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Teaching Change in Nepal: Nepal Teacher Training Innovations (NTTI) By Ashley Hager I first came to Nepal in 2008 as a volunteer teacher trainer for a local NGO and, though I had prepared myself for the poverty and daily inconveniences of life in Nepal, including water shortages, 12- 16 hour power outages, pollution and traffic congestion, I was not prepared for the situation in Nepal’s classrooms. Even in the majority of private English-medium schools, 40+ students are crammed on to densely packed benches in dark, dank classrooms. Teachers typically read their lessons verbatim from text books and call on students to stand and repeat facts from the text. A majority of teachers believe that fear is the most effective way to motivate students, so physical punishment and public humiliation are prevalent in Nepal’s classrooms. Even if students learn to read and write, they do not learn how to question what they learn or how to problem solve, leaving them unprepared for the challenges and opportunities they face in their own lives, or for the kind of leadership their country needs as it transitions from a monarchy to a democracy. I arrived in Nepal during a period of optimism. The Maoist insurgency had ended and the monarchy had been replaced with a newly elected constituent assembly (CA) charged with writing a constitution for the world’s newest republic. Everyone was talking about “Naya (new) Nepal” and everything seemed possible. Four years later the CA has been dissolved, Nepal still does not have a constitution, corruption has skyrocketed, and Nepal is considered at risk of becoming “a failed state.” One theory for why democracy has failed to thrive is that Nepal’s people do not know how to participate effectively in the democratic process. When I asked a group of teachers about the solutions they would propose to solve some of Nepal’s most intransigent problems, the responses I got were: “That’s the government’s problem“ and “Nepal needs more foreign aid.” A legacy of monarchy and a rigid caste system have made Nepalese dependent on authority and fatalistic about the role they can play in forging their country’s future. I founded Nepal Teacher Training Innovations (NTTI) to encourage greater levels of critical and creative thinking and problem solving in Nepal’s classrooms—skills students need to fulfill their own potential and skills required of a new generation of enlightened leaders capable of making fading hopes for Naya Nepal a reality. NTTI trains teachers to use inquiry-based techniques to encourage deeper thinking, as opposed to memorization, and to create nurturing, dynamic, and interactive learning environments where students feel safe enough to express their ideas and grow intellectually. Since 2010, NTTI has trained more than 1000 teachers from some of the most remote and under resourced parts of the country. Because each teacher typically works with 80 students over the year, our program has reached more than 80,000 students. Preliminary analysis of pre and post-training classroom observation data reveals that NTTI-trained teachers improve by 61 % as a direct result of their participation in NTTI trainings. NTTI-trained teachers’ classrooms are lively, interactive hubs for learning where children, and especially girls, are eagerly raising their hands and asking questions that demonstrate new levels of curiosity and innovative thinking. Here is what one student said about her NTTI-trained teacher: Since my teacher went to this training, my classes have been more interesting. Before, my teachers used to lecture all the time and it was hard to give all my attention. Now my teacher asks us to say what we think and she let us work with partners. Also, my teacher stopped beating us when we make a mistake. This is good for me because I was very scared of the stick so I never raised my hand. I am coming to school every day now and I am understanding the work better. *Rita Shrestha, Grade 4 The NTTI training model is unique in Nepal in that the emphasis is on teaching methodology rather than content. Nepali teachers are typically knowledgeable about their subject matter but often unable to effectively communicate what they know to their students or to assess whether students understand what has been taught. NTTI teaches teachers how to present information in multiple modalities (auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic), to ask open ended questions to encourage critical thinking, to facilitate collaborative learning opportunities, to focus on practical application of newly learned skills, and to motivate students using positive encouragement rather than the stick. NTTI is also the only teacher training model in Nepal to provide intensive post-training follow-up teacher support. Master Trainers conduct demonstration classes at school sites to give teachers an opportunity to observe how to implement best teaching strategies in an actual classroom context and every NTTI-trained teacher is observed in the classroom and participates in an individual feedback session with an NTTI Master Trainer. 96 percent of the teachers we work with say this is the first time they have been observed and received feedback on their practice. They tell us that this follow up support is what gives them the confidence to use what they learn from the training in their own classrooms. See Teaching Change, page 5 4 Global Education News, <strong>Spring</strong> 2013 www.peacecorpsconnect.org
