EfECT Need Anylisis cover - 1 - British Council · The needs analysis combines quantitative findings from APTIS testing of English proficiency and results

© British Council The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.A registered charity: 209131(England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland)

English for EducationCollege Trainers (EfECT) Project

NEEDS ANALYSISwww.britishcouncil.org.mm

NEEDS ANALYSIS

English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project 01

English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project

English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project

Needs Analysis

Prepared by the British Council English for Education College Trainers (EfECT)

Project in collaboration with VSO. Funded by DFID and the British Council.

The views expressed in this report reflect the analysis and opinion of the authors

and do not reflect the views of DFID or the British Government.

English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project02 03

English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) ProjectEnglish for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project

Contents

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) 2

The British Council 2

Voluntary Service Overseas 2

SECTION A – Introduction and overview 6

1. Executive Summary and key recommendations 6

1.1. Executive Summary 6

1.2. Summaryofkeyfindings 6

1.3. Recommendations 7

2. The Needs Analysis 8

2.1. Purpose and structure of the needs analysis 8

2.2. Baseline research methodology 9

3. Background to the English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project 10

3.1. Project origins 10

3.2. Project outcomes and outputs 11

4. Background 12

4.1. Initial teacher training in Myanmar 12

4.2. Continuous professional development for Myanmar teachers 13

4.3. International engagement – a history of initiatives to date 14

SECTION B – Reporting of Findings 16

5. TheEfECTProjectBeneficiaries–theTeacherEducators 16

5.1. Key Performance Indicators 16

5.2. KeyQuestionsregardingbeneficiaries 16

5.3. Findings 16

5.3.1. Teacher educators 16

5.3.2. Demographic data 17

5.3.3. Years teaching 21

5.4. Explanation 21

5.5. Implications 22

5.6. Recommendation 22

6. Level of English of Teacher Educators 22


6.2. Key Questions regarding teacher Educators and English 22

6.2.1. The Use of English in Education Colleges and Universities of Education 23

6.2.2. Motivation - teacher educators reasons for wanting to learn English 26

6.2.3. OverallEnglishProficiency-APTISresults 27

6.2.4. Teachereducatorsproficiencywitheachskill:Speaking,Listening,Reading,

Writing 30

6.2.5. Self-ratedconfidenceinEnglishProficiency 34

6.2.6. Hopes,fearsandsuccesscriteriafortheEfECTproject 36

6.3. Explanation 37



The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty. It aimstoendtheneedforaidbycreatingjobs,unlockingthepotentialofgirlsandwomenandhelpingtosaveliveswhenhumanitarianemergencieshit.Ineducation,DFIDhascommittedtohelp9millionchildreninprimaryschool(atleasthalfofwhichwillbegirls),2millionchildreninlowersecondaryschoolandtrainmorethan190,000teacherstoimprovethequalityofeducationandchildren’slearningby2015.

DFID’ssupporttoMyanmar’stransformationisbasedaroundfivepillars:(i)Peacebuildingandconflictresolution; (ii) Improve democratic governance and accountability; (iii) Economic transformation and job creation; (iv) Supporting the development of a dynamic and resilient rural population and economy; and (v) Developing human capital. In education DFID Burma is also supporting the Quality Basic Education Programme(QBEP)andMyanmarEducationConsortium(MEC)toincreaseeducationalaccess,improvesystemsefficiencyandraiselearninglevelsinbasiceducation.

DFID provides 50% of the funding to the EfECT project.

The British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportuni-ties,workingonthegroundinsixcontinents.TheBritishCouncilisaworldleaderinculturalrelations,buildinglong-termrelationshipsandtrustbetweenpeopleintheUKandothercountries,formutualben-efit.BritishCounciloperatesin238citiesin110countriesanditsprogrammescoverthearts,education,English,scienceandsociety.

For many years the British Council worked mainly supporting the non-governmental sector and civil society development in Myanmar. This changed in 2014 with the signing of a historic Memorandum of Understanding between the Myanmar Government and the British Council.

The British Council is very proud to be joint funder and lead delivery agency for the English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) project.

Voluntary Service Overseas

VSO is a leading independent international development organisation that works through volunteers. Itisuniqueinthewayitbringspeopletogethertovolunteertheirknowledge,experienceandskillstofightpoverty.Itsvolunteersworkinwhateverfieldsarenecessarytofighttheforcesthatkeeppeopleinpoverty – from education and health through to helping people learn the skills to make a living. VSO has educationprogrammesin17countrieswhereitworkswithMinistriesofEducation,inteachertrainingcolleges,withschoolsandcommunities,toimprovequalityofteachingandaccesstoeducationforallchildren.

VSO started its work in Myanmar fairly recently and is working towards a Memorandum of Understanding with the Myanmar Government to underwrite its work in Myanmar.

VSO is subcontracted to the British Council as a delivery partner for the project. VSO supplies half of the EfECT trainers. The VSO trainers raised money to come to Myanmar and work on the EfECT project.



7. Understanding and awareness of methodology 38


7.2. Key Questions regarding understanding of methodology 38

7.3. Findings regarding understanding of methodology 38

7.3.1. The “21 Methodologies” 38

7.3.2. Awareness and understanding of ‘CCA’ or ‘Child-centred approaches’ 39

7.3.3. Self-ratedconfidenceinunderstandingmethodology 40

7.3.4. Teacher educators success criteria for EfECT around understanding

methodology 40

7.4. Explanation 41



8. Use of methodology 42


8.2. Key Questions regarding use of methodology 42

8.3. Findings 42

8.3.1. Observed practice 43

8.3.2. Self-ratedconfidenceintheuseofmethodologies 43

8.3.3. Use of the 21 methodologies 44

8.3.4. Teacher educators explanations for the choice of methodology used 45

8.3.5. Teacher educators’ success criteria for the EfECT project in

terms of their use of methodology? 46

8.4. Explanation 47



9. Teacher training 48


9.2. Key Questions regarding teacher training 48

9.3. Findings 48

9.3.1. Involvement of teacher educators in teacher training 49

9.3.2. Practical teacher training and use of the practical schools 49

9.4. Explanation 50



10. Resources Utilised in Education Colleges and Universities of Education 51


10.2. Key Questions regarding use of methodology 51

10.3. Findings 51

10.3.1. Resources used by teacher educators to train student teachers. 51

10.3.2. Physical and ICT resources 53

10.3.3. Resources that teacher educators teach student teachers how to use. 55

10.3.4. Teacher educators’ success criteria for the EfECT project in terms

of use of resources. 55

10.4. Explanation 56



SECTION C – Findings from Previous Research 57

11. Previous research relating to teacher training in Myanmar 57

11.1. Keyquestionsaroundexistingliterature 57

Conclusion 65

References 66

Appendix 1 - Focus group guiding questions 68

Appendix 2 – A guide to the Common European Framework 69

Appendix 3 - The Education System in Myanmar 70

Summary 70

1. History of the education system in Myanmar 70

2. The current school system in Myanmar 72

3. The role of English in the school system 72

Appendix 4 - Summary of findings from observation of teacher educator lessons 73

1. Academic classes for teacher trainees 73

2. Methodology 75

3. Co-curriculum 76

Appendix 5 - Block Teaching Assessment Form 78



SECTION A – Introduction and overview 1. Executive Summary and key recommendations

1.1. Executive Summary

The project needs analysis was conducted to augment the initial needs analysis that informed the project initiationinordertorefinetheprojectapproachtoteachingEnglishinthefirstyearoftheprojectand supporting teacher educators to improve their teaching methodology in the second year of the project

TheneedsanalysiscombinesquantitativefindingsfromAPTIStestingofEnglishproficiencyandresults ofascorecardquestionnairemeasuringteachereducatorconfidencearoundEnglishandmethodology withqualitativefindingsfromfocusgroupsundertakenbytrainersandlessonobservationsundertaken by EfECT project cluster managers.

TheneedsanalysisalsobuildsonthefindingsoftheComprehensiveEducationSectorReviewandother researchconductedforUNICEF,theBritishCouncil,andotherprojects.

Detailedfindingsandrecommendationsaresetoutbelow.Thesebroadlysetout: • AproposedapproachtoteachingEnglishandraisingEnglishproficiencyinawaythatbuildsonthe evident motivation of teacher educators to learn English and also the need to address areas for development including weaknesses around speaking and listening skills. • Aproposedapproachtosupportteachereducatorsinmovingtowardsaninteractiveapproachto teaching which takes account of barriers such as large class sizes and the present exam system; buildsonlocalknowledgearoundteaching;incorporatesinternationalfindingsaroundthe usefulness of direct instruction when undertaken interactively and moves Myanmar teaching towards anapproachwhichencourages21stcenturyskillssuchascommunicationskills,criticalthinking skills,creativethinkingskills,problemsolvingskills.

1.2.Summaryofkeyfindings

Beneficiaries and demographics • Ofthethreetypesoftrainers:academic,methodologyandco-curricular,onlymethodologyteacher educators are directly involved in training the teacher trainees to teach at primary and middle school level. Academic and co-curricular teacher educators are involved in teaching subject knowledge to the trainees • Thetypicalteachereducatorisfemale,single,between40and55,hasabachelordegreeand speaksMyanmarastheirfirstlanguage. • Theteachertraineesareanagingcohortwith75%duetoretireinthenext15years.

English • OnlyaroundathirdofteachereducatorsareexpectedtoteachtheirsubjectsthroughEnglishasa medium of instruction. • Inreality,eventhoseteachereducatorsexpectedtouseEMImainlyuseMyanmarasthemediumof instruction. • TeachereducatorsmotivationforlearningEnglishishighforreasonsconnectedwithclassroomuse, research and wider. • Overall,thelevelsofEnglishoftheteachereducatorsislow,with75%havingalevellowerthanB1 on the Common European Framework (i.e. 75% are lower than the intermediate level teacher educators might be expected to have). • Teachereducatorshavea‘ jagged’or‘spiky’profileacrossthefourskillswithspeakingskills particularlylow.Thetypicalprofileofateachereducatoris:Listening:B1;ReadingandWriting:A2; Speaking A1.

Methodology • Overall,teachereducatorsself-ratingoftheirunderstandingofmethodologyishighandmany appear to have a good understanding of child-centred approaches but their understanding and knowledge of the ‘21 methodologies’ is very patchy. • Observationsofteachereducatorlessonsfoundextensiveuseofrotelearning,drilling,chanting, reading aloud and memorization. • Overall,teachereducatorslackedconfidencearoundusingarangeofmethodologies. • Teachereducatorscitedarangeofstructuralconstrainstotheuseofalternativemethodologies: o Time o Assessment o Class sizes o Classroom layout o Levels of teacher trainee motivation o Training o Fears around the perceptions of teacher educators • Nevertheless,teachereducatorswerequitemotivatedaroundreceivingpracticaltrainingaround using more interactive methodology which would better engage teacher trainees. • Thepracticumelementinteachertraineestrainingisquiteminimalwithlittleusemadeofthe ‘practice schools’ on education college campus and teacher educators relatively uninvolved with practicum.

Resources • Resourcesusedinclasseswithtraineesandthattraineesaretrainedintheuseofareverylimited with little real use of resources beyond the Ministry of Education text book. English graded readers andsubject-specificmethodologytextsareaparticulargap. • ICTinfrastructureandcommunicationispoor.

•BeingabletousetheInterneteffectively,usingawiderrangeofresourcesandintroducingawider range of resources were cited as possible aims for the EfECT project.

1.3.Recommendations

Demographics • Myanmar’steachereducatorsareanagingcohort,with73%aged40oroverand37%aged50or over. While age brings wisdom and experience it would be prudent to make steps now to ensure that those soon to retire are replaced with appropriately trained and supported successors.

English • GiventhatthemajorityofteachereducatorsdonotuseEnglishintheclassroomandthat overall,thelevelofEnglishislow,BritishCouncilproductssuchasEnglishforTeachers(forEnglish teachers) and English for Subject Teachers (for English medium instruction) are not appropriate. The project should use generic English language materials to raise the level of English prof. • Giventheteachereducators’lowAPTISscoresaroundspeaking,theirconcernaboutlackof confidenceinspeakingandtheiraspirationstoaddressthis,theprojectshouldfocusEnglish proficiency provisiononthisarea. Methodology • TheEfECTprojectneedstobuildonteachereducatorsenthusiasmfornewapproachestoengage learnersandexistingtheoreticalknowledgeofmethodologies,including‘the21methodologies’, but in a way that focusses on the effective practical application of different methodologies in a classroom context. • ThemethodologicalcomponentoftheEfECTprojectneedstocombinetrainingaround child-centredpracticessuchasinteractivegroupandpairwork,encouragingstudentquestioning withbestpracticearoundmore‘teacher-led’or‘directinstruction’pedagogies,suchasdialogue involvingthewholeclass,demonstrationandteacherquestioning(seeWestbrooketal,2013) which are likely to be compatible with existing structural constraints on pedagogy.



