationwide. As of April 2023, they are being deployed to 110,000 primary school teachers across Bangladesh. This represents the first-time materials supported by and designed with an external organization have been approved and adopted by the GoB, highlighting the ability of co-creation to develop ownership, multiply impact, and increase buy-in from teachers and other school-level stakeholders. In fact, in 2008, primary school teachers protested when required to attend a different externally designed training course (bdnews24, 2008).

Along with the teaching and learning materials, Esho Shikhi and GoB collaborated to develop a complementary classroom observation and mentoring tool to provide continuous professional development support in alignment with PEDP4 subcomponent 1.5. Head teachers will use the tool to scaffold regular feedback and mentoring sessions with teachers to ensure they are incorporating the new teaching practices and continuing to develop professionally. MoPME approved and adopted the tool in 2023 and, while it was originally developed for Esho Shikhi, it will be used in all government primary schools. Critically, deploying this classroom observation and mentoring tool allowed GoB to report on a World Bank disbursement linked indicator (DLI) and release $13 million in additional funding for education.

The co-development of the teacher training program in Bangladesh represents how teamwork across stakeholder groups strengthens interventions, leverage sector wide approach to achieve national goal, ensure contextual relevance and, though increasing ownership and buy-in, mitigates the risk of education-related protests.

Authors

• Zillur Rahman Siddiki, Winrock International

• Uttam Kumar Das, Directorate of Primary Education

• Litan Das, Department of Primary Education