Skip to main content

Home/ Teachers Without Borders/ Group items matching "support" in title, tags, annotations or url

Group items matching
in title, tags, annotations or url

Sort By: Relevance | Date Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Teachers Without Borders

Thailand takes first steps on long road to inclusive mainstream education | Global development | guardian.co.uk - 0 views

  • Cultural barriers continue to deny disabled children access to schools, but progress on inclusive education is finally gathering
  • The strict hierarchy of Thai society means the drive for inclusive education needs strong commitment from both politicians and school leaders. In the past decade, there has been significant political progress in moves to implement a system that ensures children with disabilities have access to mainstream schools. However, with cultural barriers and resistance from some headteachers, the journey towards fully inclusive education has only just begun.
  • Some headteachers Lennon spoke to were amenable to the concept of inclusive education, but didn't feel they had the resources or training to implement it effectively. Others, with decades of experience of working in special schools, felt this institutional model was more suitable.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • However, many headteachers in Vorapanya's study cited the Buddhist belief in the need for compassion as a reason they support inclusive education. Meanprasat private school in Bangkok, which combines western-style "child-centric" learning with a Buddhist ethos of moral ethics and regular meditation, is recognised as a national leader in integrated educational practices. In total, 130 of its 1,300 students are disabled. The school's philosophy is that children with disabilities "should have the chance to mix with society and be accepted by it". More than 5,000 teachers visit the school annually and attend workshops held to help spread good practice.
  • Nanthaporn (Nuey) Nanthamongkol, a six-year-old girl with Down's syndrome, was due to be sent to a distant boarding school before he intervened. "Without our work, Nuey would have been separated from her parents, sent to a school 80km away," says Lennon. "For kids with Down's syndrome, this is the worst possible thing you could do."
  • State schools, however, which have much less funding, have been described by Vorapanya as having "woefully insufficient resources" to implement inclusive education properly. Headteachers have complained that while schools can now access a minimum of 2,000 baht (approximately £41) funding for each disabled child, this is not enough to cover the required resources or training expenses. Another problem is that this funding can only be given if the child has been officially certified with a disability. Teachers have reported that some parents do not want this social stigma or are fearful that this certification will lead to discrimination.Despite the significant challenges, Lennon is optimistic. "We are making great strides," he says. "If we keep doing good, the results will surely follow."
Martyn Steiner

Sustainability and Evolution of ICT-Supported Classroom Practice - 2 views

  •  
    Looks at whether teacher use of ICT is a true change in deep practice or simply a box-ticking exercise.
Teachers Without Borders

An update on the use of e-readers in Africa | A World Bank Blog on ICT use in Education - 0 views