• Whilethemethodology,academicandco-curricularteachereducatorshaveadifferentfocusfortheir work,withmethodologyteachereducatorsresponsibleforteachertrainingandacademicandco- curricularteachereducatorsresponsibleforsubjectknowledge,itisrecommendedthatthe methodology year be taught to mixed groups as the teaching skills that are being addressed are generic and apply to all teacher educators. Mixing will also allow teacher educators with different roles to learn about and explore the different roles together.

• ThemethodologycoursecontentfortheEfECTmethodologyyearshouldcompriseacorecurriculum aroundgenericteachingmethodologywithdivergentelementsaddressingissuesspecificto teaching primary and secondary age phases respectively. Additional content around the practical skillsinvolvedinteachertrainingwillberequiredforthemethodologyteachereducators.

Resources • TheEfECTprojectshouldsupporttheeducationcollegesbyhelpingtosupplymethodology resources,includingsubjectspecificresourcesandEnglishgradedreaders. • TheEfECTprogrammeshouldsupportteachereducatorstousetheinternettosearchandsecure a wider range of resources and to use ICT more effectively in the classroom.

2. The Needs Analysis

2.1.Purposeandstructureoftheneedsanalysis

This needs analysis is necessarily a work in progress – a snapshot of the EfECT project’s understanding of the needs associated with the Myanmar’s education colleges at a particular moment in time and the way this informs the project design.

TheresearchassociatedwiththisneedsanalysistookplacebetweenJuneandNovember2014,duringtheinceptionphaseandpilotphaseoftheEfECTproject,howeveritshouldbenotedthatthebroad structure of the project had already been set by this point. In many ways the initial analysis of the needs of Myanmar’s teacher training system was set by President Sein Thein when he approached BritishPrimeMinisterDavidCameronaskingforsupporttoimprovetheEnglishproficiencyofMyanmar’steacher educators and to introduce them to modern methodology. This initial sketch of the needs of the teachereducatorswasthenenhancedthroughdiscussionsbetweentheBritishCouncil,theUK’sDepartment for International Development (DFID) and Myanmar’s Ministry of Education in order to arrive at the broad structure of the EfECT project. The decision to devote one year to improving the English proficiencyoftheteachereducatorsandafurtheryeartosupportingtheteachereducatorsaroundmethodology followed from these initial discussions.

Theresearchundertakenduringtheinceptionandpilotphasesoftheprojectservedtorefinetheseinitial conceptions of the project structure and to establish how these broad goals would be met. However this continues to be an iterative process. The methodology phase of the project starts in September2015andtheprojectwillcontinuetolearnlessonsfromtheteachingofEnglishduringfirstyear of its operation to feed into the design of the methodology phase in the second year.

Theneedsanalysisisstructuredinthefollowingway:Section A – the Introduction and Overview - containsthreesections,theExecutiveSummaryandrecommendations;abriefoverviewoftheEfECTproject and an introduction to teacher training in Myanmar. Section B – Reporting of Findings - contains the main reporting from the needs analysis with sections grouped according to project outcomes and outputs:Englishproficiency;understandingofmethodology,useofmethodologyandteachertraining.Eachsectioninthispartaimstosetout:keyperformanceindicatorsrelatingtothearea;keyresearchquestions;findings;anexplanationofthefindings;implicationsofthefindingsfortheprojectandrecom-mendations. Section C – Findings of Previous Research,containsabriefoverviewofliteraturerelatingtheEfECTprojectandshouldbereadinconjunctionwiththefindingsofthisneedsanalysis.

2.2.Baselineresearchmethodology

TheEfECTbaselinestudydrawsonfoursourcesofdata:

2.2.1. Initial site visits BritishCouncilseniormanagers,EfECTseniormanagersandclustermanagersandVSO senior managers and liaison staff undertook initial site visits to all colleges and universities of education prior to the placement of EfECT trainers. Initial site visits took place from April to August 2014. During the initial site visits EfECT staff spoke to college principals and senior staff and undertook preliminary focus groups with teacher educators. Initial visits also involvedtoursofcollegefacilities,initialauditofresourcesandobservationofteacher educator classes.

2.2.2. Baseline APTIS teacher testing During the project inception period each college was visited by British Council examinations stafftoundertakeAPTIStesting.APTISisageneralEnglishproficiencytestdevelopedby the British Council by a specialist team led by Professor Barry Sullivan. The APTIS test is in formedbycurrentresearchfindingsinappliedlinguisticsandisbasedonacoregrammar andvocabularycomponent,combinedwithadditionalassessmentcomponentswhichtest a candidate’s skills. APTIS combines the candidate’s knowledge of language and their skill,to generate an assessment of ability. The marking of APTIS is task-based focussing on markingspecifictaskswithsignificantbenefitsfortestintegrity.



APTIS is a computer based test which was undertaken using ICT facilities in the education colleges,BritishCounciltestcentresandflyingclasssetsoflaptopstothecollegeswhere required.Whileafewteachereducatorswereabsentduringtestdayseffortshavebeen made to return to test those not present initially leading to present coverage of around 92%.

2.2.3. Structured observations of teacher educators The six EfECT cluster managers undertook observations of 29 teacher educator classes for traineeteachersacrossfifteeneducationcollegesinOctoberandNovember2015.These comprised 16 ‘academic’ (subject knowledge) classes; 14 methodology sessions and 9 co- curricularclasses.DetailedfindingsfromtheseobservationsarecontainedinAppendix4.

2.2.4. Structured quantitative questionnaires Duringthepilotphaseoftheproject,EfECTtrainersundertookastructuredquantitative questionnairewith,asfaraspossible,allteachereducatorswhoweretobebeneficiariesof theEfECTproject.Questionnairescomprisedaseriesofquestionsaroundteachereducator confidencearoundfiveareaswhichreflectedthefiveoutputstrandsagreedwithDFIDwithin alogicalframeworkanalysisapproach:

• GeneralEnglishproficiency(4items) • UsingEnglishintheclassroom/confidenceusingEnglishasamediumofinstruction (6 items) • Awarenessandunderstandingofeffectiveinteractiveteachingandtraining methodology (8 items) • Confidenceusingeffectiveinteractiveteachingandtrainingmethodology(9items) • Understandingofandconfidenceinusingteachertrainingandteachingresources. (5 items)TotakeaccountofthelowlevelofEnglishofsometeachereducatorprojectbeneficiaries,thequestionnairewastranslatedintoMyanmar.EachitemwasscoredonaLikertscalewhichwasusedtogenerateacompositescorereflectingthelevelofconfidenceineacharea.Thequan-titative data generated in this way was then subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS in order to interrogate partitions within the data and explore relationships between teacher educator levelsofconfidenceineachareaontheonehandanddemographicdata,APTISscoresandcategoriesofteachereducator(methodology,academic,co-curricular)ontheother.Teachereducatorsweregivenassurancesthatnamesandcollegeswouldbekeptconfidentialandthesedetailswereremovedpriortostatisticalanalysis.Accountingforsicknessandabsence,coverageusingthequestionnaireisaround1269.

2.2.5. Structured focus groups Alsowithinthepilotphaseoftheproject,EfECTtrainersundertookstructuredfocusgroupswith

eachclassofteachereducators.Trainersweregiventrainingaroundhowtoconductqualitativeresearch and focus group methodology at induction. Induction training also including training in theuseofavarietyofgraphicthinkingtools(beforeandafterwindows,problemtrees,mountaindiagramsetc.),inordertogleanasmuchinformationaspossiblefromteachereducatorsandovercomelowlevelsofEnglish.Focusgroupscoveredthesameareasforexplorationasques-tionnaires.EfECTtrainersweregivenkeyresearchquestionsasastartingpointbutencouragedto‘gowiththeflow’ofdiscussionswithteachereducatorsaroundeachofthefollowingareas:

• GeneralEnglishproficiency • UsingEnglishintheclassroom/confidenceusingEnglishasamediumofinstruction • Awarenessandunderstandingofeffectiveinteractiveteachingandtraining methodology • Confidenceusingeffectiveinteractiveteachingandtrainingmethodology • Understandingof,andconfidencein,usingteachertrainingandteachingresources.

EfECTtrainerswerealsoaskedtoelicit“successindicators”fromteachereducators,amethodol-ogydrawnfromparticipatoryimpactmonitoringandevaluationapproaches,wherebyprojectbeneficiariesthemselvesareencouragedtoputforwardtheirowncriteriaforjudgingwhetherthe EfECT project has been a success. Teacher educators were again given assurances that their responseswouldbeconfidential.Trainerswereeachaskedtoprovideapilotphasereport,out-liningtheanswerstheyhadgatheredinresponsetotheresearchquestions.ThekeyresearchquestionsforeachareacanbefoundinAppendix1.

2.2.5. Structured focus groups Alsowithinthepilotphaseoftheproject,EfECTtrainersundertookstructuredfocusgroupswith

eachclassofteachereducators.Trainersweregiventrainingaroundhowtoconductqualitativeresearch and focus group methodology at induction. Induction training also including training in theuseofavarietyofgraphicthinkingtools(beforeandafterwindows,problemtrees,mountaindiagramsetc.),inordertogleanasmuchinformationaspossiblefromteachereducatorsandovercomelowlevelsofEnglish.Focusgroupscoveredthesameareasforexplorationasques-tionnaires.EfECTtrainersweregivenkeyresearchquestionsasastartingpointbutencouragedto‘gowiththeflow’ofdiscussionswithteachereducatorsaroundeachofthefollowingareas:

• GeneralEnglishproficiency • UsingEnglishintheclassroom/confidenceusingEnglishasamediumofinstruction • Awarenessandunderstandingofeffectiveinteractiveteachingandtraining methodology • Confidenceusingeffectiveinteractiveteachingandtrainingmethodology • Understandingof,andconfidencein,usingteachertrainingandteachingresources.

EfECTtrainerswerealsoaskedtoelicit“successindicators”fromteachereducators,amethodol-ogydrawnfromparticipatoryimpactmonitoringandevaluationapproaches,wherebyprojectbeneficiariesthemselvesareencouragedtoputforwardtheirowncriteriaforjudgingwhetherthe EfECT project has been a success. Teacher educators were again given assurances that their responseswouldbeconfidential.Trainerswereeachaskedtoprovideapilotphasereport,out-liningtheanswerstheyhadgatheredinresponsetotheresearchquestions.ThekeyresearchquestionsforeachareacanbefoundinAppendix1.



3.2.Projectoutcomesandoutputs

75% Teacher Educators are more confident using English as a medium of instruction and / or as a vehicle for accessing effective internation-ally recognised classroom training and teaching resources.

75% Teacher Educators (TEs) apply more effective methodology in training teachers

Number of Teacher Educators (TEs) trained in English Language

75% of TEs improve their language proficiency by one CEFR level after 240 hours English instruction, professional input and self-study (Y1) & 240 hours English medium training and other professional development (Y2)

75% of Teacher Educators (TEs) have an awareness and understand-ing of a wider range of effective teacher training methods and resources

75% of Teacher Educators develop an improved awareness and understanding of effective interactive classroom teaching and learn-ing methods

75 % of Teacher Educators (TEs) demonstrate confidence in applying effective trainer training methodology in training student teachers

75% of Teacher Educators' (TEs) classes observed demonstrate application of effective interactive classroom teaching and learning methods in training student teachers

75% teacher trainees/ student teachers attending the 21 training centres express increased satisfaction with their training

Bank of effective, internationally recognised teacher training/class-room methodology resources made available in every training centre (23 total)

75% teacher educators demonstrate increased understanding of exploiting training/classroom methodology resources to improve their teacher training competence

75% teacher educators contribute to continued curriculum develop-ment through the effective use of classroom methodology resources

Indicator number Indicator descriptor

Outcome indicator 1.1

Outcome indicator 1.2

Output indicator 1.1










3. Background to the English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) Project

3.1.Projectorigins

The English for Education College Trainers (EfECT) project originated from a state visit to the UK in July2013,duringwhichMyanmar’sPresidentTheinSeinmadeadirectrequesttoPrimeMinisterDavidCameron for UK support to Myanmar’s education reform through the placing of native speaker Eng lish language teacher trainers in each of Myanmar’s state education colleges (ECs). The President described an urgent need for Myanmar state school teachers to improve their English and develop their teaching skills,andhesawexpatriatetrainersasinstrumentalinhelpingtobringthisabout.ThisrequestparallelsBritish Council’s 2012 proposal to the Myanmar Ministry of Education to deliver teacher training.

Thisinitialrequestledtofundingof£4.2millionfromUKsourcestohelpbuildthecapacityofteachertraining in Myanmar by placing 44 foreign trainers in Myanmar education colleges and institutes of education.£2.1millionwasprovidedbytheUKgovernment’sDepartmentforInternationalDevelopment(DFID).ThiswasmatchedbyanequivalentamountbytheBritishCouncil.Asubsequentrequestfortheproject to be extended to a further 3 education institutions led to additional funding bringing the total fundingprovidedbyDFIDandtheBritishCouncilto£4,575,000.

The project is delivered through a partnership with Voluntary Services Overseas which sees the British Council providing 25 trainers and the VSO providing 25 trainers. In most institutions one British Council and one Voluntary Services Overseas trainer are deployed together.

