all images © mat wright a transformational pedagogy for myanmar? ian clifford – british council...

All images © Mat Wright

www.britishcouncil.org 1

A transformational pedagogy for Myanmar? Ian Clifford – British Council Burma Dr Khaing Phyu Htut – British

Council Burma


Outline Child-centred approaches –

history and definitions

The challenge of implementing CCA in southern contexts

Evidence for the effectiveness of ‘direct instruction’

History of education in Myanmar

Failure of CCA in Myanmar

The English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) project assessment


History and characteristics of CCA / LCE

History of CCAo Rousseau – learner central,

minimal teacher interventiono Locke – liberal education o Pestalozzi – children active

learners needing stimulation

Competency (Bernstein)

Approaches associated with minimal instruction (discovery / problem-based / inquiry / experiential learning)

Child-centred approach (CCA) / Student-centred approach / Learner-centred education (LCE)


“Teacher-centred” approaches? Negative connotations:

o Teacher-centred: Hierarchical, authoritarian, transmission, memorisation and rote learning

o Performance (Bernstein)o Banking education (Freire)

BUT

“Direct Instruction” – interactive whole class teaching

Teacher engages with the whole class in a constructivist way

?


Implementation failure of LCE/CCA in south

“the history of the implementation of LCE in different contexts is riddled with stories of failures grand and small.”

1. Expectations of education reform are too high and the speed of expected change too rapid.

2. Practical, material and resource constraints - infrastructure, class size, materials, capacity training.

3. Cultural barriers – individuals vs. group, expectations of teachers and students

4. Lack of joined-up reform of curriculum, infrastructure, teacher education and examination

- Schweisfurth, 2011


Research on the effectiveness of “Direct instruction” CCA/LCE presented to southern

teachers as uncontested? Hattie (2009):

o 500 meta-analyses of 300,000 studies direct instruction effect size of 0.59

o ‘teacher as activator’ approaches significantly more effective than ‘teacher as facilitator’ approaches

constructivism is a theory of learning and knowledge acquisition NOT a theory of teaching


So what is “direct instruction”? Interactive whole-class teaching

the teacher being actively engaged in bringing the content of the lesson to the whole class (Muijs and Reynolds, 2011)

7 steps - Adams and Engelmann (1996)

o Focus activity (‘the hook’)o Stating the objective and

providing the rationaleo Presenting content and modelling o Checking for understanding; o Guided practiceo Independent practiceo Closure


“Why discovery learning does not work”- Kirschner et al, 2006

Long-term memory

Working memory

Problem-serving approaches – can lead to working memory overload – this inhibits storage into long-term memory

- Kirschner et al

“research evidence broadly favours direct instruction rather than discovery learning”

- Coe et al, 2014,

Sutton Trust, “What makes great teaching”


Learner-centred vs. teacher-centred? Need to reject polarisation:

learner-centred vs. teacher-centred (Barrett, 2007), build on and broaden repertoire of traditional whole class teaching (Hardman et al, 2012)

The best Southern teachers use “both student- and teacher-centred practices,

integrating newer pedagogies with more traditional ones.

Performance model … informed by a competence model”.

- Westbrook et al, 2013


Myanmar – some history

1948 – Burma – highest literacy in the Empire

1962 – military government – increasing isolation

1988 – student protests

2006 – monks protest in “saffron revolution”

2012 - President Thein Sein takes office; Aung Sang Suu Kyi released


The failure of CCA in Myanmar

2001 – 30 year plan invoked CCA

2007-2014 - JICA – Strengthening CCA (SCCA) project – “little positive change”

2006-2014 UNICEF – Child-friendly schools / Quality Basic Education – “limited impact”

2012 –Comprehensive Education Sector Review commences under President Thein Sein

NESP – MoE concludes CCA training – “little impact”


English for Education College Trainers (EfECT)

Signing of MoU between British Council and Myanmar MoE

Followed state visit by president Thein Sein to UK

£4.5 million project – DFID and British Council

46 expatriate trainers in 24 Myanmar training institutions

1,500 – 2,000 teacher educator beneficiaries

1 year improving English, 1 year improving teaching methodology


English for Education College Trainers (EfECT)

Needs Analysis

Structured observations of teacher educators

o rote learning, drilling, chanting, reading aloud, memorisation

o choral response to questions

o lack of confidence in using a range of methodologies

o Little evidence of staging, or checking understanding


Reasons teacher educators gave for not using child-centred approaches

Time

The exam system

Class sizes

Classroom layout

Student attitude and motivation

Lack of training

Perception of other teachers


The EfECT approach to the methodology year

o 6 months – interactive whole-class teaching

o 6 months - peer-to-peer learning, creativity, critical thinking

o Course aimed at A2 CEF level

o Structured lesson observations at year start, mid-point and end

o Using observation instrument focussed on small incremental changes


Changes we are looking for … Planning – clear learning outcomes

and logical, coherent staging.

Assessment – learning outcomes assessed throughout the lesson

Questioning – engaging, checking, responding, wait time.

Interactive classroom management and feedback

Resources – effective, motivating adaptation

Reflective practice – strengths and areas for improvement


Minimum Standards for LCE (Schweisfurth, 2013)

Criteria Can be met through Direct Instruction?

Lessons are engaging, students motivated

Atmosphere of mutual respect

Learning builds on existing knowledge

Dialogue in teaching and learning

Relevant curriculum

Skills and attitude outcomes as well as content – skills include critical and creative thinking

Assessment tests skills, allows for individual differences, not purely content-driven or based on rote learning


Discussion question

Should we either:

o Seek to impose LCE in the global South, as an emancipatory and democratic pedagogy, even though we know it doesn’t really fit with Southern culture and is very difficult to implement OR

o Promote interactive whole class teaching by authoritative teachers even though we know it may result in a less democratic, emancipatory pedagogy?

all images © mat wright a transformational pedagogy for myanmar? ian clifford – british council...

Documents

teacher education

teachercentred barrett

class teachingthe teacher

org4teachercentred approaches

class size

class teachingteacher

class teaching hardman

class muijs