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Sustaining and Scaling Pedagogic Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Grounded Insights For Teacher Professional Development

Haßler, B., Hennessy, S., & Hofmann, R. - 2018 - Journal of Learning for Development, 5(1)

Developing sustainable and scalable educational initiatives is a key challenge in low-income countries where donor-funded short-term projects are limited by both contextual factors and programme design. In this commentary we examine some of the issues related to in-service teacher development in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, grounded predominantly in our work of over five years of iteratively developing, refining and evaluating an intensive school-based professional learning programme...

This paper explores a pilot project in which three VET teachers in an Australian dual-sector university trialled a scholarship framework by undertaking a small ethnographic inquiry into current practices in their respective industries. The framework defined a method for engaging with industry while simultaneously developing VET teacher capability in scholarly practice. The teachers were asked to reflect on their experience of engaging in a scholarly project and how new knowledge has been...

In the past ten years, Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become an essential part of our learning and development in education. The rapid development of these new technologies coupled with the worldwide challenge to educate all children has led to a global reform and development of teacher education and motivated educational Institutions to redesign and restructure their teaching methods to enable students equip themselves for the future. The main purpose of this study therefore...

This book assesses the influence of the international organization UNESCO on the development of national Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems in the Southern African Community Region (SADC), focusing particularly on Botswana and Namibia. Designed around UNESCO’s Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) project, the study is an excellent example of applied policy research. Analysis is from the perspective of key stakeholders including UNESCO headquarters and field...

This article reviews the literature on trends and practices of recognition of prior learning (RPL) in Africa and internationally with specific reference to some of the key elements of the RPL system, including; purpose; assessment methods; quality assurance; and legislative and regulatory frameworks. In addition, a theoretical foundation of RPL is discussed underpinned by the experiential learning theory principles with a brief description of other learning theories related to RPL. The...

Background: Despite the increasing uptake of information and communication technologies (ICT) within healthcare services across developing countries, community healthcare workers (CHWs) have limited knowledge to fully utilise computerised clinical systems and mobile apps. The ` Introduction to Information and Communication Technology and eHealth' course was developed with the aim to provide CHWs in Malawi, Africa, with basic knowledge and computer skills to use digital solutions in...

Abstract Agricultural training is a potentially effective method to diffuse relevant new technologies to increase productivity and alleviate rural poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, since it is prohibitively expensive to provide direct training to all the farmers in SSA, it is critically important to examine the extent to which technologies taught to a small number of farmers disseminate to non-trained farmers. This paper investigates the technology dissemination pathways among...

The objective of the research on which this article reports was to evaluate the training conditions of primary school teachers in rural Cameroon, so as to identify alternative paths towards their qualification through informal learning in the workplace and outside. Following Denzin's (2009) between-methods triangulation approach, quantitative techniques, including statistical analyses and standardised questionnaires, were applied in addition to qualitative techniques, such as face-to-face...

Using a randomized-control trial, this study evaluates a program designed to support Ghanaian kindergarten student-teachers during pre-service training through mentorship and in-classroom training. Several potential barriers to improved teaching quality and learning outcomes are examined. Findings show that the program improved knowledge and implementation of the national curriculum for individuals both when they were student-teachers and, the following year, when they became newly qualified...

© 2017, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved. The 2014–2015 epidemic of Ebola virus disease in West Africa primarily affected Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Several countries, including Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal, experienced Ebola importations. Realizing the importance of a trained field epidemiology workforce in neighboring countries to respond to Ebola importations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Field Epidemiology Training Program unit...

Abstract Nurses are the largest group of healthcare workers in Africa. By adequately equipping nurses to identify, intervene and care for emergency conditions, emergency healthcare systems can be strengthened. To address this need, a nursing working group was formed within the African Federation for Emergency Medicine (AFEM). The aim of this international emergency nursing group was to develop a guiding document to help improve emergency nursing skills within Africa. Using this guiding...

© 2017 The Author(s). Background: Anaesthesia nurses form a critical part of the team providing perioperative care to patients, but no accredited training exists for them in South Africa. In this setting, short in-service training interventions are a pragmatic attempt at improving nurse performance and patient outcomes. Traditional didactic teaching formats have limitations, and mLearning (the use of mobile telephones to facilitate education) has proved equivalent or superior to traditional...

There is a growing interest in increasing research capacity in South African public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in general and in Universities of Technology (UoTs) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges in particular. As part of its strategy to increase research capacity, the Education, Training and Development Practices Ϫ Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP SETA) has established six Research Chairs in six public HEIs. This article introduces...

Current instructional deliveries favour the use of mobile technology because of its inherent potentials and benefits such as portability, ease of use cost and others. Despite these benefits, many teachers especially in Sub-Saharan Africa still prefer the conventional method and use mobile phones for social engagements such as texting, chatting, callings and others. Though, these teachers use mobile phones for these social activities, using it for instruction is somewhat problematic for them...

© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2016. Sarah Lange examines the effectiveness of cascade training, which constitutes a cost-effective training model in teacher training. In development cooperation countries, teaching quality is expected to improve with teacher professional development; for this purpose, she explores the effectiveness of training multipliers in schools in Cameroon. This research question is analysed with a design, which encompasses a questionnaire survey provided to teachers,...

Vocational Education and Training (VET) is offered throughout the world to students of various educational backgrounds and career aspirations in an effort to create a skilled workforce. The structure of VET varies greatly across different fields and countries with high-growth, low-growth, and transitional economies. However, a common critique of many vocational institutions is that they focus on skills training without addressing related business systems. Thus, students may not understand...

To cope with the rapid changes in the real world of work and to prepare the workforce to enter the twenty-first century, there is a paradigm shift in the modern Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) toward competency-based training (CBT) or vocational pedagogy. However, there is the lack of literature/research in TVET education that reveals the fundamental understanding and roles of contemporary learning theories in instructional psychology for creating successful...

In the human development effort, different countries are underscoring the role of TVET in providing relevant knowledge and skills to improve productivity, increase access to employment opportunities and raise the standard of living. It is in recognition of this that, in all Ethiopian educational development endeavors, TVET has been considered to play a key role to tackle the country’s socioeconomic underdevelopment through knowledgeable and skillful manpower. Since its introduction in 1941,...