The delivery model for the EfECT project involves one year devoted to improving the English language proficiencyoftheteachereducatorsandoneyeardevotedtosupportingtheteachereducatorstobuildtheir capacity around adult teacher training and knowledge and the application of school teaching meth-odologyintheirdesignatedsector(primary,secondaryortertiary).

Theobjectivesoftheprojectare: • ToimprovetheEnglishlanguageproficiencyofTeacherEducatorsinMyanmar’sstatetraining colleges. • DevelopmentofClassroomTeachingMethodologycompetenceofMyanmar’sTeacherEducators. • DevelopmentofTeacherTrainingcompetenceofMyanmar’sTeacherEducators. • Greateraccesstoandabetterunderstandingofhowtoutilisemoderntrainingresourcesand materials for Myanmar’s Teacher Educators.

TheprojectcommencedwithaoneweekinductionforEfECTtrainersinYangon,followedbyathreeweekpilotphaseduringwhichthetrainerspilotedEnglishlanguageteachingresources,andadminis-teredquestionnairesandfocusgroupstoascertaintheneedsoftheteachereducators.Thiswasfol-lowed by a further week of induction in the two locations of Yangon and Mandalay.



4. Background

4.1.InitialteachertraininginMyanmar

Currentoptionsforaspiringteacherstotrainandentertheeducationsystemarequitelimited.Themain trainingprogrammesareprovidedthroughtheeducationcolleges,andarelive-incourses.Traineesmusthavepassedthehighschoolmatriculationexam,buttendnottohaveexcelledinthatexam,astop-perform-ers are automatically streamed into studying medicine or other subjects that are perceived to be of higher value.Mosttraineesarewomen.Inadditiontothesystemdescribedbelow,thereisalsoasmallerteachertraining system run by the Ministry of Border Affairs to place assistant teachers from Myanmar’s ethnic groups in border areas where Myanmar is not the main language spoken.

TherearenineteenEducationColleges(ECs)andtwoinstitutesofeducation(IoEs),whichrecentlychangedtheirdesignationtouniversitiesofeducation(UoEs).TheeducationcollegesarelocatedinMyitkyina,Lashio,Monywa,Mandalay,Sagaing,Pakokku,Meiktila,Taunggyi,Magway,Taungoo,Pyay,Hlegu,Pathein,Bogolay,Kyaukphyu,Thingangyun(Yangon),Yankin(Yangon),Myaungmya,HpaAn,Mawlamyine,andDawei.ThetwoIoEs are situated in Yangon and Sagaing. The Ministry of Border Affairs runs the University for the DevelopmentoftheNationalRaceswhichrunsfiveyearcoursestotrainteachersfromminoritygroupsthroughasimilarcurriculumbutwithadditional‘specialco-curricular’subjectssuchastraditionalmedicine,martial arts and military training.

Traineescurrentlystartat16.AfterstudyingattheECsforoneyearandpassingtheirexams,theycanreceiveaCertificateinEducation.Untilrecently,theCertificatequalifiedtraineestoteachinprimaryandmiddleschools,butthishaschangedveryrecentlysothattraineesmustsubsequentlycompletethe2ndyearDiploma to actually progress to teaching in school.

Traineesmustreceivetheirfirstyearcertificatebeforeprogressingontothesecondyeardiplomastudy.TheDiplomainTeacherEducationisawardedaftercompletionofsecondyearexams.Thediplomaqualifiestrainees as primary or middle school teachers. Those with particularly high marks in the exams can progress tostudyatoneofthetwoUniversitiesofEducation(around20%oftrainees,thoughtheproportionvariesfrom one education college to another).

Educationcollegesalsooffera3rdtypeofcourseforuniversitygraduateeducators,theDiplomainTeacherEducation Competency (DTEC). The one year DTEC is for University graduate educators and fast-tracks them intoaroleaslowersecondaryeducationteachers,withouthavingtostudythefirstyearintheECs.DTECstudents take the methodology courses of CTEd and DTEd plus block teaching in one year. After the 4 month DTEC they are eligible to teach primary. If they attend 4 more months they can teach at middle school level.

Education colleges also provide short-course training for primary and junior teachers that are currently in serviceduringthesummerholiday.BasedontheresultsoftheirfinalexamtheseteachersareawardedaPrimaryAssistantTeacherCertificate(PATC)and/oraJuniorAssistantTeacherCertificate(JATC).

Theuniversitiesofeducationoffera3yearBachelorsinEducation,whichqualifiestraineestoteachinmiddleschool.TherearedifferentadmissionrequirementsfortheBEd.Thedirectintakesystemisforstudentswhohave passed their high school matriculation exam. These students can apply directly to the Department of Higher Education and are then selected for consideration by the committee. The Universities of Education then interview these candidate educators and offer placement to those that they deem to be suitable. UniversityofEducationBEdgraduatescanalsoapplytoworkasEducationOfficers.

The UoEs also run PhD programmes; the Education Theory Department runs a PhD in Educational ManagementandLeadership,theEducationalPsychologyDepartmentrunsaPhDinTeacherTestingandMeasurement and the Educational Methodology Department runs a PhD in Pedagogy and Methodology. These three departments also offer six different areas for MEd courses. There is also a research based MPhil and the English Department offers an MA TEFL. The Institute also has a Post-graduate Diploma in Multimedia Arts (which it seems helps participants understand how to apply multimedia to teaching methodology) and a Diploma in ELT.



Alleducationcollegegraduatesstarttheircareerwithprimaryschoolteaching,regardlessofwhethertheyhave completed one or two years of study. Career progression as a teacher through the levels of schools (primarytohigh)isdependentuponlengthoftimeinpostandinsomecases,obtainingadditionalqualifications.Movingfrombeingaprimaryschoolteacherorassistantprimaryschoolteacher(grades1-5)tomiddleschoolteacher(grades6-9)requirestakinga4yeardegree(inanysubject)throughdistancelearning.ProgressionfrombeingamiddleschoolteachertohighschoolteacherrequiresteacherstoservefourtofiveyearsasaprimaryteacherandthensitaplacementtesttoattendatwoyeardistancelearningB.Ed,offeredbytheuniversitiesofeducation,inordertoteachuppersecondary.Thisalsomeansthatprimaryteachersarealwaysthenewest/leastexperiencedteachers.Experiencedteachersareneededattheprimarylevel,andtheMyanmargovernmenthasrecentlyoutlinedrecentplansinthesub-sectorrulesforteacherstospecialisebylevelofeducation,removingthisautomaticverticaltransferthroughthesystem.

A second admission system is known as B.Ed. (Bridge Program). This program is for those who have complet-ed two years pre-service training at an education college.

AswithotherpartsoftheMyanmarMinistryofEducation,teachertraininginMyanmarisquitehighlycentralisedandhierarchical.Thisbringsuniformitytotheeducationsystem,whichmeans,forexample,thetimetable in the education colleges is essentially the same in all 21 education colleges.

The Diploma in English Language Teaching was inaugurated at Yangon University in 1991-92 to provide pre-service training for those who intend to be tertiary-level English teachers and also to create a pool of Englishlanguageteacherstomeettheshortageofqualifiedlanguageteachersingeneral.Thecourseisnowbeing offered at major universities in Myanmar and many who graduate from this programme have taken up teaching posts in tertiary institutions. Another programme introduced to produce English specialists within the country is the doctorate programme in English initiated in 2002 at both Yangon and Mandalay Universities.All tertiary level subjects are taught through the medium of English which is why ‘academic’ subjects in education colleges are supposed to be taught to trainee teachers through the medium of English and use English text books as this is considered tertiary level study.

4.2.ContinuousprofessionaldevelopmentforMyanmarteachers

Pre-serviceandin-servicetrainingforteachersfaceschallengessuchas:‘inadequateskillsinpedagogicalteaching;poorfacilities,equipmentandinformationresources;overcrowdedcurricula;andlackofsupervision’(UNICEF,2012,p.87).AccordingtotheMinistryofEducation,in2000approximately57%ofprimaryteachers,58%ofmiddleschoolteachersand9%ofhighschoolteachershadneverattendedanyteachertraining(Lwin,2000).Therehavenotbeenanysubsequentpublicationsofthesefiguressoitisnotknownwhetherthesepercentagesarestillrepresentative;however,itislikelythatthenumberwhohavenotreceived training have increased given the two recent recruitments of daily wage teacher by the government to increase overall teacher numbers.

Selected teacher educators from the various education colleges have received occasional ‘refresher’ type coursesinYangon,eitherinNaypyidaworinYangon(atYankineducationcollegeoratNationalCentreforEnglishLanguage,YangonUniversity(NCEL).Thishasincludedsomemethodologytraining.Theseusuallyinvolve one teacher being selected to travel to Naypyidaw or Yangon for these trainings and then re-sharing the trainings when they are back in the education college. They usually last for a maximum of ten days. Some teacher educators also receive sponsored study abroad. These are the only two types of INSET that teacher educators currently receive.

Attempts at developing and running INSET to improve methodology skills in English have been made over the years and are still continuing. In 2009 the Instructional Skills Upgrading Refresher course was developed whichcomprisedofsixcomponents:coursecontent,lessonobjectivesandoutcomes,applyinglanguageskillslearntinclass,improvingpronunciation,usingclassroomlanguage,usingteachingaids,teachingfourskills and grammar.

4.3.Internationalengagement–ahistoryofinitiativestodate

Aspartofthereformsthatfollowedthe1992educationsectorreview,thelate1990ssawthecurriculumandtextbookcommitteetheoftheMyanmarMinistryofEducation’sDEPT(DepartmentofEducation,Planningand Training) produce a manual which describes ‘21 methodologies’ for use in teacher training. These were developed with support from UNESCO and encompass a range of child centred approaches.

The 21 methodologies are reproduced here:

It therefore appears that the list of “21 methodologies” includes not only ‘methodologies’ but also generic approachesandspecifictechniques.

Inthe2000stheMOEthenrequestedJICA(JapanInternationalCooperationAgency),abilateralgovernmentagency,tohelpdevelopateachersguidetonewtextbooksthattheyhadpublishedinordertoassistteachersin creating more engaging child-centred lessons. JICA’s Strengthening Child Centred Approach (SCCA) was active from 2004 to 2011. It was aimed at supporting teachers’ understanding of child-centred approaches andresultedinthemodificationofsomeeducationcollegemethodologytextbookstoincludechild-centredapproaches and assessment. JICA conducted a number of workshops and seminars to improve lessons at educationcolleges.Theydevelopedmodellessonplansforactivelearning,andintroducedlessonstudy(peerreviewoflessons).SincetheendofJICA’sinvolvementinthisproject,theMinistryofEducationhascontinuedto provide dissemination training to primary teachers from their own budget.

While there does not appear to have been a formal evaluation of this initiative there appear to have been problems bringing about sustainable change. One specialist from JICA communicated to EfECT staff that during the Strengthening Child Centred Approach (SCCA) project teacher educators tried to conduct “special activities”whiletheywerebeingmonitoredbutwhentheprojectended,activitieswerediscontinuedexceptby very few teacher educators who were very motivated and enthusiastic. This JICA specialist made several commentsregardingtheoutcomeofthisproject:

1. Theprojectwasnotsuccessfulininstitutionalizinggoodpractices,sowhenitended,theeducation colleges’ efforts to improve lessons also ceased.

2 Most teacher educators do not necessarily think that they are in need of further training.

Education college teacher educators (particularly methodology teacher educators) are recruited fromhighschoolteachers,andtheyusuallyfeelthatprimaryteachingisaneasyjob.Theydonot feel the necessity to prepare for education college lessons. The available evidence does suggest that high school teachers conduct more teacher-centred lessons than primary school teachers however.

11. Inquiry

12. Field Trip

13. Observation method

14. Role play

15. Simulation and games

16. Brainstorming

17. Nominal group process

18. Cooperative learning method

19. Fish bowl technique

20. Experimental learning approach

21. Think-Pair-Share

1. Storytelling

2. Question and answer method

3. Lecture discussion

4. Strip story

5. Demonstration

6. Inductive approach

7. Dyadic exchange

8. Laboratory techniques

9. Problem solving

10. Discovery



3. There is no incentive for teacher educators to improve their lessons. Unless heads of training de partmentsorprincipalsprovidegoodguidanceandleadership,teachereducatorstaketheeasier way-justreadingtextbooksduringthelessons.Inaddition,allstudentshavetopasstheexamand graduateanyway(asDEPT’snon-statedinstruction).Asaresult,unlesstheyareencouragedtowork harder,bothteachersandstudentseasilylosethemotivationtoimproveteachingandlearning.

Asidefromthat,internationalinvolvementintheeducationsectorhasbeenlimited.Thisisaboutto change with the education reform.

