Providing Professional development to rural school teachers

RWCT trainers participate in READ (Rural Education and Development project) in Mongolia

Training of Trainers Workshop

March 1 - March 5, 2007 Terelj, Ulaanbaatar

Implementing Organization: Mongolian Education Alliance

Mongolian Education Alliance is a non-profit, independent NGO established in July 2004 as a successor to Mongolian Foundation for Open Society (MFOS) education programs that had operated from 1998. Since 1998 they have contributed to the development of Mongolian education sector greatly through a number of programs and projects on curriculum development, teacher professional development by introducing new content and methodology. In 2007, MEA received the grant from WB to implement professional development to rural teachers on the use of classroom libraries under the READ (Rural Education and Development) project. The Training of trainers workshop was held in March 2007.

Participants: Rural schools primary grade headmasters, primary grade teachers, primary education local methodologists and capital city teacher trainers with previous experiences of Soros projects.

Consultants: George Hunt (UK), Nicolae Cretu (Moldova)

Workshop objectives

• To demonstrate ways of using classrooms libraries as resources for teaching information literacy.
• To ensure that teachers understand the role of the classroom library in developing knowledge, creativity and critical thinking throughout school and community.
• To train library users in maintaining and developing book stocks and other library resources.
• To establish efficient procedures for monitoring and reporting the use and quality of service of classroom and school libraries.
• To enhance teachers’ awareness of the mutually reinforcing links between reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking and of the ways in which classroom library use can enhance these links.
• To train teachers in classroom strategies, appropriately differentiated to children’s learning needs, which promote interactive reading, comprehension, critical literacy, and vocabulary development.
• To enable teachers to monitor, assess and record children’s progress in reading and writing through the use of observational and evaluative schedules.
• To establish family and community literacy procedures which will enable all members of the community to enjoy reading, writing and contributing to the literacy resources of the community.

Workshop topics and methodology

A guidebook that covers all workshop topics and methodology has been developed. It covers following topics and methodology.

Introduction

• Project aims and objectives
• Mission and goals of the classroom library
• Management and effectiveness
• The information explosion
• The role of the teacher librarian
• Standards of excellence for teacher librarians

Module 1: Establishing classroom libraries and linking them to the wider learning community.

• Objectives and key concepts
• Introductory activity: desert island books
• Core activity one: flexibility for purpose: introducing learners to the sorting and classification of library resources
• Core activity two: making book bags for enjoyment and home school liaison
• Designing the layout of the library with reference to the classroom furniture issue
• Further activities for library organization, advocacy and community involvement: community storytelling, cataloguing, writing library guidelines, displays, library games, book hospital and recycling, daily and special events.
• Background information for this module
• Summary of module one

Module 2: Interactive reading and writing

• Objectives and key concepts
• Introductory activity: share a story
• Core activity one: listen to my story: using oral tradition to enhance the interaction of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and to provide library material
• Core activity two: paired reading
• Core activity three: shared writing
• Activity four: developing response partnerships
• Activity five: shared reading of big books
• Activity six: readers' theatre and choral reading
• Background information for module two
• Summary of module two

Module 3: Developing critical reading comprehension

• Objectives and key concepts
• Introductory activity: the statements game
• Core activity one: using a writing frame to express opinions based on reading
• Core activity two: judging characters
• Follow up activity: using short stories for group reading discussions
• Further activities for developing critical reading comprehension: missing pieces, transcoding information, clustering, case study, directed reading activity, reciprocal teaching, reading and questioning, reQuest procedure, using higher order questions.
• Background information for module three: theories of reading comprehension
• Summary of module three

Module 4: assessment of library use and students' reading

• Objectives and key concepts
• Core activity one: establishing indicators for assessing active library use
• Core activity two: using an informal reading inventory
• Using student journal writing and portfolio for formative assessment

Workshop final evaluation summary

Overall impressions of the workshop are highly positive. All workshop participants were very active and engaged in all activities. A big number of questions (additional to workshop objectives) has been raised, which demonstrates a high level of understanding.

