I would like to see students and teacher learning together in an interactive manner and not the teacher standing in front of students like a KNOW ALL. I would like to see students educating themselves in a constructive way. It would really be interesting.

1.      Engaging in differentiated instruction but resulting in learners achieving the same learning outcomes

2.      Creating a community of learners where students share and judge the reasonableness of strategies and solutions and not relying on the teachers’ feedback only

3.      Teachers facilitating high level performance by sharing learning goals and expectations for products that demonstrate deep conceptual understanding of issues.

4.      Content being presented in ways where explicit attention is given to making connections among mathematical ideas.

5.      Having class discussions and classroom routines focusing on student explanations that address why a given response is/is not correct.

6.      Teachers posing tasks that challenges students to persevere and attempt multiple approaches to solving mathematical problems

Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the students in their classrooms. A teacher should control his/her emotions, when emotions are not controlled students may react negatively to that and therefore learning can be impaired. 

Also, a teacher should help students apply concepts, such as math, English, and science through classroom instruction and presentations. Their role is also to prepare lessons, grade papers, manage the classroom, meet with parents, and work closely with school staff.

A teacher must treat their student with love, respect and calmness 

An ideal school classroom should embrace the idea that ALL students can learn and provide a safe learning spaces for students. 

Teachers who are knowledgeable, care about student learning, and adapt their instruction to meet the needs of their learners should be employed

The school curriculum should be relevant to the lives of students.

That teaching and learning should be centered approaches that include problem solving, project based learning, self discovery & other constructivist approaches. 

2.     What sort of vision for teaching and learning is it trying to promote?

Promoting learner centered approaches so that learners acquire competencies that enable creativity, innovation, critical thinking, entrepreneurship and 21^st century skills.

3.     What are the main differences between the national vision and your own experience (at school/teaching training college/university)?

Current conditions in terms of expertise are not themselves well versed in the new approaches envisaged by the nation. The Pedagogical knowledge of the teacher educators first needs to be upgraded before teachers are trained. Many other resources required such as ICTs, finances for field visits, industries for student attachments all need to be synchronized.

The syllabi themselves need to be revised, as currently they are too long and do not promote learner centered teaching which is time consuming.

4.     What needs to change in classrooms in your country? Imagine you are looking through a classroom window and describe what you would like to see the students and teacher doing.

To see more use of ICTs by students, simulations, more practical activities in Science by students, not mere teacher demonstrations, more student to student interaction to promote students’ social and communicative skills.

Henry Egwuma from Nigeria 

I would like to see the number of students per class not exceeding 30 and with the class rooms having smart boards and other modern technology. Also, the learners should be thoroughly engaged through group work, class activities and presentation. 

I would like to see educators who are knowledgeable of all the ICT gadgets that are used for effective teaching and learning so that they are in a position to disseminate skills to the students as well as interact with them.

 With the new  implemented  curriculum the government has introduce ICT from primary school level to the University level and this is a very good move done by the government. 

-          Teacher begins lessons with inquiry 

-          Lots of movement

-          Not too much technology 

-          Student-directed/self-directed learning, including the students choosing what they want to learn at a given time

-          The teacher is a guide, not a lecturer

-          Different ways to learn: manipulatives, videos, discovery stations, games, songs, etc.

-          Lots of options (for agency)

-          More resources

-          Less rote learning; focus on depth of understanding 

-          Lower student-teacher ratio

-          Differentiated teaching

-          Room for failure/risking it
-          Proven pedagogies/learning methodologies (i.e. Singapore Math, Guided Discovery, Cognitively Guided Instrurction, etc.)

 

·        The teaching and learning approaches should change. Teacher dominance during the teaching and learning process should reduce, to more of learner interaction and sharing of experiences.

Since the implementation of the 2014 curriculum, teachers of primary have had to make their lessons much more knowledge rather than skills based, which I feel reflects an outdated view of what learning actually is.  The currriclum is very fact heavy, which represents a divergence from other curricula which see, to be moving on a more skills based trajectory.  

This has been coupled with a move towards a more competence based assessment structure based in mastery – the two of course aren’t incompatible but they sometimes seem contradictory!  But the move away from levelled learning in the UK was a good, and really important one, which reflects better the idea that children don’t move from level to level summatively, and that children learn at different paces.  

I think where the UK really have it right is in our Early Years system – it recognises that development happens at different speeds, that it is formative and cyclical, so the curriculum should reflect this, and that its pitch needs to be appropriate for level of development.  The EYFS is child led and based around children’s interest, yet structured carefully by teachers to ensure that children get the most out of what they are doing.  In some ways it is a shame to see children move away from this when they reach primary age.       

 

Precisely, looking through a classroom room window at Makerere presents ideas on what needs to change. Most students no longer rely on text book material but rather on what a lecturer gives through face-to-face interactions and sometimes printed copies of summarised material/handouts. Lecturer usually targets coverage of syllabus rather than permitting learners to share/construct knowledge amongst themselves for eventual sharing with the teacher. Concentration on studies is after a test/exam is announced. Generally, what I would like to see the teacher and student do is assigning learners tasks to operate in groups and present their findings in a manner that simplifies life for others. Actually the syllabus can be covered much faster. The teacher can then oversee the discussions for guidance. By so doing, the text books and other resources shall be contacted for information to enrich the presentations.