  • One result is that they deliberately decided to complement the delivery of the devices with extensive engagement with local stakeholder groups, did a lot of capacity building with teachers and trainers, and tried to help align what they were doing with what was happening in the formal education system.
  • hat said, there are very real concerns in some quarters that e-book initiatives from the 'West', however well-intentioned, are potentially an important tool contributing to a subtle form of, for lack of a better term, cultural imperialism. Worldreader is apparently working on a platform for African authors and publishers to be able to distribute their works electronically, so that it will be easier for students to read books from local authors, consistent with the learning goals of local school systems.  While not downplaying the difficulties of getting large educational publishers to make their content available digitally for use by students in Africa, this desire to help promote digital marketplaces for African reading materials is perhaps the most ambitious aspect to the Worldreader initiative.
  • When they went back and asked, "what if content was digitized and made available at $1/book?", many people suddenly got very interested. 
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • A number of research efforts of various sorts are underway trying to help provide some tentative answers to this important question, based on Worldreader pilots.  Most notable has been the iRead pilot in Ghana (here's an executive summary of the first independent evaluation commissioned by USAID [pdf]), which used a set of pre- and post- literacy tests to three groups
  • Worldreader is encouraged by the results it is seeing so far -- the biggest effects are being seen around grades 4-5, a result that many of the literacy experts attending the Worldreader presentation did not find surprising, for a variety of reasons -- but they are not yet seeing the types of 'blockbuster results' it is hoping.
  • Worldreader does appear serious and diligent in its approach, however, and so I look forward to receiving updates on the research output that I expect will emerge over time, which it plans to make available on part of its web site dedicated to "learnings". (Parenthetical note: Preliminary results from the World Bank's e-book pilot in Nigeria are expected later this year; background here, here, and here.)
  • The first challenge in this regard is (as always) money. Here Worldreader is now starting to confront a phenomenon known to many who have worked in the ICT4D area for awhile.  Finding funding support for small pilot projects, while not always easy, can be done. Large national educational technology projects are being funded in various countries around the world.  But what about the in-between level, where you do things at a much larger scale so that you can learn about how best to scale when you do things at a really big, national level?  Few funders seem able to provide support at this level.  As a result, one approach being explored is a franchising model, combining both donor and local partner funding, and a prototype 'Worldreader-in-a-Box' solution for local implementing groups is being rolled out and tested.
  • The first stage of Worldreader activities in introducing e-books and e-readers into a few small communities in Africa has convinced the organization and its backers that what it is doing is worth doing.  We no longer need to convince ourselves "if" we should be doing this, they say.  Now the question is, "how?" 
Martyn Steiner

What factors support or prevent teachers from using ICT in their classrooms? - 0 views

  •  
    "What Factors Support or Prevent Teachers from Using ICT in their Classroom?" - does what it says on the tin. 
Teachers Without Borders

Education in Emergencies: Research Methodologies - 0 views

  •  
    Education in emergencies (EiE) is both a research "field in its infancy" and a rapidly "emerging  field" (Tomlinson & Benefield, 2005). This scoping study reviews a wide range of academic  articles and grey literature in the education in emergencies field to map current and past research  methodologies used by academics and practitioners. It identifies the unique successes and gaps in  the evidence base in order to support future academics and practitioners in conducting and  documenting research. This study concludes that ensuring sound ethical and rigorous reflective  research practices is critical to fill research gaps and to move EiE from infancy to a welldeveloped, reputable research field.
Teachers Without Borders

INEE Toolkit - Pocket Guide to Inclusive Education - 0 views

  •  
    Pocket Guide to Inclusive Education With the input of many INEE members, INEE's Task Team on Inclusive Education and Disability developed this tool as a quick reference guide to help practitioners make sure that education in emergencies is accessible and inclusive for everyone, particularly those who have been traditionally excluded from education. This guide is aimed at anyone working to provide, manage or support education services in emergencies and complements the INEE Minimum Standards. It outlines useful principles for an inclusive education approach in emergencies and provides advice for planning, implementing and monitoring. The guide also looks at the issue of resistance to inclusion, and highlights ways in which organisations can support their emergency staff to develop more inclusive education responses. For more information on this tool, please visit www.ineesite.org/inclusion or email network@ineesite.org.
Teachers Without Borders

High schools join the fight against depression - 0 views

  •  
    Distinguishing between mood disorders and the normal difficulties of adolescence is not always easy, but a new program has been developed by the institute to give teachers and students a better understanding of mental health issues. Advertisement: Story continues below The HeadStrong program uses classroom activities to share information and prompt discussions on depression and bipolar disorders, at-risk personality types, coping strategies and where to get support. The institute will train 1500 high school teachers across Australia in the HeadStrong teaching resource over the next three years. It will reach 90,000 students, with a focus on those in rural and remote locations.
Teachers Without Borders

Ontario shows us we should support our teachers, not shame them | Education | The Guardian - 0 views

