Pedagogic change by Zambian primary school teachers participating in the OER4Schools professional development programme for one year

Abstract

Supporting and upskilling teachers are essential to enhancing the quality of learning in developing contexts – the focus of Education For All – yet little evidence exists concerning what kinds of teacher education are actually most effective and what changes in ‘quality’ are desired and feasible. This paper illustrates how a concrete, research-informed school-based, model of professional development in sub-Saharan Africa can address the quality agenda. It reports on a trial of a pioneering, multimedia programme supporting interactive mathematics and science teaching using open educational resources and classroom digital technology, where available. The programme was carefully adapted to the Zambian context and ran weekly for one school year with 12 teachers in a low-resourced primary school. The study examined the impact on teachers' thinking and classroom practices. Data were derived from observations, lesson and workshop recordings, teacher interviews, portfolios and audio diaries. Through a teacher-led workshop approach and trialling new pedagogical strategies, teachers raised their expectations of pupils, adapted to learners’ knowledge levels, used more practical and group work, and integrated technology use. Pupils built deeper understanding of subject matter, were actively engaged, worked collaboratively and used digital technologies for problem-solving.

Keywords:

• teacher professional development
• digital technology
• sub-Saharan Africa
• interactive pedagogy
• Zambia
• open educational resources

Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to the teachers and the school who participated in our trials. Thanks also to Melissa Marsden for her role in the data collection and analysis, and to the anonymous reviewers who provided helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this paper. The OER4Schools programme was based in the former Centre for Commonwealth Education (CCE) at the University of Cambridge and was funded by the Commonwealth Education Trust between 2009-2014. We greatly appreciate the administrative support provided by various CCE staff throughout the programme.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. http://aimssec.aims.ac.za/

3. Traffic lights are colour-coded cards displayed by students on their desk to discreetly indicate to the teacher their self-assessed current level of understanding; they are a key strategy in Assessment for Learning.

4. Zambian education policy has subsequently changed, and mixed pace grouping is now required.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Commonwealth Education Trust.