We are really excited to announce a new pilot project happening this summer in Ghana.
The pilot project builds on our Transformational Teacher Training programme, by offering training and support to lower Primary School teachers in the schools where we are delivering kindergarten teacher training. As our teacher training programme expands its reach, we are keen to ensure that the quality foundation children receive in kindergarten is not diluted or eroded when they begin primary school. Through this pilot, we hope to understand the benefits and impact of extending our support into lower primary.
To test this approach, we have partnered with Limited Resource Teacher Training whose proven model of delivering in-service training using teams of highly qualified teachers from the UK has been tested in other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We have been working with Limited Resource Teacher Training to adapt their content for Ghana and ensure that it builds on the foundation already in place in kindergarten.
19 Limited Resource Teacher Training (LRTT) teachers arrived in Ghana just after the UK school term finished and headed straight out to visit schools and talk to teachers to make sure they were able to tailor their workshops to the specific needs of Ghanaian teachers. The next few days were spent looking at the baseline data collected from classroom observations and using this to inform the sessions for the training conferences. The LRTT teachers also received a day of training about Phonics by Phone from Educators International.
On 2nd August, the first training conference, for schools in the Cape Coast district, began with welcome speeches from the Ghana Education Service Assistant Director for Supervision and our Country Director. The training then followed over the week with sessions covering topics such as behaviour for learning, phonics, effective feedback and story sharing. After a busy four days’ training, the conference closed with more speeches and a certificate for all participants. The following week, after more planning and adjusting, the whole conference was repeated for our schools in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem district.
In total, the pilot has reached 174 delegates including lower primary teachers and head teachers from the 31 schools we work with in the Central Region, as well as, College of Education tutors and Ghana Education Service Officers. Over the next year, we will be monitoring the impact these sessions have had and working with LRTT to see how we can make the most of this partnership in the future.
For now, the LRTT teachers are off for a well-deserved break, with trips to Kumasi, Mole National Park and Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary. We hope they have a fabulous time exploring some more of Ghana and look forward to updating them on the teachers’ progress over the next year!
You can find out more about Limited Resource Teacher Training on their website http://lrtt.org/