A number of nascent reform projects have great implications for the current teacher education system.Thesearelistedbelow:

UNESCO – Strengthening Teacher Education in Myanmar (STEM) Project

TheUNESCOSTEMprojectisfundedbyDFAT,theAustralianbilateraldevelopmentagencyandcom-prisestwoparts:• Reform of Teacher Education Curriculum Thisisalong-termprojecttakingplaceoverafive-yearperiodlookingatreviewing, reforming and rationalising the teacher education curriculum in the education colleges• ICT This part of the STEM project conducted a rapid assessment audit of ICT resources andutilisationinlate2014,early2015.Thisreportwillbepublishedin2015andwill include recommendations to the Myanmar Ministry of Education regarding procurementofICThardware,softwareandcommunicationsequipmentfor educationcolleges.Otherprojectactivitiestofollowwillinclude: o Training of teacher educators around ICT literacy. o Development of a curriculum module around ICT for teacher educators to deliver to teacher trainees in the colleges.

JICAThe Japanese bilateral development agency is supporting the Ministry of Education on reform of the primaryeducationcurriculum.Thisinvolveswritingandpilotingofprimarytextbooks,withsupportfrom the British Council for the English textbook; development of the primary curriculum and associ-ated assessment and associated support for the education colleges to train teacher trainees in the new curriculum and textbooks.

UNICEF – SITE project and competency frameworksTheSITEproject(SupportingInsetforTeacherEducators)issupportedbyQBEP,aconsortiumoffundersincludingtheBritish,Australian,DanishandNorwegianbilateralagencies.TheSITEprojectisdeveloping and piloting a programme of school-based professional development for existing teachers.UNICEF is also working with the British Council to produce competency frameworks for teachers; teachereducators;headteachersandtownshipeducationofficers.

ADB – Asian Development BankThe Asian Development Bank is supporting the Ministry of Education on reform of the secondary edu-cation curriculum.

School Grants and ScholarshipsThe World Bank and the Australian government are providing funding for expanding the government’s school grants and scholarships scheme.

UNESCOisabouttostartworkonaprojecttostrengthenteachereducation,includingreviewingtheentire framework of the teacher education system. These projects represent the beginnings of what is likelytoamounttosignificantchangewithintheeducationsector.



SECTION B – Reporting of Findings 5. The EfECT Project Beneficiaries – the Teacher Educators

5.1.KeyPerformanceIndicators

Thekeyprojectobjectivesfromtheprojectinitiationdocumentareasfollows: 1. ToimprovetheEnglishlanguageproficiencyofteachereducatorsinMyanmar’sstate training colleges 2. Development of Classroom Teaching Methodology competence of Myanmar’s teacher educators 3. Development of Teacher Training competence of Myanmar’s teacher educators 4. Greater access to and a better understanding of how to utilise modern training resources and materials for Myanmar’s teacher educators

5.2.KeyQuestionsregardingbeneficiaries

• Keyquestionsregardingthelevelofmotivationandengagementoftheteachereducatorsrelateto demographicdata.Whoaretheteachereducators?Whatisthegenderbalance;levelofeducation, ethnic background? • Withregardtothesustainabilityoftheproject–howoldaretheteachereducators?Howlongwill they remain working as teacher educators after the end of the project? • ThetoplevelobjectivesoftheprojectrefertoimprovingtheEnglishLanguageproficiencyofthe teacher educators but to what extent do they use English in their work? What proportion of teacher educators teach English and what proportion use English as a medium of instruction? • Thetoplevelprojectobjectivesrefertothedevelopmentofteachertrainingcompetenceofthe teacher educators but what proportion are actually involved with conveying teaching methodology to teacher trainees?

5.3.Findings

Summary • Ofthethreetypesoftrainers:academic,methodologyandco-curricular,onlymethodologyteacher educators are directly involved in training the teacher trainees to teach at primary school level. Aca demic and co-curricular teacher educators are involved in teaching subject knowledge to the trainees. • Thetypicalteachereducatorisfemale,single,between40and55,hasabachelordegreeandspeaks Myanmarastheirfirstlanguage. • Theteachertraineesareanagingcohortwith75%duetoretireinthenext15years.

5.3.1. Teacher educators Therearethreetypesofteachereducator;Academic,Methodology,andCo-curriculum.

Academic Teacher Educators Academic teacher educators teach subject knowledge. Academic subjects include Myanmar,English,history,geography,maths,chemistry,biology,physics.Whentrainees finishtheirtwoyeartrainingattheeducationcollegessomegoontostudyatUniversityby wayofadistancelearningcourse,orgoontofurtherstudyinauniversityofeducation;the training from the academic teacher educators is to prepare them for this. Course books used intheseteachingclassesareinEnglish,andEnglishissupposedtobethemediumof instruction.However,inpracticethisrarelyhappensduetoproficiencylevelsofbothteacher educators and their trainees. These sessions take place between 9.00am and 3.00pm in most colleges.

Academic teacher educators usually do not have experience as school teachers and are not expected to transfer knowledge and skills around school teaching to trainee teachers. They are essentially teachers of subject knowledge to young adults.

Methodology Teacher Educators Methodology teacher educators give trainees instruction in the methodology for teaching in primaryschools.Thecoreofthetrainingisthroughthe21methodologies,whichisexplainedin detail in the methodology section. The medium of instruction is Myanmar in all subjectsapartfromEnglish,whichissupposedtobedeliveredintheEnglishlanguage.How-ever,theextenttowhichthishappensisvariable.Thesesessionstakeplacebetween9.00amand 3.15pm.

Methodologyteachereducatorsarerequiredtohavefiveyears’experienceteachinginschools,howeverthisexperiencetendstobeinhighschoolsratherthanprimaryormiddleschools.

Co-curriculum Teacher Educators Co-curriculum teacher educators teach in the mornings (7.00am – 7.45am) and afternoons (3.15pm–4.00pm).Therangeofco-curriculumsubjectsisquitewideandincludesagriculture,domesticscience,music,finearts,P.E.TherearecompulsoryP.Esessionseverymorningfrom6.00 – 6.45am then other co-curriculum subjects are taught from 7.00 – 7.45am. The manner ofinstructionisveryhandson:agricultureclasscaninvolvewateringtheplantsoncampus,forexample.

Teacher educators identify with their subject specialism rather than an age phase. A distinction between primary and secondary specialisation is not therefore made. Experience is marked by whether a teacher educator is an assistant lecturer or a tutor. The graph above shows the different proportions of teacher educators assigned to different roles.

5.3.2. Demographic data The needs analysis explored demographic data for the teacher educators and found that the typicalteachereducatoris:

• Female • Between40and50yearsofage • HasaBachelor’sdegree • HasMyanmarastheirfirstlanguage

3.8%

22.4%

5.3% 4.5%

32.9%31.1%

AdministrationStaff

Co-CurricularStaff

EnglishAcademic

EnglishMethodology

OtherAcademic Staff

OtherMethodology

Staff

Sector



The pie chart above shows that the teacher educators in the colleges and Universities of educa-tionandwhoarebeneficiariesoftheEfECTprojectareoverwhelminglyfemale–87%arefemalewithjust13%male.However,manyoftheseniormanagementstaffintheeducationcollegesaremen. This is in part because to apply for promotion you have to be willing to move to a different educationcollege,andmanywomenhavetolookaftertheirfamiliesandcannotaffordorwouldprefer not to be placed away from them. However,therearedifferencesinthegendersplitbetweensectors–moremenareco-curricularteacher educators than in other sectors at nearly 30% - this is perhaps unsurprising as some of the co-curricular subjects are perhaps ‘traditionally male’ such as industrial arts. However the proportion of men employed as “other academic staff” is much lower than for other sectors.

Gender

Female

Male

Female Male Total 990 154 1144

% 87% 13% 100%

86.0%

73.4%

85.2% 86.5%94.1%

88.2% 86.5%

14.0%

26.6%

14.8% 13.5%5.9%

11.8% 13.5%

AdministrationStaff

Co-CurricularStaff

EnglishAcademic

EnglishMethodology

Other AcademicStaff

OtherMethodology

Staff

Total

Gender by SectorFemale Male

Theabovebarchartshowsanagingprofilefortheteachereducators.Just26%ofteachereducators in the sample are under 40 while 74% are 40 or over. This raises issues both of hu-manresourcesmanagementfortheMyanmarMinistryofEducationbutalsoquestionsaroundthe sustainability and lasting impact of the EfECT project’s activities if a large proportion of the projectbeneficiariesareapproachingretirement. Disaggregatingagebystaffingroleshowssignificantvariation.Overall,Englishstaffareyounger than other staff and academic staff are younger than methodology staff.

Age

0

100

200

300

400

500

20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Age of teacher educators

Age 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+ Total

n 76 217 409 427 9 1138 % 7% 19% 36% 37% 1% 100%

53.4

45.1

37.0

45.541.6

50.045.4

AdministrationStaff

Co-CurricularStaff

EnglishAcademic

EnglishMethodology

Other AcademicStaff

OtherMethodology

Staff

Total

Mean age (year)



Just 35 out of a sample of 1144 teacher educators stated that Myanmar was not their mother tongue. These35,forwhomMyanmarwasnottheirmothertongue,includedspeakersofMon,Chin,KarenPo,KarenSgaw,Karenni,KarenPo,MyanmarDawei,Pa’o,Rakhine,Shanandotherlanguagesassetoutbelow:

First Language

Myanmar

OtherMyanmar Other Total

1109 35 1144

Other languages

Mon 2 Karen PO 3

Chin 6

Myanmar Dawei

6

Karen Po 1 Pa'o 2

Karen Sgaw 3 Rakhine 3

Karenni 1 Shan 4

Other 4

Qualification Level

Post-grad

diploma Bachelor’s

degree Master’s degree PhD Total

20 689 420 14 1143

Qualification Level

Post-grad dipl

Bachelors

Masters

PhD

5.3.3. Years teaching

The needs analysis looked at numbers of years teaching – including both years teaching in educationcollegesandpreviousschool-basedteaching.Aswithage,thereisarelationship betweennumberofyearsteachingandthedifferentsectorsasshownbelow: 5.4. Explanation

•Themethodologyteachereducatorstendtobealotolderthantheacademicteacher educators.Thisispresumablyduetotherequirementthatmethodologyteachereducators haveatleast5years’experienceofschoolteaching,whilethisisnotarequirementforacademic teacher educators who may join their profession straight out of university. This could also explain the “double peak” in distribution of teacher educators by years teaching. This does however meanthatalthoughmanyteachereducatorsarenearingretirement,itappearsthatthereisalso a younger cohort with 0-10 years’ experience. • Thevastmajorityofteachereducatorsarefemalewithalargepercentagebeingsingleandun married.Discussionswithteachereducatorsindicatethat,historically,whileteachingis considered a very high status occupation in Myanmar it is very poorly paid.

Years teaching 0-5 6-10 11-14 16-20 21-25 26-29 30-34 35-39 40+ Total

68 238 161 63 133 222 194 53 3 1135

0

50

100

150

200

250

0-5 6-10 11-14 16-20 21-25 26-29 30-34 35-39 40+

Years teaching

28.1

21.1

12.3

22.4

13.6

26.7

AdministrationStaff

Co-CurricularStaff

English Academic EnglishMethodology

Other AcademicStaff

OtherMethodology

Staff

Mean years of teaching

Administration Staff Co-Curricular Staff English Academic

English Methodology Other Academic Staff Other Methodology Staff



5.5. Implications

•Thedifferentrolesofthedifferentteachereducatorssuggesttheyareinvolvedinquitedifferent typesofteaching: o The methodology teacher educators are involved in transferring teaching skills to a new generation of teachers. oTheacademicandco-curricularteachereducators,ontheotherhand,areessentially teachers of young adults (the 16-17 year old trainees). They have no experience of teaching children and are not expected to transfer any skills or knowledge relating to this. •Theageprofileoftheteachereducatorshasseriousimplicationsforthesustainabilityoftheworkof the EfECT project.

5.6.Recommendation

•Myanmar’steachereducatorsareanagingcohort,with73%aged40oroverand37%aged50or over. While age brings wisdom and experience it would be prudent to make steps now to ensure that those soon to retire are replaced with appropriately trained and supported successors.

6. Level of English of Teacher Educators


Thekeyprojectobjectivesfromtheprojectinitiationdocumentareasfollows: •Outcome Indicator 1.1-75%TeacherEducatorsaremoreconfidentusingEnglishasamediumof instructionand/orasavehicleforaccessingeffectiveinternationallyrecognisedclassroom training and teaching resources. •Output 1.1 - Number of Teacher Educators (TEs) trained in English Language •Output 1.2 -75%ofTEsimprovetheirlanguageproficiencybyoneCEFRlevelafter240hours Englishinstruction,professionalinputandself-study(Y1)&240hoursEnglishmediumtrainingand otherprofessionaldevelopment(Y2)ToimprovetheEnglishlanguageproficiencyofteacher educators in Myanmar’s state training colleges.

