Quality Processes

Teachers

Professional learning for teachers.

The highest quality teachers, those most capable of helping their students learn, have deep

mastery of both their subject matter and pedagogy (Darling-Hammond, 1997). The

preparation that teachers receive before beginning their work in the classroom, however,

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varies significantly around the world and even within the least developed countries. In

Cape Verde, Togo and Uganda, for example, 35 per cent to 50 per cent of students have

teachers who had no teacher training. Yet in Benin, Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea,

Madagascar and Nepal, over 90 per cent of students do have teachers with some form of

teacher training. In these latter countries, most teachers have, at least, lower secondary

education; this contrasts sharply with Cape Verde and Tanzania where over 60 per cent of

students have teachers with only a primary education (Postlewaithe, 1998). Perhaps as a

consequence of too little preparation before entering the profession, a number of teachers

in China, Guinea, India and Mexico were observed to master neither the subject matter

they taught nor the pedagogical skills required for good presentation of the material

(Carron & Chau, 1996). This affects educational quality since student achievement,

especially beyond basic skills, depends largely on teachers’ command of subject matter

(Mullens, Murnance & Willett, 1996) and their ability to use that knowledge to help

students learn. A recent evaluation of the East African Madrasa (Pre-school) Programme

noted the importance of mentoring by trainers in the form of continuous support and

reinforcement of teacher learning by on-site visits to classrooms following a two week

orientation training and alongside weekly trainings in Madrasa Resource Centres. (Brown,

Brown & Sumra, 1999).

Teacher competence and school efficiency.

Whether a teacher uses traditional or more current methods of instruction, efficient use of

school time has a significant impact on student learning. Teachers’ presence in the

classroom represents the starting point. Many teachers face transportation and housing

obstacles that hinder them from getting to school on time and staying until school hours

are over. Many teachers must hold second jobs, which may detract from the time and

energy they expend in the classroom. Teachers may miss school altogether. A study in

China, Guinea, India and Mexico found that nearly half the teachers interviewed reported

being absent at some point during the previous month (Carron & Chau, 1996), requiring

other teachers to compensate for them or leaving students without instruction for the day.

Next, when teachers are present, learning occurs when teachers engage students in

instructional activities, rather than attending to administrative or other non-instructional

processes (Fuller, et al., 1999). As mentioned above, the opportunity to learn and the time

on task have been shown in many international studies to be critical for educational

quality. Finally, some schools that have been able to organize their schedules according to

children’s work and family obligations have seen greater success in student persistence and

achievement. In Ethiopia, for example, schools that began and ended the day earlier than

usual and that scheduled breaks during harvest times found that educational quality

improved. “The quality of a school and the quality of teaching of the individual teacher is

[sic] higher in schools that are able (and willing) to make more efficient use of the

available time of its teachers and its pupils” (Verwimp, 1999).

Ongoing professional development.

Professional development can help overcome shortcomings that may have been part of
teachers’ pre-service education and keep teachers abreast of new knowledge and practices
in the field. This ongoing training for teachers can have a direct impact on student
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achievement. Case studies from Bangladesh, Botswana, Guatemala, Namibia and Pakistan
have provided evidence that ongoing professional development, especially in the early
years after initial preparation and then continuing throughout a career, contribute
significantly to student learning and retention (Craig, Kraft & du Plessis, 1998). Effective
professional development may take many forms; it should not be limited to formal off-site
kinds of programmes. Dialogue and reflections with colleagues, peer and supervisor
observations and keeping journals are all effective ways for teachers to advance their
knowledge (UNICEF, 2000). A programme in Kenya, the Mombassa School
Improvement Project, built on this approach to professional development and showed that
teachers supported with in-service as well as external workshop training improved
significantly in their abilities to use child-centred teaching and learning behaviours
(Anderson, 2000). In India, an effective programme used interactive video technology to
reach a large number of teachers who sought professional development. This programme
found that training using interactive video technology led to improved conceptual
understanding of pedagogical issues for a large number of geographically dispersed
teachers (Maheshwari & Raina, 1998).
Continuing support for student-centred learning.

Teacher education, both pre-service and in-service, should help teachers develop teaching
methods and skills that take new understandings of how children learn into account. Just
as curriculum should be child-centred and relevant, so should instructional methods. The
limited view of teaching as presentation of knowledge no longer fits with current
understandings of how and what students learn. Instead, instruction should help students
build on prior knowledge to develop attitudes, beliefs and cognitive skills; as well as
expand their knowledge base. Teaching styles in many places, however, remain traditional,
teacher-centred and fairly rigid or even authoritarian (Carron & Chau, 1996). When
Ethiopian teachers were interviewed about the degree to which their teaching practices
were learner-centred and relevant to student’s lives, about half said they link lessons to the
daily life of pupils at least once a week. Almost two-thirds, however, said they never or
rarely ask pupils what their interests are, or what they would like to learn (Verwimp,
1999). Greater understanding of student-centred learning can be encouraged through
programmes such as the Bangladeshi project on Multiple Ways of Teaching and Learning.
Begun in 1994, the project helps improve teachers’ skills by integrating brain research and
multiple intelligences theory as the foundation for understanding children’s needs (Ellison
& Rothenberger, 1999). Teaching methods that facilitate active student learning rather
than promote passivity and rote memorization represent a new and difficult paradigm for
many teachers, but one that needs to be understood and put into practice if learner
outcomes are to improve. Life skills is a term which UNICEF uses in two main ways, (i)
to refer to a broad group of psychosocial and interpersonal skills, and (ii) to refer to the
process of teaching and learning about these skills. As such, it is important to discuss life
skills in terms of essential content (see section three (III.) of this paper) and processes
related to life skill-based education. Teaching and learning about life skills requires
interactive, student-centred methods. Since skills are by definition active, competency is
unlikely to be developed without active practice.