Training Curriculum and Kitwe Visit

Today I wanted to give you a brief insight into the training program we developed. In the program we first teach basic core leadership principles that can be applied to the classroom, and then we teach them "best practices." Best practices are proven teacher strategies that help children learn. We only focus on five leadership principles, but we think that if the teachers can truly develop these principles they will be successful in the classroom. If a teacher can 1. set big goals, 2. invest others, 3. plan purposefully, 4. execute effectively, and 5. continually increase their effectiveness, they can make significant gains within the classroom. Within each of these leadership principles are different subcategories, and each of these subcategories entails one session. For example, here is part of our training schedule for Mapalo.

1. Plan Purposefully

a. Objective Driven Lesson Plans October 15th

b. Classroom Procedures and Rules October 22nd

c. Differentiated Instruction: Zone of Proximal Development October 29th

d. Age Appropriate Understanding of Children November 5th

e. Levels of Critical Thinking November 12th

2. Invest Others: A Child Centered Education

a. Creating a Welcoming Environment November 19th

b. Student Interest: Can and Wants November 19th

3. Set Big Goals

a. Setting Goals November 26th

b. Long Term Planning December 3rd

c. Assessments December 3rd

Hopefully, that gives you a little bit of an idea of our training philosophy even though it is kinda hard to do without sitting down and looking at the documents . After we finish the leadership training, we move to training them on teacher best practices. The program for Mapalo, the community in which I work at the moment, will last until the first of April.

While the "pilot program" is on going in Mapalo, we are already looking at expanding the program to other communities schools with whom we have contact. Lawrence Temfwe and I are traveling tomorrow to Kitwe, a town about 45 minutes away from Ndola. There we will engage the pastors and school leaders to see if this is something they want for their community schools. The program would look different in Kitwe though. Instead of offering an hour and a half session each week and constantly monitoring the schools, we would run an intensive three day session when the teachers have time off, and we would only engage in a limited amount of school monitoring.

Things are still going well in Mapalo. The teachers are still excited, and I can begin to see change in their teaching practices and mentalities. For the past two days, I saw educational games being played. When I first walked into the school, I never thought this was possible. They also know when I am coming to the schools; therefore, they may just be doing it to show off to me. Whatever the reason, students were having an engaging and meaningful educational experience and for that I am thankful. Until next time....