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15/09/2015

Van 15 tot 17 september 2015 vindt de dertiende UKFIET-conferentie rond onderwijs en ontwikkeling plaats in het Engelse Oxford. Het centrale thema van deze conferentie is: 'Learning for Sustainable Futures – Making the Connections'. VVOB presenteert vier papers tijdens dit evenement: twee zogenaamde 'full papers' en twee kortere voorstellingen. Hun respectieve centrale thema's zijn: leerlinggerichte pedagogie in Rwanda, kleuteronderwijs in Zambia en Zimbabwe, transformatie van het technisch secundair onderwijs in Ecuador en schoolleiderschap in Rwanda. Hieronder vindt u de samenvattingen. De twee 'full papers' kan je onderaan deze pagina downloaden.

'Full paper': Conceptions of learning and uptake of learner-centred pedagogy in initial teacher education in Rwanda

Samenvatting  

This study provides an analysis of the uptake of Learner-Centred Pedagogy (LCP) in initial teacher education in Rwanda. The promotion of LCP is high on the educational reform agenda in many sub-Saharan African countries. LCP engages learners in critical thinking, problem solving and decision taking – seen as crucial transferable skills for sustainable development. An important strategy to prepare future teachers is to model LCP in initial teacher education. However, as in many other countries around the world, a critical challenge is teacher educators’ limited uptake of LCP in their own pedagogical practice. It seems not easy to change from a transmission model to a reflective practitioner model of teaching and learning.

At the start of a professional development trajectory in 2014, 228 teacher educators in all Primary Teacher Training Colleges in Rwanda completed a questionnaire (response of 77%), assessing factors such as access to resources, professional development opportunities, conceptions of learning, and uptake of LCP. The research describes that Rwandan teacher educators adhere to constructivist approaches of learning, and at the same time believe that learning is about taking in knowledge through transmission and reproduction as well. Multiple regression analysis reveals that the factor contributing most to the explained variance in the uptake of LCP is cooperation and sharing amongst colleagues (β= .315). The study discusses the limitations of the construct where learning as construction of knowledge is opposed to learning as intake of knowledge; and explores how sharing and cooperation amongst colleagues influences the uptake of LCP.

Auteurs  

Jef Peeraer (Programme Manager, VVOB Rwanda), Chantal Kabanda (University of Rwanda - College of Education), Wenceslas Nzabalirwa (University of Rwanda – College of Education), Gabriel Nizeyimana (University of Rwanda - College of Education) en Alphonse Uworwabayeho (University of Rwanda - College of Education)

 

Early childhood education: different contexts, different approaches

Samenvatting  

The nationwide expansion of quality early childhood education (ECE) as a public service is a relatively new strategic priority in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, we highlight the cases of Zimbabwe and Zambia, neighbouring countries in which ECE is part of the mainstream education system and thus a responsibility of the Governments. In Zimbabwe, the expansion of ECE services by the government was already started more than a decade ago, while in Zambia it is a very recent development, prompting a significant investment in teacher training. Several teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe have been offering Diploma Courses in ECE since 2005. In Zambia, a Diploma Course for ECE teachers was only piloted in 2014 in 2 government colleges, with a progressive expansion planned over the next few years to all 12 government teacher training institutions.

Development partners such as VVOB and UNICEF have been supporting the Ministries of Education and their departments for teacher development in early childhood education in both Zimbabwe and Zambia. VVOB’s support has focused on capacity development at policy and strategic levels, as well as at the operational levels of initial teacher education and continuous professional development for ECE teachers. Applying a customized typology of capacity development methods, VVOB has been providing long-term, systematic capacity development and process guidance aimed at sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness. This paper investigates the effectiveness of the capacity development methods used in Zimbabwe and Zambia and offers guidance on how to tailor these methods towards a specific context.

Auteurs  

Robert Chipimbi (Education Advisor, VVOB Zimbabwe), Marie-Pierre Ngoma (Education Advisor, VVOB Zimbabwe), Hanne Huysmans (Education Advisor, VVOB Zambia), Tom Vandenbosch (Education Advisor, VVOB) en Arne Willems (Education Advisor, VVOB)

'Full paper': Transforming TVET Governance – The Case of Ecuador

Samenvatting  

Written from the practitioners’ perspective, this paper examines the reform of Secondary Technical Education in Ecuador – a reform that is embedded in the broader political agenda of Buen Vivir, the Ecuadorian government’s answer to mainstream sustainable development discourse. As a touchstone to “test” the Secondary Technical Education reform, the paper uses the conceptual framework that emerged from the 2012 Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and specifically the metaphor of the three lenses for analysing and guiding the transformation of TVET systems recently developed in Unleashing the Potential: Transforming Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Marope et al., 2015).

The authors agree with Marope et al. (2015) that in the long term the governance of TVET transformation towards sustainable human development may be even more important than the content of the reforms. Hence, particular attention is paid to the recent process of Secondary Technical Education policy formulation and implementation as a means to understand how TVET governance is changing in Ecuador. The paper notes concerted efforts to improve the evidence base, involve stakeholders in policy development and expand partnerships for implementation as noteworthy features of the policy process. However, it also shows that from the early stages onwards, there has been a tendency to narrow down the Buen Vivir agenda to a predominantly economic narrative. To ensure this is balanced with equity and environmental sustainability concerns, the paper calls for a further broadening of stakeholder participation and the creation of new types of partnerships.

Auteurs  

Maud Seghers (Education Advisor, VVOB) en Evelien Masschelein (Programme Manager, VVOB Ecuador)

 

Strengthening head teachers’ school leadership competences: evidence-based policy development in Rwanda

Samenvatting  

Effective school leadership can have a clear impact on teaching and learning processes in schools; and hence on pupils’ learning outcomes. Therefore, the Education Sector Strategic Plan of the Government of Rwanda (2013/14–2017/18) prioritises training and performance assessment of head teachers. A research on the effectiveness of different approaches for school leadership was done to inform the nationwide rollout of a professional development programme for head teachers in Rwanda.

Primary school head teachers participated in different capacity development trajectories for effective school leadership over a period of two years. Head teachers were randomly assigned to four experimental groups, receiving (A) training and intervision coaching; (B) intervision coaching only; (C) training only; or (D) no training nor intervision coaching (control group). Training of head teachers was provided by a pool of qualified trainers, while intervision coaching of head teachers was provided by Sector Education Officers. The effects of these different trajectories were measured at the level of the head teachers, at the level of teachers, and at the level of primary school pupils.

Based on an assessment of the effects of the different trajectories for school leadership development and the costs involved in each one of them, the cost-effectiveness of the different approaches (“value-for-money”) was estimated. The research has informed policy development in Rwanda: standards for effective school leadership have been approved and a policy has been drafted in which the importance of an initial training for head teachers, complemented by a system for continuing professional development is emphasised.

Auteurs  

Hans Zult (Education Advisor, VVOB Rwanda), Alexis Mukizwa Mahe (Education Advisor, VVOB Rwanda), Léon Mugenzi (Education Advisor, VVOB Rwanda) en Tom Vandenbosch (Education Advisor, VVOB)