OPINION:Retired teachers can give something back to developing countries
‘EDUCATION is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela. I had this quote in my mind when I visited Wendowessen, a principal in a small school in the north of Ethiopia recently. Wendowessen talked to me about the challenges he faced as a principal and, unfortunately, they echoed what I have heard elsewhere in Africa.
It is clear that fundamental to a good education is a good teacher. But in many developing countries the teaching force is often demoralised and fractured. Teachers are frequently paid little and late, their educational and training needs are neglected, and they are mired in bureaucracies that support neither their effective performance nor their career progression. As a result, the teaching profession is characterised by high attrition rates, lack of confidence and varying levels of professional commitment.
Valuing Teachers, the education campaign of Voluntary Service Overseas, focuses on teacher motivation and morale. Research carried out in 11 countries shows that teacher motivation is fragile: having previously benefited from public respect and reasonable financial reward, teachers now feel that their status is in decline. However, while they often feel powerless either to create positive learning experiences and outcomes for their pupils or to improve their own situations, they wish to be enabled to perform well.
Back in Ethiopia, VSO put actions behind these research findings to try to make a difference there. When I met Wendowessen he had been working with an Irish VSO volunteer teacher for nearly two years and I was proud to hear the difference she was making. Susan Quinn had been working in the region on a teacher-training programme for in-service teachers. She was part of a bigger teacher-training programme that VSO, in partnership with the Ethiopian ministry of education, was delivering throughout the country.
An experienced volunteer teacher can make a huge difference. VSO volunteers, like Susan, and ministry officials developed the country’s first teacher-training diploma in 2004, which that year helped train 1,363 teachers. They in turn have gone on to train 11,000 teachers, thereby improving the quality of education for nearly 800,000 children. Ethiopian teachers learnt new teaching techniques that have made the their class room less didactic and more interactive, which in turn has led to a decrease in the drop-out rates, and an increase in teacher motivation.
VSO's most recent advocacy report, Managing Teachers – The Centrality of Teacher Management to Quality Education, is the next stage of the Valuing Teachers initiative. Having gathered learning from 13 developing countries, it argues that the role of principals is crucial to improving teacher management and motivation, and therefore training for school leaders should be prioritised.
VSO volunteers with an education management or business background are therefore working alongside principals such as Wendowessen, to implement HR, budgeting, planning and other management techniques and tools needed to run a successful school.
Education is VSO’s biggest programme area as we, like Mandela, believe that it is the most powerful weapon we can use to change our world. For this reason we have just launched a call for education professionals to help us roll out education development programmes across Africa and Asia. Retiring or retired teachers, because of their expertise, have much to offer as do other teachers who have at least three years experience.
Becoming a VSO volunteer is about much more than taking time out. Research by the Institute of Education shows teachers who have volunteered with VSO come back refreshed, more motivated, more resourceful, more flexible and more confident. Exposing our teachers to different cultures and environments builds links from our classrooms to other countries.
An added incentive is that teachers in Ireland are encouraged by the Government to take leave and go overseas. The career break scheme means that pension, PRSI, and increments are covered while serving abroad as well as job security for when the teacher returns.
Malcolm Quigley is director of VSO Ireland which is appealing for volunteer teachers to serve in developing countries – www.vso.ie