Teachers at Gordon’s School are set to partner teachers across the world in lower income countries to support them and improve learning outcomes for the children in their schools.
The partnership with the Commonwealth Education Trust will initially see six Gordon’s teachers linked with 12 teachers from partner schools. They will meet virtually, using the Trust’s Teach2030 course as a basis for their own areas of focus as their partnerships develop.
During their INSET Day programme at the start of the Summer Term, Betty Abeng, CEO of the Commonwealth Education Trust, formerly known as the Commonwealth Institute, addressed teaching staff.
Ms Abeng, who is originally from Cameroon spoke of learning poverty globally. According to the World Bank, learning poverty affects over 250 million children around the world, limiting their life chances. It is estimated that up to 80 per cent of children in low income countries remain unable to read and understand simple text by the age of ten.
“I have been blessed with having a good education and at the forefront of my talk now is the teachers I met and everyone I encountered in my learning journey” she said. “We can build schools and send computers and ipads but the people who have the real impact are the teachers.”
The teachers from Gordon’s will be matched with those overseas, according to their strengths, subject areas and the age of the children they teach.
To date the Commonwealth Education Trust, which covers the Commonwealth’s 54 member countries, has reached 25,000 teachers in over 40 countries, benefitting a million students.
Gordon’s teachers will be in partnership with teachers in Tujatane, Zambia; Cameroon and Kenya. It was felt that having two teachers from the same school working together with one UK teacher would promote the learning partner process that Teach2030 emphasises, plus more opportunities to discuss key learning points in between mentor meetings.
