Motivated teachers are vital for successful and effective classroom instruction. They show up consistently and inspire and engage their students. Enthusiastic teachers assess students’ abilities, give feedback, and collaborate with other teachers. They are passionate about the important role they play and enjoy what they do.
When the COVID-19 pandemic affected Liberia, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in March 2020, Liberian students joined the more than 91% of students worldwide who overnight entered a new world. This new world—one of closed schools and a scramble to transition to virtual learning—was more accessible to children and youth with immediate access to resources such as personal tutors and online learning content. In contrast, it put the billion-plus children and youth who do not have such resources at further risk.
For young children, learning how to read requires having teachers and home learning partners who can consistently scaffold them through this learning process. However, when schools closed due to the COVID-19 global health crisis, children in low-income families where they are first generation learners barely had adults at home who can teach them to read and write. With limitations in mobility and access to learning materials and services, even teachers were not able to provide direct instruction to these learners thereby exacerbating their marginalization in education.
On a late Friday afternoon in August 2019, Hawa Palay—a grade one teacher from Ndambu Public School in Lofa County—has just completed a five-day Read Liberia teacher training course. Upon leaving the auditorium, a notification on her mobile phone catches her attention: it’s a text message informing her that she has already been reimbursed for the training.
Motivated teachers are vital for successful and effective classroom instruction. They show up consistently, inspire, and engage their students. Enthusiastic teachers assess students’ ability, give feedback, and collaborate with other teachers. They are passionate about the important role they hold and enjoy what they do.
