successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

Case Study A
Two lecturers from the School of Education at the Open University (UK) go to
Lesotho on a study visit. They are mainly interested in teacher education, and make
arrangements to observe actual lessons in high school. During classroom visits, they
observe that although teachers speak highly of the importance of oral interaction, it
turns out that in practice, the opportunities afforded learners to engage in dialogue
are minimal. Teachers dominate classroom discourse while learners sit passively
and listen most of the time. The visiting lecturers come to the conclusion that where
teachers dominate the interaction, there is little initiative on the part of learners. The
lack of initiative also reflects limited learner participation when it should be the
opposite. In their opinion, some intervention is necessary to ensure that teachers are
exposed to ideas about effective interaction. They discuss their observations with
teachers and officials from the Ministry of Education before returning to the UK.
Back in the UK, they identify an in-service course on classroom interaction used to
train UK teachers. The in-service programme takes two years to complete, leading to
the award of a diploma qualification. The curriculum is made up of six study modules,
designed for the UK education context. Delivery of the programme is through
distance education mode. The lecturers recommend that the course be offered to
teachers in Lesotho.
Contacts are made with the Ministry officials, and the Ministry agrees that the course
be offered. A non-governmental organization (NGO), Rotary Club International
(England), undertakes to fund the project collaboratively with one of the institutions
that provides distance education in Lesotho. Funding would include contextualization
of the study materials in the first instance. When contextualization is complete, an
appropriate learner support model would be determined before delivery of the
programme can take place.
Suppose you are chosen by your institution to manage the project. Discuss how you
would go about the management task. To guide discussion, take into account these
questions.
• What would be your starting and closing point of the project?
• What key logistical issues would you take into account?
• How would you ensure accommodation of the PCTS in your management?
• How would you break down the tasks?
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