Teaching Change, cont. from page 4 NTTI also builds local capacity by training Mentor Teachers who provide on-going support to teachers at their school sites and who serve as sources of inspiration to their colleagues. Principals tell us that the Mentor Teachers create a new momentum for positive change at their schools as teachers, who previously were not open to being observed, are requesting feedback from Mentor Teachers and expressing an interest in becoming Mentor Teachers themselves. NTTI has a particular emphasis on female empowerment and motivating girls to stay in school, as only 20% of girls in rural public schools graduate from high school. We provide Girls’ Sensitivity Trainings to make teachers more aware of the unique needs of female students. For example, because village girls told us they often skip school while they are menstruating because of the lack of privacy, NTTI works with another local NGO to install locks on bathroom doors in schools. Because we work in communities with especially high rates of attrition, child marriage and trafficking of girls, NTTI conducts Girls’ Empowerment Workshops to raise the awareness of village girls about health, safety, and the importance of staying in school. Thanks to a generous grant from Dining for Women (DfW), NTTI will be offering empowerment workshops to more than 400 girls annually. NTTI trainings are proving an effective forum for female teachers to prove themselves the intellectual equals of their male colleagues and providing opportunities for talented female teachers to become Mentor Teachers and Master Trainers, who serve as role models for girls and agents of change in their schools and communities. “My experience as an NTTI trainer has opened up my world and given me confidence I never imagined I would have, especially in dealing with male teachers.” *Sumati Shakya, NTTI Master Trainer If you would like to learn more about NTTI, please visit our website www.nepaltti.org and if you would like to help us move our mission forward, please contact Ashley Hager, NTTI Project Director, at a.hager@nepaltti.org Food Tank, Heifer, Oxfam, RESULTS, Why Hunger and World Savvy Join KIDS to Form an Alliance By Jane and Larry Levine This year marks the 19 th year of the Kids Can Make A Difference® (KIDS) program and the third year of our association with iEARN. Since its inception as a program of Why- Hunger, KIDS has enjoyed steady growth and maturity. Upon becoming a program of iEARN, the reach of KIDS has grown both in the United States and worldwide through the Finding Solutions to Hunger Project (FSH). We feel that the time has come for teachers and students to use the KIDS Teacher guide, Finding Solutions To Hunger, as a launching pad into a wider association with the leading nonprofit hunger and poverty organizations. As FSH is structured presently, teachers and students develop their own projects demonstrating what they have learned and putting that knowledge to work to help alleviate the scourge of hunger and poverty in their community and world. While we feel that the present approach is good, there is an enhancement that is beneficial for the students and educators involved in FSH. We believe that we need to enlist the experts in the field of hunger and poverty to become involved in helping educators understand that there are ways for them to join ongoing projects that go beyond what the teacher guide offers. We understand the time restraints that teachers currently face and feel that having a ready-made menu of projects available to them is a logical next step for KIDS and FSH. We took our concept to six of the leading hunger and poverty organizations; Food Tank, Heifer, Oxfam, RESULTS, WhyHunger and World Savvy and invited them to join us as the Founding Members of this alliance. We are delighted that all of them enthusiastically embraced the initiative and now are an integral part of the project. Our plan is to enlarge the number of organizations participating in this alliance as we move forward. With their support and blessing, we are happy to unveil a new addition to the KIDS website called Suggested Actions. Each of the Founding Members has a “personal page” that describes ongoing projects that are available for students and teachers to use as extensions of their classroom work. These projects offer a diversity of ways that students can follow to make a difference in their community and world. They also will have the opportunity to dialog with the various experts in the field. These suggested actions will be updated as the need arises and reflect the most current initiatives undertaken by the alliance members. If you want to learn more or about becoming part of the Suggested Actions initiative and/or are interested in become active in FSH, please contact Larry at g. We welcome all who want to become part of the solution. All who join will receive a free download version of the KIDS 255 page Teacher Guide. Jane Finn Levine EdD and Larry Levine are Co-founders and Directors of Kids Can Make A Difference® and may be contacted at kids@kidscanmakeadifference.org. www.peacecorpsconnect.org Global Education News, <strong>Spring</strong> 2013 5
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