6.2.KeyQuestionsregardingteacherEducatorsandEnglish

• Use of English in education colleges – the logframe for the EfECT project refers to use of English as a medium of instruction so it was important to establish what the teacher educators used English for in their work. How many are English teachers? How many are expected to use English as a medium of Instruction? •Motivation - more widely we wanted to know what are the motivations of the teacher educators to learnEnglish.Inparticular,iftheydidn’tuseEnglishintheirteaching,whydidtheywanttolearn English? • English proficiency levels - a key performance indicator for the project is that teacher educators improve their English levels by one level on the Common European Framework (CEFR – see appendix2foradetailedexplanationoftheCEFR).Inaddition,itwasimportanttoknowthelevelof the teacher educators in order to know at what level to pitch the course. •English skills –fromthepointofviewofteachingEnglishproficiencytotheteachereducators,it wasimportanttoknowtheirrelativeabilityineachofthefourskills:reading,writing,speakingand listening. •Self-rated confidence –inaddition,astheprojectlogframerequiresthatteachereducators improvetheirconfidenceinusingEnglish,itwasimportanttoknowtheirself-ratedconfidencein English at the start of the project. •Expectations from the project –finally,wewantedtoknowwhatexpectations,hopesandfears teachereducatorsthemselveshadfromtheprojectintheareaofEnglishproficiency.



6.2.1. The Use of English in Education Colleges and Universities of Education

Summary •Onlyaroundathirdofteachereducatorsareexpectedtoteachtheirsubjectsthrough English as a medium of instruction. •Inreality,eventhoseteachereducatorsexpectedtouseEMImainlyuseMyanmarasthe medium of instruction. •TeachereducatorsmotivationforlearningEnglishishighforreasonsconnectedwith classroomuse,researchandmorewidely. •Overall,thelevelsofEnglishoftheteachereducatorsislow,with88%havingalevel lower than B1 on the Common European Framework (i.e. 88% are lower than the intermediate level teacher educators might be expected to have). •Teachereducatorshavea‘ jagged’or‘spiky’profileacrossthefourskillswithspeaking skillsbeingparticularlylow.Thetypicalprofileofateachereducatoris:Listening: B1;ReadingandWriting:A2;SpeakingA1.

Different sectors of teacher educators use English to a greater or lesser extent. •Around10%oftheEfECTbeneficiariesareEnglishteachereducators,withEnglishas the content of their classes – these are the English academic and English methodology teacher educators. •Around34%aresupposedtouseEnglishasthemediumofinstruction,thesearethe other academic teacher educators.

•Around56%arenotexpectedtouseEnglishexplicitlyinclasses.Thesearetheother methodology and co-curricular teacher educators. Ascanbeseenfromthechartandtableabove,themajorityofMyanmarteachereducators,56%,donotuseEnglish,eitherasthemediumofinstructionorthecontentoftheir classes

English teacher educatorsAround 10% of teacher educators in the sample use English as the content of sessions and as the medium of instruction. •English academic teachereducatorsteachEnglishproficiencytotraineeteachers.•English methodology teacher educators train the teacher trainees in how to teach English at primary level.

Trainees receive relatively few teaching hours in English academic or English Language methodology subject areas at the education colleges. Trainee teachers receive 2 x 45 minutelessons=90minutesofclassroomtuitionperweekaroundEnglishproficiency,andthe same again for English methodology. The English academic lessons are delivered using a twenty year old textbook with little communicative methodology. The units in the textbooktendtocoverthefollowingpattern:introductionofvocabulary,pronunciation(usingthephoneticalphabet),grammar,readingpracticeusingashortstoryorpoem,speaking,writing,followedbyreadingcomprehension.Inaddition,traineeteachersreceiveone 45 minute session a week in the language lab doing speaking and listening practice. Thelanguagelabpracticeinvolvesarangeoftextsandtextbooks,including“Interchange”and New Headway. The universities of education use internationally recognised ELT books fortheteachingofEnglishLanguageProficiency,specificallythe2013editionsof“Straightforward”.

Overall,themethodologyandtextbooksusedtoteachEnglishrequirestudentstomemorise grammar and vocabulary without understanding and without putting language into context. Their language skills are not developed at all – speaking and listening are not introduced or practised; reading and writing are used as conduits for grammar and vocabularyexercisesandquestions.Englishlanguageteachershaveto‘teachtothetest’andfeeltheir‘handsaretied’,sostudentsdon’tlearnhowtousethelanguage.Asoneteacherputsit,“Allthelessonsarebasedongrammarpoints”.Themethodassumesthatteachersexplaingrammarpoints,givequestionsandanswersandthenmakestudentswrite a piece of work using prompts. Although there are some exercises for the purpose of practice,theyarenoteffectiveastheyarejustfillinginblanks,meaninglessdrillingsandsubstitutions.

English as a medium of instructionWiththeexceptionofAcademicMyanmarlanguageteachereducators,academicteachereducators are expected to teach using English as a medium of instruction. These teacher educatorsconstitutearoundathird–34%oftheEfECTbeneficiaries.Thesearetheteachereducatorsresponsibleforteachingsubjectknowledgetotheteachertrainees,so,forexample,physicsorgeographyacademicTeachereducatorsareexpectedtoteachphysics or geography to trainee teachers using English. All textbooks and exams for these subjects are in English.

However,thisneedsanalysisfoundthatalthoughtherewassomeexpectationthatacademicteachereducatorsusedEnglishasamediumofinstruction,inrealityEnglishwasnotusedintheseclassrooms:

•Duringsampleobservations,only10%ofacademiclessonswerefoundto use English (see Appendix 4)

•AlthoughEnglishproficiencyofatleastB1isrequiredtoteacheffectivelythrough Englishmedium,only26%ofacademicteachereducatorswerefoundtobeat this level. (see below)

•Inaddition,academicteachereducatorslackedconfidenceinusingEnglishintheclass-room,withonly18%ratingthemselvesas“veryconfident”or“quiteconfident”when using English in the classroom. (see below).



Thegeneralruleisthereforethat,despitetextbooksandexamsbeinginEnglish,academiclessons are conducted entirely in the Myanmar language. During one initial site visit teachereducatorswereemphaticthat,foracademicclasses:“themediumofinstructionisMyanmar”. In focus groups a number of academic teacher educators reported using English about 20% to 35% of the time but others reported that they never use English at all.

The main reason provided by academic teacher educators for not teaching in English despitetextbooksbeinginEnglish,isthatteachertrainees’levelofEnglishisnothighenough for them to understand and follow lessons delivered in English.

However,theneedsanalysisalsofoundthatmanyteachereducatorshavealimitedunderstanding of the English language textbooks themselves. Teacher educators often appeartohavememorisedthecontentofthetextbook.Asthesamebooks/coursecontentareusedeveryyear,thisdoesnotcausetoomanyproblemsfortheteachereducators.OneteachereducatorreportedthatshewasconfidentusingherEnglishtextbookbutshould that book be changed she would struggle. Teacher educators also reported having particulardifficultywiththeirEnglishlanguagepronunciation.

WhenaskedwhethertheywouldliketodelivertheirclassesonlyinEnglish,manyAcademic Teacher educators replied that they wanted to use both languages (or‘Myanglish’)inclass,andexpressedadesiretoincreasetheamountofteachinginEnglish to 50%. One head of department in a University of Education referred to a “hybrid” mediumofinstructionstating“whatweuseisnot‘code-switching’it’s‘code-mixing’”,implying that this was a desired state of affairs.

Overall,themainstrategyusedbyacademicteachereducatorsistotranslatethetext-book into Myanmar when delivering classes. One academic teacher educator recounted theirapproachtoteachinganacademiclessonusingEnglishtextbooksasfollows:firsttheywouldtellthestudentstoreadthematerialinEnglishtothemselves,thentheywouldtranslate the material into Myanmar so the teacher trainees understand its contents. Finally theteachereducatorwouldaskthemtolearnthematerialbyheartandfinallystudentsaretestedinawrittenexam.Teachereducatorsacknowledgedthat,attimes,theyrelytoomuch on translation.

Thereareexceptionstothis.Inoneuniversityofeducation,EfECTprojectstaffwitnessedaneducationpsychologylecture,wheretheteachereducatorexplained‘positiveself-concept’ in simple English and in a way that related the term to the experience of teachersintheclassroom.However,thisistheexception.Itwasclearfromevidencegathered in the needs analysis that rote memorisation of English text which is not necessarily understood is the norm in academic classrooms.

Methodology and co-curricular classes – no English usedThelargestgroupofteachereducators,comprising56%oftheprojectbeneficiaries,arenot expected to use English in their classrooms. This group consists of methodology teachereducators,apartfromtheEnglishmethodologyteachersandco-curriculumteachereducators.Teachereducatorsspecialisingin,e.g.mathsmethodology,sciencemethodology etc. teach trainee teachers how to teach these subjects through the medium of the Myanmar language. Co-curriculum teacher trainers also deliver subjects such as physicaleducation,art,agriculture,anddomesticsciencethroughthemediumofMyanmar.

6.2.2. Motivation - teacher educators reasons for wanting to learn English

WhenaskedhowlearningEnglishmighthelpthemintheirjobs,teachereducatorscitedpreparation,researchandbackgroundreadingasareasinwhichaknowledgeofEnglishcan make a strong contribution to classroom preparation and practice. Some academic teachereducatorswerehopefulthatiftheyimprovedtheirlevelofEnglish,thiswoulden-ablethemtoimprovetheirteachingqualityandothersreportedreadingresearcharticlesin English.

Unsurprisingly,Englishacademicandmethodologyteachereducatorsareparticularlykeen to improve their English through this project. While some English academic and methodologyteachereducatorshaverelativelyhighlevelsofqualificationsinEnglishitappears they have had little opportunity to practice their skills.

Someteachereducatorsappeartorepeatverysimilarresponsestoquestionsabouttheirreasons for learning English. 26 EfECT trainers reported that when asked why teacher educators would like to learn English their response was either ‘it is an international language’or‘Englishisagloballanguage’.Atoneeducationcollege,theEfECTtrainerscommentedthat‘theuniversalresponsetoquestionsabouttheirreasonsforlearningEnglish seemed to be that English is an international language’. When teacher educators areprobedfurtheronthistheyarerarelyabletodeveloptheiranswers,asnotedbyoneEfECT trainer; ‘there was mention of English as a global language but no real connection to what that meant for them’.

Duringfurtherdiscussioninfocusgroupsseveralothercommonreasonsemerged,themost commonly cited (reasons given in a minimum of 10 education colleges) are listed below:

Classroom Use“MostoftheteachereducatorssaytheywanttolearnEnglishfortheirteaching,sothatthey can give instructions in English (some already do this) and pass on language they have learnt to their trainees (who are very eager to learn English).” Teacher educators of allrolesandspecialismsconsideredthatimprovingtheirEnglishproficiencywouldbenefitthe trainee teachers; one methodology teacher educator commented that an increase inEnglishproficiencywould“improveourteachingandwecanusemoreEnglishintheclassroom”. An academic teacher educator contributed ‘we can help trainees to improve their English’.

Professional developmentA number of teacher educators mentioned that they were keen to improve their English in ordertodevelopprofessionally,forfurtherstudy,foreducationalresearch,andtoattendconferences for example the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) conferences in Yangon and Mandalay. Several mentioned that developing their English skills would improve their abilitytostudyforfurtherqualifications.Inoneeducationcollege,teachereducatorsnoted Masters’ programmes were often taught in and theses written in English. Some teachereducatorshavealsoreportedthattheyhavereceivedscholarships,sponsoredbyJICAortheMinistryofEducation,andhavebeentoothercountries,e.g.Singapore,Thailand,Japan,forfurthertraining.

Communication with ForeignersIn 13 education colleges teacher educators expressed a desire to learn English to be betterabletocommunicatewithforeigners,althoughmanyhavelittleopportunitytodoso. One EfECT trainer commented “the most common response was that teacher educators wanted to communicate with foreigners outside of class. This could be either native or non-native speakers”. In other education colleges teacher educators reasons included;“increasedconfidenceandabilitytoconversewith,andlearnfrom,the



increasing number of foreigners projected to begin visiting and working in Myanmar”; “help foreigners”; “develop country” and “international networking”.

InternetIncreasedskillat“surfing”theinternetforsitesto“expandknowledge’”werecommonlycitedreasonsforimprovingEnglishproficiency.TEsalsomentionedthatEnglishwouldincreasetheir ability to use internet effectively and to understand English language sites that focus onplaces,peopleandculturearoundtheworld.

Helping teacher traineesTeacher educators said that they would like to help trainees become more aware of the need to integrate information and skills using English into their future primary school lessons. They would also like to Increase trainees’ awareness and understanding of English language resources and materials related to their learning. Some Teacher educators referredspecificallytothechildrenwhothetraineeswouldeventuallyteach.BetterEnglishlanguage skills would enable these children to be more competent regionally and also globally.

Other reasonsMany teacher educators saw English as a way to ‘improve educational standards’ by simply ‘catchingup’withtherestoftheworld.Onamoregenerallevel,thereisawarenessthatEnglishasagloballanguageaffordsaccesstomaterials,information,technologiesandtextsthatwouldnototherwisebeavailabletothem,andthatknowledgeofEnglishisakeyfactor in gaining access to the wider world.

Otherreasonssharedbyanumberofteachereducatorsinclude;‘TobemoreconfidentinusingEnglishwithcolleagues’;‘visitingabroadconfidently’;‘tolistentoEnglishTVprograms’;‘Tolearnmoreaboutothercountries(culture,internationalrelations,etc.)’.

