The Teaching Profession
Anglophone Section
The Working Group on the Teaching Profession (WGTP) was created in 1993 to help ministries of education create teacher management and support (TMS) systems and improve teaching and learning environments. Recognizing that school heads, inspectors and other senior education officers are key to influencing policy formulation, changes and reform, the anglophone section of the Working Group has focused on strengthening their capacities. Activities have aimed at enhancing management and supervisory skills and developing competencies in resource materials development. A major output of the Working Group is the school inspector training modules, which are now being used in several African countries.
In 1993 ADEA launched the Working Group on the Teaching Profession, anglophone section (WGTP/as), with 16 African ministries of education and 18 development partner representatives. The lead agency for the Working Group is the Commonwealth Secretariat. Partners have included the Aga Khan Foundation, African teacher organizations, the British Council, CFBT, DANIDA, JICA, FINLAND, NORAD, USAID, the Netherlands Development Agency, the Rockefeller Foundation, UNICEF, UNESCO, and FAWE. African ministries of education have shared leadership in the Working Group and have played a key role in implementing program activities.
Over the last seven years WGTP/as and ministries of education have made significant progress in addressing teacher management and support (TMS) issues in the sub-region. Achievements have included:
- Creation of a strong lobby for TMS within ministries of education and regions;
- Establishment of a TMS action process in ministries of education;
- Analysis of TMS issues and problems;
- Increased levels of professional exchange between professional staff and principal secretaries on TMS issues;
- Development of resource materials and provision of training.
In 1998 the Working Group met in Zanzibar to review the TMS program. Since then, the Group has concentrated its efforts on implementing the School Inspectors Support program and other TMS activities recommended at the meeting.
Support to school inspectors
Strengthening capacity among teacher supervisors has been a major component of the Working Group's program. Because senior education officers, such as school heads, inspectors, and directors, are key influences on policy formulation, changes and reform, the Group has helped to build their management, supervision, and materials-development skills.
In 1995, recognizing that effective school supervision and advisory support is the sine qua non for ensuring quality in education, the Working Group launched a regional initiative to improve school inspection and to develop materials for training school inspectors. The regional Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC) TMS Working Group identified priority training needs for school inspectors and developed training modules. It tested the training modules in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and in 1998 conducted a regional training of trainers workshop for school inspectors in Namibia. Other countries outside the SADC region, including Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Liberia and Tanzania have requested the modules for their own training programs.
Teacher Resource Centers
The Zanzibar meeting recommended that the Working Group review the role of Teacher Resource Centers (TRCs) and initiate strategies to help these centers facilitate the professional development of teachers. Hence WGTP/as supported studies on Teacher Resource Centers in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, which were completed in 2000.
Since the early 1980s, governments have been bringing TRCs into their education policy frameworks and helping to restructure and absorb TRCs that were developed in response to local initiatives. Some countries, such as Botswana and Namibia, have built strategically located and well-resourced centers. Other countries, such as Zambia or Zimbabwe, have supported more TRCs close to schools, as well as regional centers, stretching available resources. While the initial purpose of TRCs was to upgrade teachers professionally and to improve the learning environment of schools, their activities have gradually been extended to support government reforms. TRCs are often required to meet a much wider range of objectives, such as providing resources and support services to schools and acting as centers for networking.
An analysis of the preliminary findings in each study indicates problems with existing administrative, organizational, and financial arrangements, including staffing, accreditation of programs, and cost-effectiveness.
WGTP/as held a regional workshop in early December in Dar-es-Salaam to review the TRC country reports and plan the way forward. Workshop participants developed a draft framework and guidelines for school-based TRCs, which will be published in 2001.
Other activities
Intra-African and South-North exchanges: The Working Group facilitated two exchanges in 2000. First, following a request by the Minister of Education of the Seychelles, the Group facilitated study visits for two Seychellois senior education officers to TRCs in Botswana, Namibia, and Uganda. The visits were aimed at informing Seychelles's development plans for establishing new TRCs. Second, Teaching Service Commissioners from Botswana and Lesotho got some work experience in Scotland, funded by their ministries of education. These visits were stimulated by the Working Group's seminar for teaching service commissions, held in Kenya in September 1999 and facilitated by Ian Halliday of Scotland.
Annotated TMS bibliography: The Working Group is compiling annotated bibliographies on teacher management and support systems in selected countries: Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Lesotho, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. These will be published in 2001.
Meetings: The Coordinator of the Working Group attended several meetings and conferences during the year, including the Education for All conference in Dakar, Senegal; a Commonwealth Conference for education ministers in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the OAU Meeting for Eastern Africa on the Decade of Education, in Nairobi, Kenya. At the regional OAU meeting, WGTP's work program was presented and responses were received that will help formulate an action plan.
2001 Program
Major activities planned in 2001 include:
- Strengthening the school inspectors training program through country working group interventions;
- Facilitating professional networking, exchanges, and study visits;
- Developing references and training materials, such as good practices in teaching service commissions;
- Strengthening teaching service commissioners through a study and subsequent publication of identified good practices in teaching service commissions;
- Evaluating country activities, including the access to and use of TMS tools and products, and the initial impact on improving teachers performance. LINS (Oslo) has offered to work with the Group and ministries of education in Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia to evaluate their head-teacher training programs;
- Monitoring the impact of HIV/AIDS on education and the teaching profession. Country reports on the impact of the pandemic and interventions of Ministries of Education will be produced.
Henry Kaluba
Leader of the
Working Group on the Teaching Profession, Anglophone section
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