Teacher Workshops Opening Day Monday, July 7th, 2014

Monday was our opening day of teacher workshops in King'ori, Tanzania. We had a small amount of teachers for the opening day but that number has grown to 36 teachers from schools throughout Leguruki Ward. The teachers are from a variety of primary and secondary schools: Sinai Primary School, Nkoasenga Primary and Secondary Schools, Miririni Primary, Mbaaseny Primary, Niruvande Academy Primary, Murovango Primary, Leguruki Primary, Etingare Primary, Kandashe Primary, Muwara Primary and Shiston Secondary. As well, we had facilitators join us from Sinai Primary, Nkoasenga Primary and Secondary, Miririni Primary and Secondary, Niruvande Academy, Murovango Primary , Leguruki Secondary and Shiston Secondary. The opening day was an opportunity for the facilitators to practice working with teachers and build their confidence for the upcoming teacher workshops on Learning Styles & Differentiated Instruction, Collaborative Learning and Inquiry Learning.

At the opening on Monday I shared my Education Beyond Borders (EBB) story with the group of teachers and facilitators so that they would have a deeper understanding of the goals of EBB and what we were hoping to build with them. 

I came to Shiston Secondary with EBB in 2011. We came for a one day seminar to share ideas and meet teachers. We also spent three days visiting schools and meeting stakeholders in the ward. We were warmly welcomed and were able to start to build relationships that carry on to this day.

EBB returned to Shiston in 2012 for four days of teacher seminars and a one day facilitator seminar for secondary schools. EBB also had a half day seminar for twenty secondary students at Shiston to the discuss the leadership role that they could have in their schools. We also went on school visits to work with teachers who had attended the workshops and discuss how they could incorporate new ideas into their teaching. We also were able to work with Mr. Urio the Ward Education Officer who has become a strong ally in building the EBB workshops in Leguruki Ward.

In 2013 EBB worked with six teachers and trained them as workshop facilitators. The facilitation sessions took place at Arusha Technical College with the support of their staff. The facilitators worked hard to develop new skills in order to deliver methodology workshops to primary and secondary teachers from Leguruki Ward along with Ngarenynuki Ward. EBB and the new facilitators delivered teacher workshops at the CKC Center in King'ori.

Now in 2014 EBB has come again to the CKC Centre to work with 22 teachers  from Leguruki and Ngarenynuki Wards to train them as workshop facilitators. Together the Canadian and Tanzanian facilitators will deliver workshops to teachers. The change in 2014 is that one team of Canadian facilitators stayed in Leguruki while the other travelled to Ngarenynuki to support the facilitators in their ward. Each year that EBB has come to Tanzania we have grown with the support of the Ward Education Officers, Head Masters & Mistresses and teachers. We look forward to when we are able to sit in the back of the room and watch the workshops being delivered without us helping.

I told this story on the opening day of our teacher workshops. It was a national holiday which accounted for only eight new teachers attending with ten facilitators from last week. Despite the low numbers it was an opportunity for our facilitators to practice speaking to the group, working with small groups and facilitating some of the activities. It definitely helped to build confidence and we had a very productive day.