Teacher Training Workshop - Abuja

6^th & 7^th February 2011

Mr Musa Idris Musa, our Principal with graduates

Having taught for a year as part of the National Youth Training Corps, the assembled 24 or so graduates had elected to continue teaching another year and were having their meagre salary paid for by VSO.

Teaching is still overwhelmingly didactic and poor performance is always the fault of the pupils, not the teacher. Unsurprisingly therefore, our workshop was based on learning. Marianne kicked off with how the brain functions and various learning styles. Annabelle followed with different learning pedagogies. Ingrid (who organised the logistics) covered inclusive education and I finished with what makes an effective learner and the role the teacher needs to play.

The graduates were all enthusiastic, articulate, bright and receptive. It gave one a good feeling that Nigerian children have some potentially very able teachers. It just depends whether it can hold on to them or not.

The graduates were all friendly and engaging and could easily see the links between poor pupil performance and the restricted teaching approaches. What they were being asked to do as having had no previous training, was to go back to school and teach in a very different way to that of their colleagues. A challenge indeed. The hope is that they will apply their new knowledge in a small way and analyse the outcome. Analysis of application, reflection of any kind seems lacking. Having given out e-mail addresses and telephone numbers, we expect a great deal of contact from them. Five graduates are from our own area of Kano State and so we will be visiting them and supporting however we can.

More teachers are I think still needed to come from the UK to model the different approaches and high level of interaction between teacher and pupil. We will undoubtedly be teaching a lot more and so our brief continues to expand in order to support the areas that need us most.

Conversations went on into the night with those graduates who had one question after another to satisfy.