08
sector VOLUNTEERING DIARY
For a good cause
HEADTEACHER JAMES ELFORD FROM PLYMOUTH HAS BEEN VOLUNTEERING WITH VSO FOR A YEAR-AND-A-HALF, HELPING TO EMBED THE NATIONAL TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMME IN FINOTE SELAM, ETHIOPIA. HE DESCRIBES HIS EXPERIENCES TRAINING LECTURERS AND SUPPORTING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS
years, I decided there would probably never be a right time and I just took the plunge. Every day is totally diff erent and being here has
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given me a wide range of experiences. I came here as a higher diploma leader, to support staff at a new teacher’s training college to train students in lesson planning, continuous assessment, active learning methods and action research.
VSO volunteers have been working with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education since 2003 on devising and delivering the higher diploma programme to improve teaching standards and have a sustainable impact on education. Since then, it has exceeded its targets and trained 6,000 lecturers in universities across Ethiopia. It’s still being rolled out in rural areas such as Finote Selam. To ensure teachers carry on using techniques when they become permanent teachers, as part of my role I also visit a cluster of primary schools and support teachers with their in-service training and continuous professional development. The people I work with have been really keen to learn and my greatest achievement in this role has been to see teachers apply this training. I’ve visited around 50 diff erent teachers and seen
that they’re using various active learning methods. When I arrived children were very passive, they sat in rows with the teacher talking to them at the front of the class and now I see children writing on the board, working in groups, discussing subjects and smiling because they’re enjoying their classes.
Since doing the higher diploma programme, it’s now a policy across the teacher training college that everyone has to do lesson planning – so that’s also
For a headteacher or education manager,
volunteering in Ethiopia has been satisfying because education is considered important here
april 2013 \
www.edexec.co.uk
olunteering was something I had always wanted to do but there never seemed to be the right time as I got my fi rst job in teaching, then another and eventually became one of Devon’s youngest headteachers. So after 13
had a major impact. As a head working in the UK, I had lots of challenges and pressures from the local authority and Ofsted; whereas here, I’ve had the time to do new things and I feel appreciated and part of the community. I have learned new skills through working in a training college, teaching English in a prison and supporting new VSO volunteers with their in-country training so it has really opened up my career options. For a headteacher or education manager,
volunteering in Ethiopia has been satisfying because education is considered important here. At every level – in the ministry, regional education bureaus, at colleges and schools – everyone’s working very much together to improve education.
International development charity VSO is calling on experienced education professionals to volunteer in Ethiopia and help improve the quality of education for children across the country. Visit http://www.vso.
org.uk/ to fi nd out how to volunteer
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