June 11,2021
Through Inspire, Educate and Empower Rwanda (IEE) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has complemented Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) and Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) efforts in revising the Teacher Training College (TTC) curriculum to make it competence based. UNICEF and IEE are committed to support implementation of the TTC curriculum through TTC-based mentorship support to Tutors and teacher trainees.
To ensure effective TTC-based support, IEE organized a day of face-to-face Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for the Pedagogical Advisors placed in all TTCs focusing on production and effective use of teaching and learning materials to support practical, competence-based teaching and learning for student teachers. The training on production and use of TLM was aimed at identifying different low cost and no-cost resources for Teaching and Learning aids available for Tutors and student teachers, describing the quality and importance of teaching and learning materials, equipping Pedagogical Advisors with practical knowledge and skills for making and using teaching and learning materials, effectively as well as appreciating the need for neat handwriting in making paper-based teaching and learning materials- an attribute the Pedagogical Advisors were encouraged to pass on to Tutors and student teachers.
Pedagogical Advisors were able to share opinions on different matters where a number of them were able to create learning materials and explain their importance and how they can be used to help learners understand concepts better.
Ibrahim Wasswa one of the Pedagogical Advisors expressed his appreciation for the training and said that such in-house capacity development activities organized by IEEare very helpful to his work. . ‘’We usually have these in-house trainings which help us get new content that helps us in training the Tutors in the TTCs better,’’ he said.
Pedagogical Advisors noted that the use of learning aids helps learners understand better the lesson delivered which aligns to conventional pedagogical approaches of practical lessons that engage learners with teaching and learning materials, as being most useful in supporting teaching and learning. ‘’In most cases, some learners cannot comprehend a concept when it is being told to them orally but when we improvise and bring what we are physically leaning about such as a flower or a drawing of the human body on a chart in class, even those learners who find it hard to grasp orally will be taken care of which will make lesson delivery effectively, ””noted James Kamugisha, one of the Pedagogical Advisors.
TTC-based support to Tutors and teacher trainees is aimed at guaranteeing that graduating teachers have requisite skills to deliver the basic education competence-based curriculum.
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