Project Manager & ELT Consultants: Video Based Observation

About the project

British Council’s English for Education Systems (EES) is undertaking the Video Based Observation Project (VBOP), as a component of the Widening Participation in English initiative. 

The VBOP aims to explore the challenges and barriers to effective use of VBO in three areas:

1) As a tool for Monitoring and Evaluation, for example, providing evidence of teacher behaviour as a baseline and end-line for British Council teacher development programmes.

2) The collection of classroom practice video to be used more widely as an Open Educational Resource (OER) to aid other teachers’ professional development.

3) As a pre-service and in-service teacher development tool for individual teachers examining their own practice with a coach and/or community of practice of peers. 

The British Council is particularly interested in examining the potential of this educational technology in the six of the regions it operates in, i.e. Americas, East Asia, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Wider Europe.

Our work in EES supports overseas governments and non-governmental actors seeking to improve the quality of English teaching, learning and assessment in their countries and contexts. Widening Participation in English focusses on the development, promotion and provision of evidence-based solutions for equitable access to English language development which encompasses;

• Gender equality: Assessment of the feasibility of expanding the English and Digital for Girls’ Education (EDGE) programme in South Asia to other regions (Americas, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa). 
• Resources: Development of audio resources for primary and secondary learners in low resource contexts.
• Digital and educational technology: Development of platforms and resources (e.g. digital innovations) that are more inclusive of target audiences regionally and respond to the needs of marginalized or hard-to-reach 
• Research, insight: Initiatives (e.g. research awards) to strengthen our existing evidence base and to better understand the impact of Covid 19 on teachers and learners, particularly those with little/no digital infrastructure
• Monitoring, evaluation and learning: Initiatives to strengthen monitoring, evaluation and learning across our projects and programmes to enable us to respond quickly, effectively and efficiently to change 

About the roles

We are seeking one project manager and two academic consultants to help deliver this project. 

1. VBOP Project Manager

The Project Manager’s role will be primarily operational e.g. ensuring that timelines are adhered to, updating all relevant project management documentation, reporting to project SRO and escalating issues as required, developing work arounds where technical or other barriers emerge and managing/contributing to Academic Consultant outputs (detailed evaluation reports and research papers).

Approximate number of days: Up to 90 until March 2021 (Please refer to Request for Proposals (RFP) 1 document)

Experience

• Track record of successful VBO implementation in state education context and a background in teacher development more broadly. 
• Previous experience in managing medium to large scale projects with an education and technology focus.
• Ability to work effectively in a geographically dispersed team and will demonstrate excellent communication skills.

2. VBOP Academic Consultants

Two Academic Consultants will work directly with the project manager and British Council regions and offices. They will need to liaise with each other, the British Council central team, British Council country team and the VBO tech supplier. 

There are two outputs for this consultancy; 

1. A detailed report by country/region and VBO function: What are the key benefits and considerations when the three areas mentioned above are effectively implemented.  
2. A research paper with intent to publish post project. This study will be conducted in line with the ethical standards of the British Education Research Association (BERA) and measures (e.g. permissions) will put in place to ensure that video material (including where pupils are filmed) is used appropriately. Publication in a high quality, peer reviewed Open Access journal is the aim, but it is understood that timelines for this are outside of the control of the AC.

Approximate number of days: Up to 30 until March 2021(Please refer to RFP 2 document)

Experience

• Track record of publication in high-impact academic journals
• Previous experience in designing and undertaking educational research in developing countries (significant experience of conducting both quantitative and qualitative data collection and subsequent analysis is required). 
• Experience of working with video-based observation technologies deployed in state education systems
• Understanding of both teaching and learning English as a second language in a state school context.

If you are interested, please download and read the RFP and Supplier Response for full details of the role specifications, assessment criteria and timelines.

To apply, please complete the following and submit to adam.edmett@britishcouncil.org 

• An up-to-date CV.
• Supplier response document.

For clarification requests please also refer to the contact person specified in the relevant RFP.

Please note that we will respond to successful applicants within five working days of the application submission.