New Vision for Education

As teachers & educators if we had our way, we would like to have the best teaching and learning resources and all the time we need to get our work done. However, this is clearly not usually the case, especially in poorer countries where high quality teaching and learning resources are not so readily available.  However, to be the best teacher you can be be, you are still charged with the responsibility of finding creative ways you can carry out your teaching to provide the best learning outcomes for your students. We all know that strategies such as putting copious notes on the board for students to copy or just talking at them does very little to help them develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to become fully developed and functioning individuals in society. There are several ways to keep the minds of your learners engaged in the learning process rather than sitting passively listening and taking notes throughout your lessons. Here are five (5) activities that ...

In the training field, we always have at least two elephants in the room; ' Why do I need to get trained, again? " and ' Who are you to teach me? '. Training takes away from time your participants would have spent on other important/urgent matters. Your adult learners may have been in many similar trainings. They would also ask themselves, why should they listen to you. These are important things to consider if we are aiming towards the best trainers we can be. Remember your role as trainer and understand the adult learner: When organizations hire us as trainers, they have a problem to solve or an opportunity they hope to exploit through the trainings we conduct. If your training doesn't result in a change in outcomes, then one would say you are an unsuccessful trainer, and rightfully so. Today, my work is mostly with university graduates entering Sierra Leone's workforce; the dynamic remains the same; 'Why do I need to be schooled again?' and 'Why ...

In 2017, The International Task Force of Teachers in its 10th Policy Dialogue Forum declared Teaching as a clinical-based practice profession - learn more  here . Teacher training is one of the most comprehensive forms of vocational training you can come across. Beyond basic teaching methodology and developing subject expertise, teachers are trained in a diverse array of subjects including sociology, psychology, community development, administration, measurement and evaluation etc. This makes sense when you consider that teachers are tasked with the responsibility of educating a country's people. When teachers use the cane, for me it shows a lack of professional sophistication and them walking away from standard educational theory and good practice used by their counterparts in all successful parts of the world. In over nine (9) years actively working in education across all levels, I am firmly coming to believe that the culture of using the cane in schools is too lazy for the kind...

Joke by me - A Trick to Get Sierra Leoneans Good At Math... Pass A Law That All Math Teachers Smile 3 Times for 3 Seconds in Each Lesson Disclaimer:  While there are a number of other factors affecting mathematics teaching and learning including a poor foundation, a lack of learning resources, that students don't practice out of school, that parents have a role to play, teacher remuneration, math teacher training etc., my focus today is really on us the Math Teachers; what we can do to get our students more excited about learning mathematics. The matter is a serious one. Mathematics has been dubbed the queen of the sciences but there is no queen more hated than this one. I have been working with university graduates transitioning into Sierra Leone's labour force, and the fear of anything with numbers I see is scary. We try to innovate and transform our economy, yet our efforts will be seriously constrained if Sierra Leoneans continue to be so afraid of the foundational subject ...

Rising distrust in 'expert' opinion maybe inevitable. What's driving it and what can we do about it? Studies such as The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer has shown that across the world 'distrust in expert opinion in Governments, Media, NGOs and Financial institutions is rising. According to the report government was the least trusted institution, followed by the media, now distrusted in 82% of the countries surveyed'  – https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer . But wait, has the role of the expert not always been an evolving one, undergoing constant metamorphosis to fit the spirit of the times? It is important perhaps to note that an understanding of the 'expert' as an all knowing human in whose words and actions (in relation to their field) personal opinion, interest or flaws should have little to no place is perhaps a very misleading one. Indeed, we have seen that human flaws and selfish interest has never really been that far removed from 'exp...