June 2022
This report sets out key action points that can be used to inform the design and delivery of teacher and teacher educator professional development projects.
They are based on learning from the English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) project in Myanmar, and draw upon a peer-reviewed academic paper and evaluation reports.
The EfECT project in Myanmar provides several key action points that can be used to inform both general teacher education projects as well as projects that have a specific focus on developing teacher educators’ English language skills. Here, we present these key action points, provide an overview of the EfECT context, and explore the key areas of learning in more detail, drawing on direct project experiences.
Overview of key action points
For general teacher education projects:
- Ensure training is embedded in the workplace and pedagogical context.
- Ensure provision is practical and focused on specific instructional strategies.
- Provide sufficient opportunities for educators to master instructional strategies through planning, practice and reflection in real classroom situations.
- Provide targeted support for educators to reflect on their own practice, especially when this is not part of the pedagogical or wider culture.
- Build on the local pedagogical culture, rather than attempting to change this entirely.
- Help educators understand the link between activities and the purpose and objectives of lessons.
- Support the sustainability of projects by ensuring they work at the systemic level and gaining buy-in from policymakers and education institution managers.
- Recognise that professional learning may, at least initially, be accompanied by a reduction in professional confidence.
- Include a range of qualitative and quantitative measures to monitor and evaluate project impact.
- Include the political landscape in the project risk analysis, and ensure contingency for disruption.
For projects with a specific English language focus:
- Do not assume English proficiency will improve through English-medium instruction.
- Provide ongoing opportunities for educators to use their newly gained English skills to ensure retention.
Download a pdf of the report below.