all images © mat wright a transformational pedagogy for myanmar? ian clifford – british council...
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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
www.britishcouncil.org 2
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
www.britishcouncil.org 3
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)
www.britishcouncil.org 4
“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
?
www.britishcouncil.org 5
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
www.britishcouncil.org 6
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
www.britishcouncil.org 7
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
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“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”
www.britishcouncil.org 9
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
www.britishcouncil.org 10
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
www.britishcouncil.org 11
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”
www.britishcouncil.org 12
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
www.britishcouncil.org 13
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
www.britishcouncil.org 14
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
www.britishcouncil.org 15
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
www.britishcouncil.org 16
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
www.britishcouncil.org 17
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
www.britishcouncil.org 18
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?
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