6.2.3. OverallEnglishProficiency-APTISresults

TheprojectaimstoundertakeanevaluationofallteachereducatorbeneficiariesoftheEfECT project using the British Council’s APTIS test.

The APTIS testAPTISisageneralEnglishproficiencytest.ItwasdevelopedwithintheBritishCouncilbyaspecialistteamofexperiencedseniorteachingstaff,ledbyProfessorBarrySullivan.ThedevelopmentofAPTIShasbeeninformedbycurrentresearchfindingsinappliedlinguisticsanditisbasedaroundacoregrammarandvocabularycomponent,combinedwithadditional assessment components which test a candidate’s skills.

APTIScombinesboththecandidate’sknowledgeoflanguageandtheirskill,togenerateanassessment of ability like no other test. The marking of APTIS is innovative; it is task-based ratherthantestbased,whichmeansexaminersfocusonmarkingaspecifictask.Thishassignificantbenefitsfortestintegrity,whilealsoimprovingthespeedatwhichanexaminercanmark,keepingcostslow.

The Common European Framework (CEF)APTIS test results are presented according to the levels of the Common European Framework (CEF). The CEF is an internationally recognised system for measuring the language levels of students. A table setting out the levels of English language competence associated with each level of the CEF for each skill is set out in Appendix 2.

Overall APTIS scoresOverall,Englishproficiencyamongstteachereducatorsislow.InmanycollegesthereareveryfewteachereducatorswithEnglishproficiencyaboveA2,evenamongsttheEnglishsubjectspecialists.Therearesomeexceptionstothis,withafewteachereducatorshavingarelativelyhighstandardofEnglish,particularlyintheUniversitiesofEducation.The graph and table below overall APTIS scores. These scores are derived by combining thescoresforeachofthefourskills,reading,writing,speakingandlistening,equallyrated.

Asareferencepoint,HelenDrinanhassuggestedthateducationcollegesuggeststhateducation college teacher educators should have at least intermediate level English (around B1level)toundertaketheirrole(Drinan,2013b,p.28)

The bar chart below shows the make-up of scores for each skill. It can be seen that the scoresforspeakingaremainlyA0andA1–roughlybeginners/elementary(blueandred),while reading and writing have a much larger proportion at A2 – roughly pre-intermediate (green) and for listening the majority score upper-intermediate (purple) and advanced (turquoise)

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APTIS and teacher educator role AnalysisofAPTISresultsbysector/roleproducedinterestingfindings.Englishmethodol-ogyandEnglishacademicteachereducatorsscoredhighest,whichistobeexpectedandhoped for. However other academic and other methodology teacher educators were a long way behind. This is of concern since the “other academic” group are supposed to be teaching through English as a medium of instruction. The difference between the “other academicgroup”,whicharesupposedtouseEnglishasamediumofinstructionandthe“othermethodology”group,whichgenerallydonot,issmall–67against62fortheoverallweightedscoreand10.7vs9.8forspeaking,forinstance.Statistical analysis was used to compare APTIS tests with other variables with the following results:

Gender and APTIS scores• Therearenosignificantdifferencesbetweenmaleandfemaleteachereducators regarding scores for the four English skills of overall weighted APTIS score.

Mother-tongue and APTIS scores• TherearenosignificantdifferencesbetweenteachereducatorswithMyanmaras their mother-tongue and those with minority languages as their mother tongue for the four English skills of overall weighted APTIS score.

Age and APTIS scores• Thereisaweak,butstatisticallysignificantnegativecorrelationbetweenageand APTIS scores – i.e. younger teacher educators score better on the APTIS test on all fourskillsandtheoverallweightedAPTISscore(Listening:–21%correlation; reading:-18%correlation;speaking:-18%correlation;writing:-32%correlation–all correlationssignificantatthe5%levelusingPearsoncorrelation)

Comparisons of APTIS scores with other variables

19.7 19.7

27.024.6

21.5 20.0 21.019.2 18.4

29.627.6

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19.216.2

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30.527.3

19.717.3 18.8

56.4 57.1

100.4

89.4

67.0

62.065.6

Administration Staff Co-Curricular Staff English Academic English Methodology Other AcademicStaff

Other MethodologyStaff

Total

Mean APTIS Scores by Sector

Listening Reading Speaking Writing Overall weighted score

Number % A1 49 11% A2 279 63% B1 103 23% B2 14 3%

Total 445 100%

APTIS Scores of Other Academic Teacher Educators

A1 (Elementary)

A2 (Pre-intermediate)

B1(Intermediate)

B2 (Upper-intermediate)

OfparticularinterestisananalysisoftheAPTISscoresoftheacademicteachereducators,asthese are expected to use English as a medium of instruction (see below) As can be seen from the pie chartsandtablesabove,74%oftheseotheracademicteachereducatorshaveanAPTISlevelofA2orlessand,ofthese,11%wereatA1level.

6.2.4. Teachereducatorsproficiencywitheachskill:Speaking,Listening,Reading,Writing

Trainersandteachereducators’perceptionsoftheirproficiencyacrosstheskillsThe majority of the participants in teacher educator focus groups expressed a need to develop theirlanguageproficiencyacross‘thefourskills’.Whenpromptedthemajorityperceived speakingandlisteningskillsinparticularasneedingdevelopment,withmanycitingalackof exposure to spoken English as the main reason for this. Of 44 EfECT trainer reports submitted,42citedspeakingandlisteningastheirweakestskillssuggestingthat this is “because we haven’t had the chance to practice with anyone”.

Qualification Level and APTIS scores• Unsurprisingly,thereisanassociationbetweenAPTISscoresandqualificationlevel withthosewithMastersandPhDlevelqualificationsscoringhigher.

Years teaching and APTIS scores• Thereisaweak,significantnegativeassociationbetweennumberofyears teachingandAPTISscores,meaningthatlessexperienced(i.e.youngerteachers) havehigherlevelsofEnglishproficiency.



APT

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Trainersandteachereducators’perceptionsoftheirproficiencyacrosstheskillsThe majority of the participants in teacher educator focus groups expressed a need to developtheirlanguageproficiencyacross‘the four skills’. When prompted the majority perceivedspeakingandlisteningskillsinparticularasneedingdevelopment,withmanyciting a lack of exposure to spoken English as the main reason for this. Of 44 EfECT trainer reportssubmitted,42citedspeakingandlisteningastheirweakestskillssuggestingthatthis is “because we haven’t had the chance to practice with anyone”.

SpeakingTeacher educators’ speaking skills is the area in most need of development; one trainer commented that speaking ‘especially engaging in more general conversations or express-ing ideas, is the greatest weakness in their English proficiency’.

The communicative aspect of speaking was often cited as being the most challenging for teachereducators.OneEfECTtrainerremarked: “communicative tasks involving complex language are felt to pose the greatest difficulty”.TeachereducatorsfindrealconversationandinteractioninEnglishverychallenging,anddemonstrateapreferenceformemorisingfixeddialoguesandscriptsandrepeatingthem.Teachereducatorsprefertorotelearnpassagesorstructurestorepeataloud,withnorealunderstandingofthemeaning.OneEfECT trainer said; “when there is a mingle exercise they will use English but never stray far from a tight structure – calling in to question any real understanding.”

Manyteachereducatorsarekeentoimprovetheirpronunciation:“We know that our pronunciation is wrong”. Specificpronunciationdifficultiesincludepronouncingconsonantclustersandfinalconsonants,producingandunderstandingconnectedspeech,andusingappropriateintonation.Onetrainercommented: “accents are problematic with some with a notable absence of features of connected speech, some obscuring of open vowels”.

ListeningInspiteoftheapparentlyhighAPTISscoresforlistening,thisalsoappearstobeachal-lenging area for teacher educators; “after listening exercises, students are most likely to rate the exercise very difficult”. Many teacher educators “recognize the key dialogic components of listening and speaking and are anxious to improve their listening as well”. It has become apparent that teacher educators’ low tolerance of ambiguity when listen-ing has caused some anxiety and affects their ability to listen and understand even very graded texts. Many teacher educators deem successful listening as being able to under-standeveryword,andfinditdifficulttograspthemainideaofatextwhenlisteningforgist. Several trainers also noted that teacher educators have “struggled particularly with listening exercises which have focused on bottom up skills – such as dictation and close listening exercises”. In this sense their struggles with listening relate to the pronunciation issuesreferredtoabove;“theystrugglewithweakformsandfinditdifficulttodistinguishindividual words”.

Teachereducatorslackofconfidenceinthisareaseemstostemfromapreviouslackofopportunity and meaningful listening practice; ‘previously the teacher educators have very little to no opportunity to listen to people that speak English in real time.’ In one education college it was noted that ‘in most cases in all classes we are the only native English speakers they have spoken to which seems to be a cause for anxiety in terms of understandingus,butalsoopportunityintermsofhowmuchtheybelievetheirlisteningand speaking will improve.’

WritingWritingabilitiesareperceivedtobestrongerthanlisteningandspeakingskills,bybothteacher educators and the EfECT team. Teacher educators have had more opportunity topracticetheirwritingskillsandtendtodevotealotoftimetowriting,beingparticularlyconcerned about detail and accuracy. One EfECT trainer stated that “Almost all teacher



educators feel more confident when writing and reading, and think they are better in these areas. This seems to be true, when they produce written work it is a much higher level than their spoken”.

Teachereducatorsfinditachallengetoconveyreasons,consequences,causeandef-fectandopinionsintheirwriting.Thisalsoappliestospeaking,andrelatestotheneedtodevelop critical thinking skills. One trainer observed that “the issue lies mainly in writing and speaking activities which require having to express their own experiences and opinions”. Teacher educators’ previous experiences of practicing writing have often been in the form oftranslationratherthanproducingoriginaltexts,andithasbeennotedthat“theTEscanconstruct simple English sentences which presumably are directly translated from Myanmar grammatical structure”.

ReadingTeacher educators generally perceive their reading abilities to be better developed and are on the whole able to understand and process the texts they have encountered in EfECT classes. During focus groups it became apparent to EfECT trainers that the majority of teacher educators believe that reading is their strongest skill area. One trainer offered the possible reason that “many must translate English language textbooks so to deliver lessons using Myanmar language”.

Trainers commented • “Students have shown no problem with any of the texts they have encountered in the book or from me.” • “Reading was seen as a strength by several older students in particular.” • “Teacher educators are generally much stronger with reading.” • “Most of the students in my three groups believe that they do best at reading.” • “They generally think they have good reading (one class all cited reading as a strength when asked: including being good at reading journals, reading in their specialisations, stories, newspapers and poetry)”

Itseemsthatalthoughgeneralunderstandingofreadingtextsisastrength,readingsub-skillsrequiresomedevelopment,skimmingandscanningwerethesub-skillsmostrefer-enced.

Grammar and vocabularySome teacher educators identify the need “of more correct grammar and vocabulary”, but this is generally lower priority than improvement of the four skills.

Grammatical forms have been rote learned by many teacher educators. Teacher educators and trainees have been observed chanting both lists of verbs and grammatical structures for example “object plus ‘be’ plus verb 3 equals passive voice”. The main challenge that teacher educators face is being able to comprehend meaning and appropriate use of differ-ent grammatical structures.

Teachereducatorsareoftenawareofsubjectspecificvocabularybeyondtheirlevelsofproficiency,e.g.:‘treadmills’, ‘algae’, ‘drizzle’ and ‘elicitation’. The main area for development withvocabularyisappropriateuse.Inoneeducationcollege,theEfECTtrainernotedthatteacher educators have a tendency to “use rather out-dated, old-fashioned English, or are rather pedantic with word choice (e.g. correcting one fellow teacher educator’s comment ‘the trainees are going to their classes’ with ‘the trainees are attending their classes’”).

6.2.5. Self-ratedconfidenceinEnglishProficiency

DuringthefirstroundofsitevisitsundertakenbytheEfECTprojectteamteachereducators’lackofconfidenceinEnglishwasevident.Manyteachereducatorsspokeonlyorprimarilyin Myanmar through an interpreter during meetings and focus groups. In one college the teacher educators had all prepared an English language introduction but preferred to speak in Myanmar.

Aspartofthebaselinesurveyquestionnaire,teachereducatorswereaskedabouttheirlev-elsofconfidenceinEnglishproficiency.Theresultsareshowninthechartandtablebelow.

Self-confidence in English of all teacher-educators

Self-rated confidence in own English proficiency

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Very confident Total

103 243 497 285 15 1143

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Self-confidence in English of English teacher educators Although the level of English of the English academic and English methodology teachers isgenerallyhigherthanteachereducatorsofothersubjects,notallofthemexpressedcon-fidenceintheirabilitytouseEnglishasamediumofinstructionintheirlessons.WhilesometeachereducatorsappearedtobequiteconfidentintheirabilitiestoteachEnglishmethod-ologyandproficiencyusingEnglishasthemainmediumofinstruction,othersdidnotthinkthattheirlevelofEnglishisgoodenoughtodothis.Oneteachereducatorstated,“Thetop-icsandconceptsinthehigherlevelEnglishlanguageclasses(2ndYear)aretoodifficulttoexplain in English”. It seems that these teacher educators give explanations in English which arethenclarifiedinMyanmar.

