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.
On November 15, 97 public schools opened their doors once again to classroom instruction after 20 months of closure and a shift to remote learning for more than one full academic year. The Philippines is one of the only countries in the world to have remained closed, with no exceptions, for so long. According to the President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the public health risks were simply too great for household and community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in this country where crowded metropolitan areas and multigenerational families living in the same home is the norm. USAID (US Agency for International Development), through the All Children Reading, ABC+, and Reach Health projects implemented by RTI International in the Philippines, is providing support for this pilot in various ways.
Imagine being a second grade student in a classroom with close to a hundred other children. It’s math class, and the teacher is instructing the class on how to solve a problem written on the board. You’re too far in the back to hear, and her instructions were so fast. Now she wants everyone to solve a new problem she has written. You have no idea what to do, so you just copy the numbers that you can see and hope she doesn’t call on you.
In early-grade classrooms across Asia and Africa, teachers struggle to teach math effectively, relying on techniques such as memorization and lecture to teach foundational skills.
By: Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, Florida State University, and Patience Sowa, RTI International //
“We were actually taught in the university before going out on teaching practice, but what I saw out there was completely different from what we were taught; the theory does not match the practice.”[1]
