Teacher Training Workshop

We have had the most amazing time over the last 2 days conducting our frst teacher training course in the new model school we will be working with. The course was entitled “Teachers’ Workshop on Learner Centred Education” and was attended by around 20 teachers from the Rosy Garden School in Maijubahal, Kathmandu.

The first day of the course included an introduction to Howard Gardner’s model of “multiple intelligences”. The seven main intelligences in this model being linguistic, logical/maths, visual/spatial, musical, bodily/kinaesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. The teachers explored how they can use this model in their classes to help their students learn in different ways. On the second day we put this into practice and delved into the importance of lesson plans and thorough preparation to ensure the teachers use as much learner focused activity as possible. It was very practical and the teachers went away with many examples to help put what they had learned into practice in their classrooms.

We were heartened and encouraged by the enthusiasm and commitment of the teachers involved. Many of them had not had any formal training but nonetheless approached each of the tasks and activties with vigour and a can-do attitude.

At one stage Rebecca had the class standing in a circle outside and throwing a roll of toilet paper at each other whilst asking questions and shouting answers. I’m sure they have never encountered such a thing before and may well have been hoping they will never do so again!

Nepal’s education approach is based heavily on rote learning to pass exams and we hope to break open this way of thinking with more of these courses in the future. We have tentatively scheduled the next courses for March/April 2008 and beyond then we will be providing advanced training to some of the teachers with a view to them then conducting the course on a more frequent basis for teachers from other schools. We also plan to make the course available to teachers from outside the Kathmandu Valley through some form of sponsorship program for teachers from remote schools in disadvantaged areas.

The Rosy Garden School has only recently been taken over by some people that we have been working closely with through CWISH. They are extremely passionate about developing a school that is cutting edge in terms of its approach to education and it is for this reason that we have become involved. We have many great plans for the model school (including a name change!) and are so excited about the possibilities it presents for the development and growth of the Foundation through the number of people whose lives we can touch.

We will keep you posted as plans progress but it certinly seems as though 2008 is going to be a huge year for the Foundation and we can’t wait to share all of the experiences and excitement with you!