Self-confidence in English of academic teacher educatorsOfparticularinterestisthelevelofconfidenceoftheacademic teacher educators,whoareexpectedtouseEnglishasamediumofinstruction.Thefindingsforthisarereproducedinthechartandtablebelow:



Whenaskedaboutconfidencealmostathird,32%,ofacademicteachereducatorssaidtheywere“notatallconfident”or“notveryconfident”withusingEnglishintheclassroom,whileonly18%ratedthemselvesas“quiteconfident”or“veryconfident”usingEnglishintheclassroom.

Insitevisitsandfocusgroupsdiscussions,someteachereducatorswhouseEnglishasamedium of instruction stated that they could understand the English in the textbooks but werenotconfidentaboutitspronunciation,andthatgenerallytheirspeakingandlisteningskills are poor. Drinan comments on teacher educators own ratings of their English level that TEsfoundthemtoberelativelypoor:

“Teachers interviewed considered themselves, at best, ‘Intermediate’ and, at worst, ‘Elementary’. They were unable to really diagnose their proficiency levels in the 4 skills and many assumed if they were ‘Intermediate’ in ‘Reading’, they were ‘Intermediate’ in ‘Speaking’. Most teachers do not even reach the level of the textbooks they are teaching. The textbook is memorised by the teacher through teaching it week after week. Therefore, their level of understanding the content is little more than the students’.”(Drinan,2013b,p.24)

TeachereducatorsareawarethattheyhavealowlevelofEnglishproficiency.‘Teacher edu-cators are generally negative about their level of English’. In one education college a number of teacher educators stated that their English is ‘non-existent’. One EfECT trainer also re-portedthatonlyfiveteachereducatorsfromover60intheireducationcollegestatedthattheysometimesfeltconfidentinusingEnglish,theothersalljudgedtheirEnglishproficiencyas being weak.

Almostallteachereducatorsexpressedalackofconfidenceintheirspeakingandlisteningproficiency,citingalackofexposuretospokenEnglishasthemainreasonforthis.Allfocusgroupsplacedspeakingandlisteningabilitybehindreadingandwriting,withreadingtheskillinwhichtheyaremostconfident.

Number % Not at all confident 42 11% Not very confident 79 21% Average confidence 186 50% Quite confident 62 17% Very Confident 4 1%

%001 373 latoT

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ItwasalsonotedthatinsomecollegesteachereducatorshadrealdifficultyinassessingtheirownabilitiesinEnglish:“teacher educators are able to say what they are good and bad at in basic terms … when you try and dig a little deeper they find it hard to express needs other than good/bad at…’. Itwasparticularlydifficultforteachereducatorstoidentifythestrengths in their language skills and when they were “encouraged to be positive about their strengths they were very negative, and struggled to understand the question, and even the point of it.”

AnumberoftrainerscommentedthatresponsestothequestionnaireregardingconfidenceinEnglishproficiencyappeartobeinflatedcomparedtofocusgroupresponses:“while most teacher educators self-assessed themselves as fairly proficient in English on the self-assess-ment questionnaire, in individual and focus group discussions they expressed many more reservations about their proficiency”.

6.2.6. Hopes,fearsandsuccesscriteriafortheEfECTproject

Teacher educators’ success criteria for EfECT were assessed using participatory impact monitoringandevaluation(PIME)toolsincludingfocusgroups,interviews,andgraphicthinking tools. The most commonly used graphic thinking tool was the factor poster of hopes,concerns,strengths,andweaknesses.

Arepresentativefactorpostershowinghopes,concerns,strengthsandweaknessesfromanintermediategroupatoneeducationcollegeisreproducedbelow:

Hopes:‘I hope to improve my English proficiency’; ‘I hope I can speak very soon’; ‘I hope to speak as a native speaker’; ‘As for me, I hope to improve my English proficiency; to upgrade in English language’; ‘to be skilful in using English’, ‘to be fluent’, ‘ listening news, hope to speak well, hope to communicate with foreigners’

Concerns:‘Cannot communicate in English with confidence’; ‘weak in speaking English’; ‘I concern that I’m weak in English and I can’t improve my English level well’; ‘Sometimes I’m not sure which usage I have to use on some occasions’; ‘we have a class between the EfECT and education college class’; ‘I want to speak English; less time to learn, too weak in language’

Strengths:‘has good grammar’; ‘I am interested in English’; ‘can speak well’; ‘I think I can connect ideas/facts in a meaningful way, especially in writing’; ‘I’m interested in English and happy to learn in English It’s supplied to me for teaching method grammar vocabulary’; ‘so interested in English, observing and learning now is my hobby’

Weaknesses:‘weakness using vocabulary’; ‘I have many weaknesses about English – first speaking then listening then tenses’; ‘to understand what u mean’; ‘I have weakness in listening’; ‘I’m worried that I’m weak in English’; ‘I’m weak in English especially in speaking’; ‘that is not my mother tongue, worry can’t speak fluently’

Success criteriaUsingactivitiessuchasthefactorpostergraphicthinkingtool,teachereducatorswereableto arrive at success criteria for the project.

ThemostcommonindicatorsofsuccessaroundEnglishproficiencyfortheEfECTprojectprovidedbyteachereducatorsare:



6.3. Explanation • ThegenerallylowlevelofEnglishproficiencyoftheteachereducatorsislikelytoberelated tothewaythatteachereducatorsthemselveslearntEnglish,inparticulartherelianceonrote learning and the lack of communicative methodology. One EfECT trainer remarked that teacher educators ‘ lack of dedicated practice means that many need guidance in both speaking the words and using them in appropriate contexts’. • TheexpectationthataroundonethirdoftheteachereducatorsareexpectedtouseEnglishas a medium of instruction has explanations deriving from both Myanmar’s past and possible future. OntheonehandthelegacyofBritishcolonialismmeansthatEnglishhad,andarguablystillhas, a role as the language of the elite and one which educated Myanmar people aspire to. In addition,thereisanawarenessthatEnglishisthegloballanguageandthatstudentsattertiarylevel willberequiredtostudysubjectssuchasscience,engineeringandmedicineinEnglish. • TheclearlackofcommitmenttouseofEnglishasamediumofinstructionisperhapssymptomatic of the lack of clarity around this issue at the level of national policy. At the time of writing the issue ofthemediumofinstructionatsecondarylevelhasstillnotbeenresolved,particularlyaroundthe policy of teaching Maths and Science subjects through English in upper secondary school. • TherelativelyhighlevelofmotivationaroundlearningEnglishisperhapsexplainedbythe aspirations of Myanmar people to move out its recent isolation and become part of the global community.Inaddition,teachereducatorshavepersonalcareerdevelopmentaspirationsfor learning English. This covers both aspirations around their present job roles but also possible career aspirations outside and beyond teacher education. • Thefindingthat,asonetrainerputsit:“all teacher educators found it difficult to assess their proficiency” is perhaps related to the fact that the isolation of Myanmar has meant thatinternationallyrecognisedexamshavenotbeenavailable.Inonecase,ateacher educatorsaidthelasttimetheyhadtakenaformalleveltestwasin1980.Thisdifficultyinself- assessing and evaluating is perhaps symptomatic of the lack of focus on developing critical thinking skills in the Myanmar education system. Teacher educators in several education colleges havealsoidentifiedthat‘weneedcriticalthinking,wedon’thaveit’,buthavebeenunabletoexplain the particular elements of critical thinking that they would like to develop. • Thefindingsthatreadingandwritingskillsarehigher,andperceivedtobehigher,thanotherskillsis likelytoberelatedtothelackofopportunitiesforauthenticpracticeofEnglish.Thefindingthat listening skills were found to be high on the APTIS test but that teacher educators rate this skill as lowisperhapsrelatedtoconfidence.

• Noticeabledevelopmentinthefourlanguageskills,withanemphasisonspeakingin particular.• GreaterconfidenceinusingEnglishintheclassroom• MoreabletoaccessandreadsourcematerialsinEnglishfortheirteachingsubject• CommunicateinEnglishwiththetrainers,otherforeignersaswellascolleagues• Increasedsubjectknowledgeduetobeingabletoaccessmoreinformationin English(books,internet,etc.)• AbilitytowritelessonplansinEnglish• AttendworkshopsortrainingthatareconductedinEnglish• Togainabetterunderstandingabout‘what’shappeningintheworld’.

One EfECT trainer made the comment that ‘teacher educators’ interest in learning English is driven by a strong desire to locate themselves as intellectuals within a global community’. Generallyteachereducatorswillviewtheprojectasasuccessiftheyfeelmoreconfidentwith their language ability and in particular improve their listening and speaking skills. A few of the trainers also stated that improved results in the APTIS test are also an important criterion for success.

6.4. Implications

• ThepositionofEnglishmediuminstructionwithinthecollegeshasimportantimplicationsforthe project.TeachingpackagesareavailabletosupportEnglishasamediumofinstructionteaching, butthefindingsoftheneedsanalysissuggestthattheseareunlikelytomeettheneedsofthe teacher educators. On the one hand only around a third of teacher educators are actually expected touseEnglishasamediumofinstruction.Inaddition,thelackofcommitmentandpolicyclarity around the role of English medium instruction within the Myanmar school system means that it is unclear whether a focus on supporting English medium instruction would be appropriate.

• Theweaknessofspeakingskillswithinthetestscoresandtheteachereducatorslackofconfidence around both speaking and listening skills suggests that a communicative language approach which emphasises the use of speaking and listening skills is particularly appropriate for the EfECT project.

6.5.Recommendations

• GiventhatthemajorityofteachereducatorsdonotuseEnglishintheclassroomandthatoverall, thelevelofEnglishislow,BritishCouncilproductssuchasEnglishforTeachers(forEnglish teachers) and English for Subject Teachers (for English medium instruction) are not appropriate. The project should use generic English language materials to raise the level of English prof.

• GiventhelowAPTISscoresaroundspeakingandteachereducators’concernabouttheirlackof confidenceinspeakingandaspirationstoaddressthis,theprojectshoulduseaweightedAPTIS profilewhichprioritisesspeakingscoresandfocusEnglishproficiencyskillsonthisarea.



The21methodologies,whicharetobefoundinthe“educationtheory”textbookusedinthe educationcollegesareasfollows: Ascanbeseen,the“21methodologiesareinfactratherahotchpotchofactivities,techniquesand approaches rather than ‘methodologies’ as such.

Asshowninthetable,thereisarangeofresponsesregardingthestatedawarenessamongtheteachereducatorsofthe21methodologies.Acrossalleducationcolleges,surveyresponsesbyteachereducatorswereasfollows: Focusgroupdiscussionsheldwiththeteachereducatorsprobedintoquestionsofawarenessandunderstandingofmethodologystartingwithdiscussionsofthe21methodologies.However,manytrainersreportedfindingitdifficulttoelicitsubstantiveresponsestotheirquestionsaboutmethodology.Manyteachereducatorsfounditquitedifficulttoreflectontheirunderstandingofmethodology.

Whilethemajorityofteachereducatorscanlistmostofthe21methodologies,manyhavelessunderstanding of what a number of the methodologies really mean. EfECT trainers reported that teacher trainees learn the list of 21 methodologies by rote and thus the teacher educators who wereonceteachertraineesalsolearnedthem,butthattheteachereducatorshaveverylimitedworking knowledge of most of them. Recognition of the 21 methodologies was greatest among themethodologyteachereducatorsfollowedbytheacademicteachereducators,withleastrecognition among the co-curriculum teacher educators.

7.3.2. Awareness and understanding of ‘CCA’ or ‘Child-centred approaches’

Teacher educators state that they understand child-centred approaches. Across all education colleges,responsesbyTeachereducatorswereasfollows:

When describing and explaining the child-centred approach in focus groups teacher educators referredto:“ less chalk talk”; “student participation and involvement”; “students working, learn-ing, discussing, practising together in groups” and “students thinking for themselves”; “teacher. as facilitator”. One teacher educator referred to how “the child-centred approach allowed students to

1. Storytelling 2. question and answer method 3. lecture discussion 4. strip story 5. demonstration 6. inductive approach 7. dyadic exchange 8. laboratory techniques 9. problem solving 10. discovery

11. inquiry 12. Field Trip 13. Observation method 14. Role play 15. Simulation and games 16. Brainstorming 17. Nominal group process 18. Cooperative learning method 19. Fish bowl technique 20. Experimental learning approach 21. Think-Pair-Share

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7. Understanding and awareness of methodology

7.1. KeyPerformanceIndicators

Thekeyprojectobjectivesfromtheprojectinitiationdocumentareasfollows: 5. Output indicator 2.2 - 75% of Teacher Educators develop an improved awareness and under

standing of effective interactive classroom teaching and learning methods

7.2.KeyQuestionsregardingunderstandingofmethodology • 21 methodologies - within the present teacher training methodology curriculum teacher educators

are expected to train teacher trainees in “the 21 methodologies”. As part of the baseline we wanted tofindouthowmuchrealunderstandingtheteachereducatorshadofthesemethodologies.

