Project Info
This fellowship builds from the maiden global fellowship at eBASE Africa which focused on understanding stakeholders (policymakers, teachers, and learners’) perspectives and preferences on the use of research evidence in Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad. In the process, we conducted stakeholder engagement sessions, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, review of existing policies, and conducted rapid reviews for local evidence. We compared existing global evidence to local evidence. This body of evidence was synthesized in an open-access bilingual evidence portal
Project Background
Educational attainment in countries of the Lake Chad is amongst the lowest in the globe. Government efforts have led to significant improvements in access to education but the quality of learning remains poor. Teachers continue to prioritize rote learning hardly implementing innovative evidence-based approaches for teaching and learning. This can be explained by the dearth of evidence emanating from middle Africa and the complexity of the available evidence disseminated within educational stakeholders. Teachers’ practices, habits, and motivation for using research evidence also contribute to poor uptake of available research evidence. Our innovation aims at bridging this gap, using pedagogy audits and feedback to mobilize contextually relevant research evidence amongst teachers. This approach being quite common in health is still new in the field of education. We will therefore be adapting from the proven Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach used in health.
Project Objectives
1- 40000 students/pupils improve results in reading and mathematics after the audits and feedback process, with at least 30% being vulnerable children and 50% children in early years.
2- 4 evidence leaders (fellows) from Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad are identified and trained on educational leadership and audits and feedback for improving practices in teaching and learning by April 1st 2022 add gained skills as leaders.
3- 100 teachers from Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, and Chad trained and implementing evidence based recommendations for providing feedback in teaching and learning in 40 schools of the Lake Chad basin by April 15th 2022.
4- 300 demonstrate acceptability of the audits and feedback process and attest of an improved experience in teaching and learning by February 2023.
5- At least 10000 aware of the eBASE teaching and Learning Toolkit by February 2023.
Project Implementation
The audit and feedback process will go as follows:
1. identify 4 pedagogic fellows from Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad;
2. Develop evidence criteria for the feedback strand;
3. train fellows to be trainers of teachers on audits and feedback and on educational leadership;
4. Fellows will run the first round of audit;
5. Fellows to train 25 teachers each from 10 schools in their respective countries;
6. Fellows to quarterly rounds of audits and feedback
Audits criteria for this fellowship will focus on providing effective feedback by:
1. laying the foundations for effective feedback;
2. Delivering appropriately timed feedback that focuses on moving learning forward;
3. Planning for how pupils will receive and use feedback;
4. Carefully considering how to use purposeful, and time-efficient, written feedback;
5. Carefully considering how to use purposeful verbal feedback.
This will contrast with current practice, which generally sees teachers giving inexplicit written feedback, scolding, or even beating students.
Project Evaluation
Results and perspectives
Results:
• 6 teacher supervisors from Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, and Chad trained on evidence implementation using Audits and Feedback and on leadership and evidence brokering.
• 48 evidence-based and contextually relevant criteria for providing feedback to pupils were developed and piloted.
• 92 teachers trained on evidence-based approaches for providing effective feedback to pupils. They are comprised of 30 males and 62 females amongst young adults, indigenous people, and people living with disabilities.
• Over 4500 pupils directly benefiting from an improved learning experience
• Teachers compliance to evidence base practice was only 37%
• Improved compliance to evidence-based recommendations at midline (68%) and Endline (77%)
• Partnerships have been established Ministries of education in Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad
• 17 barriers to evidence implementation identified, as well as 6 enablers and 5 strategies designed for improved teaching and learning;
• Acceptability and feasibility of the project
Perspectives:
• There is plan for the scale out of the various interventions based on the acceptability, feasibility, and evidence of promise;
• From the reviews and results, blogs and videos for documentaries are being developed, conferences and webinars will be organized and also publications in journals and books on the various interventions.