  • When the provincial government in which Levin served was elected, the Ontario school system was in trouble. In Canada each province has sole responsibility for education, and previous administrations had made structural changes, slashed funding, over promoted testing and gone to war with the unions. Perhaps most important, Levin writes: "The government was vigorously critical of schools and teachers in public." The result was industrial unrest, plummeting teacher morale, low parental confidence and stagnating pupil achievement. Maybe not surprisingly, in 2003 a new government was elected on a platform of renewing and improving public education. Today Ontario is widely acclaimed, not least by both the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) and the OECD for its rare combination of excellence and equity for all.
  • The Ontario government chose a few targeted and ambitious, but not unusual, objectives: raising standards for all, narrowing gaps, increasing participation rates, and growing public confidence in state schools. But rather than experimenting with US-style marketisation policies and tinkering with structures, it developed a rigorous programme based on evidence, and began a relentless focus on implementation and building capacity at every level.
  • "Skill" and "will" became the watchwords, not just for teachers but for everybody involved in the education system, which progressed rapidly thanks to massive investment in leadership and professional development at school, district and ministerial level.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Public statements from government and ministers were switched to be deliberately supportive rather than dismissive of state schools. Finally, and most crucially, the government set out to build a respectful, collaborative relationship with teachers, unions, pupils and parents. "You cannot threaten, shame or punish people into top performance," writes Levin.
  •  
    Ontario shows us we should support our teachers, not shame them The Canadian province improved its education system by being supportive rather than dismissive of state schools
Teachers Without Borders

Nepal, South Africa and Venezuela to receive UN prize for boosting education - 0 views

  • Three institutions from Nepal, South Africa and Venezuela will be recognized for supporting and improving teachers’ effectiveness in developing countries, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced today. The Rato Bangala Foundation, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Schools Enrichment Centre, and the Banco del Libro will be awarded the UNESCO-Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers during a ceremony in Dubai in April. The three institutions will be recognized for their outstanding work in the education field in developing countries or within marginalized or disadvantaged communities, UNESCO said in a news release.
Teachers Without Borders

BBC News - Raise teacher status to improve schools, says OECD - 0 views

  • Teaching must be made more attractive for the brightest students, says a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Report author Andreas Schleicher says teachers need to be given "status, pay and professional autonomy". The international report identifies the quality of teachers as the key to raising education standards. The most successful systems, such as Finland and Singapore, recruit high-achieving students, says the report.
  • Mr Schleicher, the OECD's special adviser on education, argues in his report that if school systems want to be competitive they need to recruit and reward the right type of staff. He says that a modern economy needs teachers who are "high-level knowledge workers" - able to support the learning of children in a digital age.
  • "But people who see themselves as knowledge workers are not attracted by schools organised like an assembly line, with teachers working as interchangeable widgets in a bureaucratic command-and-control environment," says Mr Schleicher.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • In Finland, a high social status is attached to teaching, making it very competitive, with nine out of 10 applicants for teacher training being turned away. In Singapore, teachers are drawn from the top third of students and they are paid at levels competitive with other graduate careers. Across the OECD, teachers on average are paid less well than other graduate professions - receiving about 80% of the average for workers with degrees.
Teachers Without Borders

SKNVibes | OAS Ministers of Education highlight the role of teachers in the "Declaration of Paramaribo" and issue recommendations for the Summit of the Americas - 0 views

