You remember our good ol’ pals at Pangea Educational Development, right? They are doing incredible things such as Pangea Publishing which was celebrated the GoAbroad Foundation for International Literacy Day, AND they won the Innovation in Philanthropy Award at the 2018 GoAbroad Innovation Awards.
They are doing BIG things and they continue to amaze us with their initiatives each day, making us proud to be partnered with an organization that is increasing access to education in Uganda in meaningful ways. With that being said, we are excited to talk about their Literacy Instruction Trainings, which is our Take the Pledge project for October!
Literacy Instruction Training
Based on recent reports, Pangea was learning that children in Uganda who were able to obtain an education were not learning in effective and impactful ways, so even though they are going to school, the opportunity is falling short for opening doors to their futures. This is especially problematic because education in Uganda is not cheap, so it is becoming more expensive than it is worth.
To address this major issue, Pangea is introducing Literacy Instruction Training (LIT). LIT will be used to engage teachers in a year long training to help improve their literacy instruction methods. LIT will take place in 7 concept modules, that include in-class assistance and observation, as well as out of class trainings as well.
The trainings will take place before the school year starts, and will continue throughout the school year on the weekends. Teachers are able to learn together as peers and share their knowledge. This experience brings many schools together for teachers to learn together as one group which allows people to share what has worked for them, as well as what hasn’t.
Beyond the trainings themselves, teachers will also be observed in the classroom and work together to implement co-teaching methods, both of which provide constructive methods for implementing new lessons learned from the trainings, as well as making sure classes respond in positive ways to the changes.
How Can You Support Literacy Instruction Trainings?
Pangea wants to invite trained and experienced teachers from around the world to join in the efforts of training the local Ugandan teachers. This program, called Teachers for Teachers, will bring in intercultural exchange into the trainings, as well as teaching methodologies from around the world. Introducing volunteer teachers from around the world into the LIT efforts creates a sustainability in the trainings and also opens up doors for continuous improvement!