A Guide for Strengthening Teacher Capacity
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Ngoana eo ke oa Mang? A Guide for Strengthening Teacher Capacity By CRS Lesotho Written By Edith Sebatane, Dr Pulane Lefoka and Sue Connolly 2 A Guide for Strengthening Teacher Capacity ince 1943, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has held the privilege of serving the poor and disadvantaged overseas. Without regard to race, creed or nationality, SCRS provides emergency relief in the wake of natural and manmade disasters. Through development projects in education, peace and justice, agriculture, microfinance, health, and HIV & AIDS, CRS works to uphold human dignity and promote better standards of living. CRS also works throughout the United States to expand the knowledge and action of Catholics and others interested in issues of international peace and justice. Our programs and resources respond to the U.S. Bishops’ call to live in solidarity—as one human family— across borders, over oceans, and through differences in language, culture and economic condition. Catholic Relief Services 228 West Lexington Street Baltimore, MD 21201-3413 USA Since 2002, with the invitation of the Lesotho Catholic Bishops Conference, CRS has been working in Lesotho. Over the last 10 years, CRS has focused on helping rural Basotho to meet their food security needs and mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS. This period has been marked by recurring drought combined with high HIV prevalence throughout the country, underscoring the need for CRS to support families, especially most vulnerable children, infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. Catholic Relief Services Lesotho PO Box 11471 Maseru 100 Lesotho Written by Sue Connolly, Edith Sebatane and Dr Pulane Lefoka in consultation with the CRS Review Committee. Illustrations: Carmen Randall Design and art direction: The Colour Manual with final layout by Toby Bennett Translated by Infotek © Copyright 2012 Catholic Relief Services. All rights reserved. This guide or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Contact [email protected] for permission. Any “fair use” under U.S. copyright law should contain appropriate citation and attribution to Catholic Relief Services. Acknowledgements The development of this material would not have been possible without the support of the CRS management and staff. Special thanks to Chandreyee Banerjee, Rita Billingsley, Anne Sellers, Ana Maria Ferraz de Campos, Ashley Rytter, Setungoane Letsatsi-Kojoana and Blain Cerney. CRS Lesotho would also like to acknowledge the contributions of UNICEF, the Lesotho Ministry of Education and Training ECCD Unit, and the Lesotho Ministry of Health for their guidance in the development of the technical materials and strategies contained within this document. Ngoana Eo Ke Oa Mang? 3 Letter from CRS/Lesotho Country Representative Dear friends, atholic Relief Services Lesotho is pleased to present our Ngoana eo ke oa mang? Guide for Strengthening Teacher Capacity. This guide has come to fruition as part of Cthe Whose Child is This? project, with generous support from the Sieben Foundation. Teachers play a vital role in educating and ensuring the development of young children. It is our hope that this manual addresses the critical training gap faced by current Early Childhood Care and Development preschool teachers in Lesotho. This material has been developed in conjunction with an additional manual, the Ngoana eo ke oa mang? Teacher Resource Guide. Both manuals have been developed in Sesotho and include multiple pictures to increase content accessibility for teachers in rural communities. These two complementary manuals, when used in conjunction with one another, will provide teachers with both the technical knowledge and practical implementation skills to improve the development of children. CRS Lesotho has a wealth of experience in developing training guides for rural Basotho communities. This new manual enriches our existing materials and allows us to bring our efforts into classrooms, focusing our attention on the country’s most vulnerable children. Built upon the existing Ministry of Education and Training curriculum, this manual incorporates current best practices around early child development, while providing teachers with practical guidance for meeting MOET curriculum objectives. It complements our other training materials that are focused on household caregivers. By working to improve the teaching capacity of teachers and providing household caregivers with strategies for educating their children at home, rural communities will be better equipped to meet the holistic developmental needs of their youngest most vulnerable children. A primary goal of the Whose Child is This? project is disseminating best practices and lessons learned. We look forward to collaborating with our governmental and nongovernmental partners on the implementation of the strategies contained within this guide. As they are grounded in evidence and contextually appropriate to Lesotho, we are confident that use of the guide will generate important learning that will be shared both nationally and internationally. As you continue working with teachers to improve child development, I encourage you to share your experiences using this manual with others and with CRS. By working together, I am certain that we can help guarantee a brighter future for the children of Lesotho. Khotso Pula Nala Rita Billingsley 4 A Guide for Strengthening Teacher Capacity Table of contents ............................................................ Page User’s Guide .................................................................................................. 7 Introduction to the guide .................................................................................. 7 How the guide works ....................................................................................... 8 How adults learn ............................................................................................. 10 Facilitation skills .............................................................................................. 12 Preparing for training using the guide ................................................................ 17 Module 1: Child Development ................................................................. 18 What is Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)? .................................... 19 Principles of child development ........................................................................ 19 Brain development .......................................................................................... 21 Developmental areas ....................................................................................... 21 Developmental milestones ............................................................................... 38 Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) ............................................ 45 Developmental delays ...................................................................................... 45 Individual differences ...................................................................................... 46 Factors that affect development ....................................................................... 47 Children with special needs.............................................................................. 49 Working together with parents .......................................................................... 50 Training Activities............................................................................................. 52 Module 2: Creating a Learning Environment ..................................... 62 How children learn ........................................................................................... 63 The value of play ............................................................................................. 64 Activities to support development ..................................................................... 66 An inclusive environment ................................................................................. 71 Organising the physical environment ................................................................. 73 A safe and clean environment .......................................................................... 79 The outdoor environment ................................................................................. 81 Adapting the environment ................................................................................ 82 Training Activities............................................................................................. 84 Module 3: Free Play Activities ................................................................ 93 Types of activities ............................................................................................ 94 Why free play activities are important .............................................................. 94 The teacher’s role ........................................................................................... 95 Fantasy play corner ......................................................................................... 98 Art corner ....................................................................................................... 101 Building corner ................................................................................................ 104 Science and discovery corner ........................................................................... 107 Book corner ...................................................................................................