1. What important things have you learnt from the training? Why do you think they are important?

• Many different methods for reading books, and the detailed information and instruction on how to create big and small books and book bags.
• A great opportunity to see How trainers work in pairs as a team.
• Methods on how to establish classroom libraries, how to enrich with books students made, how to use it
• My experience improved by learning teaching reading, discussion and creating of resources
• My knowledge on how to develop students reading, writing and reading comprehension by using the library
• New methods on how to develop young students basic skills
• Good understanding of team work
• High satisfaction and feeling that we have learnt all the connection of methods which develop reading, writing, listening, speaking, work cooperatively and thinking skills.
• Me and my aimag team learned how t work with books, how to care and create them.
• The methodology, to develop students competence, that we have learnt is one of the goal of the new standard.
• Much experience on how to create books.
• The methods to motivate students and parents on reading books.
• High satisfaction on the methodology we have learnt. Because this is the still real gap in Mongolian education.
• Understanding of the importance of discussion after every activity.

2. What difficulties did you face during the training. Why?

• Any problems, because the trainers were very capable and the teaching was very understandable.
• My previous experience and knowledge was helpful to understand the whole content easily and deeply.
• Nope, because of well organized training, and the well designed program.
• No difficulties, because the opportunities were provided everyday after the session for asking and clarifying in writing.
• The training was full of interest, so there weren’t any problem faced.
• Only problem for some new people, that they were shy.
• The exercise of teaching by myself was a bit difficult, but coped it with the help of the trainers and the team.
• English language! How much I wanted to directly understand it in the language of the trainers.

3. How does the training meet your needs?

• Fully satisfied the current needs. Because last 5 years I haven’t been receiving such effective training.
• My goal was achieved. Effectiveness, use of time, working environment, warm atmosphere.
• Will be very useful and hands on for my everyday teaching.
• Because the trainers are excellent and thus made the training a great success to meet everyone’s needs and interest.
• The team of translators was great, that it didn’t remind the training with the translation.
• We all achieved our expectations.

4. Do you have any unanswered questions?

• No, I do not. All were clear.
• Not, yet. Hope will have more during the implementation and will get back via email.
• Is there next level of this training? Would like to participate.

5. Your overall impression of the training

• The organizer and its team’s sincerity to the work is so high, and it was wished if MOE, local education departments, and Institute of education could be the same.
• One of the important and crucial issue in education has resolved
• Creative, effective and efficient and lot’s of ideas.
• Totally new content and approach in Mongolian education that encourages involvement of all parties.
• The content is close to real life and practice.
• Within very short time, we learnt a lot of things.
• It will make my life to change from today to become a real teacher.
• No boring theories, but encourages us how it is possible to be creative.
• I have learned and come up with ideas how to integrate subjects via using a classroom library.
• Participants gained an experience and support to conduct training.
• It motivated me a lot that I would like to disseminate what I learnt to other my colleagues and communities.
• It made us think to change ourselves.
• Fully reached its goal, well organized, fully responsible, well timed, attractive and interesting, needs oriented and helped people to understand how they were lucky.

6. What do we need to improve in the future?

• This format has nothing to improve.
• Nothing to improve and change, but have to change ourselves.
• This methodology needs to be introduced and implemented in teacher training colleges and institutes.
• To improve the success, the participants need to come self prepared, that they need to bring camera, flash discs, blank CDs etc.
• No many long hours work after dinner.
• Want another training of this kind, for several years, once a year.
• It made me think that if one can obtain the skills to work cooperatively, he or she can develop my self.
• It would be nice if the trainers bring the videos with their country’s childrens’ activities.
• Not only, primary, but, upper grade teachers must receive this training.
• If there would be a training of this kind, but more focused on development of math skills and thinking.
• The development of similar module for teaching secondary grade students.
• More training and professional development activities for rural teachers
• Thank MEA a lot for their work for teachers development.