  • I hope that following this meeting and the Declaration of Paramaribo, Member States and the Governments that you represent will not only endorse the vision that you have agreed upon, but also will translate that into a working plan to put money behind those plans, to execute those plans,” the OAS official added. He also tanked national representatives on the support they provide to the OAS on these issues.
  • Minister Sapoen said that the meeting was “a very fruitful exchange of information, experiences and practices”. “Don’t let these agreements stay in words. We are currently in the years of writing words, let the coming years be the years of doing,” he added.
  • The Surinamese Minister was elected at the meeting to Chair the Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE, by its Spanish acronym), succeeding Ecuadorian Minister Gloria Vidal. Also elected were Costa Rica and Paraguay, both as Vice Chairs.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The “Declaration of Paramaribo (available here) stressed the importance of teachers in all levels of the educational process. “We reaffirm the key role of the teacher in educational processes and results and recognize that the participation of teachers in efforts to improve the quality of education is important, so as to help ensure that the results are effective and lasting,” the text says.
  • The document also highlights the need for educators “to have access to quality initial preparation and continuing professional development” and acknowledges that “policies to strengthen the teaching profession and opportunities for quality professional development are vital to attract, employ, induct, develop, evaluate, motivate, retain, and recognize teachers so that they become ever better educators.”
  • The Declaration of Paramaribo also emphasizes the importance of expanding access to new technologies in education, and applauded the progresses made by the Inter-American Teacher Education Network (ITEN).
  • the government of the United States announced during the meeting its commitment to further provide resources to strengthen ITEN’s work
  • In Paramaribo, some countries already put forward proposals such as strengthening teacher’s education; establishing diploma or degree equivalencies among countries; strengthening learning of languages; and considering the importance of the role of the family in education and development.
Teachers Without Borders

Foundation Center - PubHub - Center for American Progress - Lightening the Load: A Look at Four Ways That Community Schools Can Support Effective Teaching - 0 views

  •  
    Lightening the Load: A Look at Four Ways That Community Schools Can Support Effective Teaching Center for American Progress Chang, Theodora; Calyssa Lawyer Published: January 2012 Describes how healthcare, family involvement, and expanded food assistance programs at high-poverty community schools enhance teacher effectiveness by enabling them to focus on instruction in stable environments. Recommends policies to maximize benefits.
Teachers Without Borders

Education Week: Spotlight on Professional Development - 3 views

  •  
    The Education Week Spotlight on Professional Development is a collection of articles hand-picked by our editors for their insights on: Using social media and networking for professional development New guidelines for teacher learning Integrating face-to-face and online professional development Using classroom visits to learn best practices from peers Supporting teachers to meet the needs of English-language learners You get the nine articles below and a resource guide in a downloadable PDF.
Martyn Steiner

Education for an Information Age | Teaching in the Computerized Classroom | 7th Edition - 0 views

  •  
    A *very* comprehensive e-book designed for K-12 teachers, seeking to support them in integrating ICT into their classrooms. Covers all manner of subjects, from details of hardware through to theoretical considerations.
Teachers Without Borders

Developing Locally Meaningful Indicators for Child-centered Psychosocial Programming in Uganda - 0 views

  •  
    Defining Success: Developing Locally Meaningful Indicators for Child-centered Psychosocial Programming in Uganda
Teachers Without Borders

The Education Cluster in Haiti - Two Years On - 0 views

  •  
    The Education Cluster in Haiti - Two Years On January 2012 Introduction Throughout 2011, the Haiti Education Cluster led by UNICEF and Save the Children, established shortly after the January 2010 earthquake, continued to leverage resources  (technical, material and financial) to enhance cholera prevention and the recovery of the  education system from the impact of the earthquake, while supporting the Government of  Haiti to strengthen the capacity of the education system, including developing mechanisms  to prevent, prepare for and respond to future emergencies. 
Teachers Without Borders

Netherlands provides US$10 million for UNICEF Education Programme in Zambia | Back on Track - 0 views

  • LUSAKA, Zambia, 16 January 2012 (UNICEF) – The Government of the Netherlands is supporting the UNICEF education programme in Zambia with US$10 million (50 trillion Zambian kwacha) with a focus on the most vulnerable children in the country. “The overall goal of the programme is to contribute to the national targets of improving children’s access to equitable quality education, in line with the Millennium Development Goals and the Sixth National Development Plan. If we are to expect Zambia’s children and adolescents to be able to develop, learn, and participate in a protective and enabling environment, it is our duty and responsibility as a partner country to double our efforts in providing the required support to help us reap these desired results,,” said His Excellency Ambassador Harry Molenaar of the Royal Netherlands Embassy during a signing ceremony in Lusaka.
‹ Previous 21 - 40 of 131 Next › Last »
Showing 20 items per page