• “Child-centred approaches” - a range of initiatives undertaken by INGOs and donor organisations in Myanmar have attempted to promulgate the “Child-centred approach” or “CCA”, and teacher educatorsfrequentlyreferto “CCA”,butwhatistheirunderstandingofthe“child-centred approach”?

• Self-rated confidence in awareness and understanding of methodology – as the key performanceindicatorinthisareaislargelyaroundteachereducators’self-ratedconfidencethat they understood a range of methodologies we needed to establish a base-line for this self-rated understanding.

• Expectations from the EfECT project -wealsowantedtofindoutwhatsupportaroundimproving awareness and understanding of teaching methodology the teacher educators were looking for from the EfECT project.

7.3.Findingsregardingunderstandingofmethodology

Summary

• Overall,teachereducatorsself-ratingoftheirunderstandingofmethodologyishighandmanyappeartohave a good understanding of child-centred approaches but their understanding and knowledge of the ‘21 methodologies’ is very patchy.

7.3.1. The “21 Methodologies” In the early 1990s the curriculum and textbook committee the of the Myanmar Ministry of

Education’sDEPT(DepartmentofEducation,PlanningandTraining)producedamanualwhich describes ‘21 methodologies’ for use in teacher training. These had been developed with support from UNESCO.



take control of and have greater responsibility for their own learning”. The child-centred approach is generally perceived by teacher educators as more motivating and engaging for trainee teach-ers as lessons are more interactive and “more useful in encouraging independence, creativity and collaboration with students”.

Inonecollegemethodologyteachereducatorshadundertakenactionresearch,lastyearon teacher-centred approaches and this year on child-centred approaches.

7.3.3.Self-ratedconfidenceinunderstandingmethodology

Theteacher-educatorsself-ratedconfidencearoundunderstandingmodern,interactivepedagogical methods was high. 88% of the teacher educators in this sample rated themselves as “quiteconfident”or“veryconfident”intheir understanding of methodology. This is much higher thantheirratedconfidenceinthe use of interactive methodology as we shall see in the next section.

7.3.4. Teacher educators success criteria for EfECT around understanding methodology

WhileteachereducatorswereverykeenonimprovingtheirlanguageproficiencythroughtheEFECTproject,theywerelessclearorambivalentaboutthebenefitsofextendingtheEfECTproject into methodology training. Some trainers reported that teacher educators “feel very confidentabouttheirunderstandingandawarenessofmethodology”withonetrainerreportingthat the teacher educators in their college consider themselves extremely knowledgeable about methodologies and those most appropriate to use when teaching their subjects. Other teacher educatorsexpressedtheirdesiretoimprovetheirmethodologybuthadfewspecificideaswhatparticularaspectstofocuson.Moreencouraging,anumberofEfECTtrainersreportedthat,evenatthisearlystageoftheproject,teachereducatorscommentedthattheyarelearningmethodology,teachingtechniquesandactivitiesthroughthetrainers’currentteachingofEnglishproficiency.

Overall,whenTeachereducatorswereaskedhowtheProjectcouldhelpthemimprovetheirawarenessandunderstandingofmethodology,thefollowingresponseswereprovided:

Methodologies• broadentheirunderstandingofandexperimentwithnew,moremodern, ‘internationally-recognised’ methodologies• appropriatemethodologiestoapplyinteachingparticularsubjects• techniqueswhichcanbepracticallyimplementedintheirclassrooms• more‘universallyapplicable’ratherthanEnglishlanguageboundmethodologiestousein

Understanding methodology


Not very confident

Average confidence

Quite confident

Very confident

teaching all the subjects taught at education colleges

21 methodologies • deeperawarenessandunderstandingofallthemethodologiesincludingoneswhichteacher educatorsareunfamiliarand/orunsurehowtouse,e.g.storytelling,stripstory,roleplay, simulation and games• themostusefulmethodologiesamongthe21touseinteachereducators’classroomsand those teacher educators could use in a 45 minute lesson

Child-centred approaches• broadentheirunderstandingofasmallnumberofchild-centredapproaches.‘Thiswould greatly enhance their teaching abilities’• techniquestomakeclassesmoreinteractive

7.4. Explanation

• Thesomewhatpatchyunderstandingandcommitmenttothe‘21methodologies’isperhaps unsurprisinggiventhatthesearesomethingofahotchpotchofmethodology,techniquesand activities.Inaddition,thesearenowperceivedtobequitedatedbyteachereducatorsthem selves who may have an awareness that these are likely to be superseded in the context of theongoingcomprehensivereviewofeducationinMyanmar.Inaddition,theintroductionof the21methodologieswassomewhatpatchy,withsometeachereducatorsreceivingspecific training around these and others not. • Theprofessedhighlevelsofunderstandingof“child-centred”approachesisperhapslinked tothequiteextensivepromotionoftheseapproachesbydevelopmentpartnerssuchasJICA and UNICEF. Teacher educators appear to have a belief that CCA is the “correct” and “modern’ approachtoteaching,eventhoughtheymaybesomewhatataslossastohowtoapplythis in their context. • Thefindingthatteachereducatorsdeclarequitehighlevelsofawarenessofdifferent methodologiesperhapsreflectsthefindingsfromtheliteratureonteachereducationin Myanmar that methodologies tend to be rote learned as concepts rather than understood and applied.

7.5. Implications

• Thelimitedcommitmentandquestionablefutureforthe21methodologiesmeansthatthisis unlikely to be an appropriate focus for the methodology component of the EfECT project. It may be appropriate to build on knowledge of the 21 methodologies where appropriate but it is perhaps not necessary to focus strongly on these. • Thefindingthatteachereducatorsgenerallydeclarehighlevelsofunderstandingandawarenessof methodologies suggests that the EfECT methodology component should avoid further focus on theoretical knowledge but focus more on the practical application of different teaching methodologies more effectively. • Theevidentunderstandingthatanewapproachisneededtoengagelearnersandthatthepresent approach is failing to do so is important for the project to build on.

7.6.Recommendation

• TheEfECTprojectneedstobuildonteachereducators’enthusiasmfornewapproachestoengage learnersandexistingtheoreticalknowledgeofmethodologies,including‘the21methodologies’, but in a way that focusses on the effective practical application of different methodologies in a classroom context.



8. Use of methodology


Thekeyprojectobjectivesfromtheprojectinitiationdocumentareasfollows: • Outcome indicator 3.1-75%ofTeacherEducators(TEs)demonstrateconfidenceinapplying effective trainer training methodology in training student teachers • Outcome indicator 3.2 - 75% of Teacher Educators’ (TEs) classes observed demonstrate application of effective interactive classroom teaching and learning methods in training student teachers

8.2.KeyQuestionsregardinguseofmethodology

• Observed practice–Asthisareaisaroundteachereducators’actualpractice,itwasimportantto

establish what methods teacher educators are actually using. This is particularly important bearing in mind that teacher educators state that they have a high level of understanding of a range of interactive methodologies (see section 7). • Self-rated confidence in use of interactive methodology – we also sought a baseline in terms of teachereducators’confidenceinusingarangeofinteractivemethodologies.Thisisinthecontext ofteachereducatorsself-ratedconfidenceintheirawarenessandunderstandingofinteractive methodology being high (see section 7). • Use of the 21 methodologies –giventhatthe21methodologiesare,onthefaceofit,quite interactive,wewereinterestedinteachereducators’accountsofwhichofthe21methodologiesthey used in the classroom. • Explanations for choice of methodology used – we were particularly interested in teacher educators’explanationsfortheirchoiceofmethodologytouse.Thiswasparticularlythecasesince, despite teacher educators’ claims to a high level of understanding of child-centred approaches and interactiveapproachestoteaching,itwasimmediatelyevidentthatthevastmajorityofteacher educators were not using interactive methods at all. • AspirationsandsuccesscriteriaforEfECTarounduseofmethodology–asinotherareas,wesought teacher educators’ own ideas about what they wanted to gain from the EfECT project around their use of methodology and their own ideas regarding what would constitute success criteria for the project.

8.3.Findings

Summary • Observationsofteachereducatorlessonsfoundextensiveuseofrotelearning,drilling,chanting, reading aloud and memorization. • Overall,teachereducatorslackedconfidencearoundusingarangeofmethodologies. • Teachereducatorscitedarangeofstructuralconstrainstotheuseofalternativemethodologies suchas: o Time o Assessment o Class sizes o Classroom layout o Levels of teacher trainee motivation o Training o Fears around the perceptions of teacher educators • Nevertheless,teachereducatorswerequitemotivatedaroundreceivingpracticaltrainingaround using more interactive methodology which would better engage teacher trainees.



8.3.1. Observed practice

Initial site visits Initialsitevisitstotheeducationcollegesfoundextensiveuseofrotelearning,drilling, reading aloud and memorization. Little evidence was seen during initial visits of teacher educatorsbuildingonpreviousknowledgeorassessingunderstandingoflessons.Therewas, however,muchevidenceofteachertraineescopyingfromtheboard,readingfromtextbooksand memorisingcontent.Therewaslittleevidenceofteachereducatorsallowingquestionsfrom teacher trainees.

Structured observations Thesefindingswereborneoutbymorestructuredobservationsbyclustermanagers.Between October and November 2015 the six EfECT cluster managers undertook observations of 29 teachereducatorclassesfortraineeteachersacrossfifteeneducationcolleges.These comprised 16 ‘academic’ (subject knowledge) classes; 14 methodology sessions and 9 co-curricularclasses.DetailedfindingsfromtheseobservationsarecontainedinAppendix4. Howeverthesecanbesummarisedasfollows: • Inover90%ofacademicandmethodologylessonsobserved,thecoursebook,blackboard and chalk were the main resources used. • Over80%ofacademicandmethodologylessonsobservedcomprised‘explaining’oflesson contentbytheteachereducatorfollowedbyaskingquestions. • Moststudents’answeringtoquestionsischoralandchantingandinstantindividual answeringsuggestmemorized,rotelearnedanswersandrotelearningofwhole passagesinthetext.Therewaslittleevidenceofmorechallenging,higherorderquestioning of teacher trainees. • Askingquestionswasthepredominant‘classroomfunctionandteachingtechnique’. • Choralresponseandinstantindividualansweringsuggestmemorized,rotelearnedanswers. Littleevidenceofquestionsprovidingmorechallengeforteachertraineestoanswer. • Therewaslittleevidenceofclearstagingorclearlinksbetweenstagesofthelesson. • Therewaslittleevidenceofelicitingandconceptchecking(lessthan5%ofclasses). • Checkingunderstanding:typicallyuseofclassroomlanguageineffectiveincheckingunder standing,e.g.teachereducators: ‘Do you understand?’ or ‘Is it clear?’ teacher trainees cho rallyanswer: ‘Yes’. • Therewaslittleopportunityforlearnerautonomyinlessonsandallbuttwooftheacademic and methodology lessons were not interactive.

Thesefindingsarecommensuratewideracademicresearchintoformsofpedagogyusedin Myanmar primary schools (Hardman et al 2014)

8.3.2.Self-ratedconfidenceintheuseofmethodologies

Ascanbeseenfromthechartbelow,teachereducatorsself-ratedconfidenceinusingarangeofin teractivemethodologicalapproacheswaslow,withjust40%ratingthemselvesas“quiteconfident”or “veryconfident”intheiruseofthesemethodologies.Thiscontrastswiththerelativelyhighlevelsof self-ratedconfidenceinunderstandingofmodern,interactivepedagogicalmethodswhere88%rated themselvesas“quiteconfident”or“veryconfident”(seesection7).

8.3.3. Use of the 21 methodologies

The three most reported methodologies in use by teacher educators were Question and Answer method,LectureDiscussionandDemonstration:“many teachers reported that they predominantly used lecture discussion, question and answer for the full class, and demonstration”; “ lecturing takes up 80%-90% of the time”; “Question and answer method is used a lot in this education col-lege”.

OtherpopularmethodologiesareObservationmethod,Storytelling,Brainstorming,Think-pair-share,StripstoryandProblem-solving.Oneteachereducatorsstated,“We use brainstorming. From this, we make the child think his or her idea thought”. Another teacher educator remarked, “Among them, we use observation method and demonstrations method because these methods are very useful for co-curriculum teachers and trainees”.

Leastused,andperhapsleastunderstood,weretheinductiveapproach,dyadicexchange,discovery,fieldtrip,fishbowltechnique,simulation,inquiryandexperimentallearning: “Never field trip. Rarely role play”; “Some of the methodologies are perceived of as less useful – often because they take too much time – field trips e.g. also simulation/games, and role play”.

It is clear from the above that teacher educators make decisions about their choice of peda-gogywithintheirsubjectareas,basedonavarietyoffactors;thesemayincludefamiliaritywithaparticularmethodology,beliefsaboutthebenefitstoteachertraineesordeterminedbytheirownteaching context. Trainers reported a perception on the part of teacher educators that certain methodologiesweresubject-specific,forexample: “There was quite a long list of the methodolo-gies that teacher educators admitted they never used. This was often because the method was not suitable for their subject area (such as lab work for Myanmar Language lessons)” and “They believed that some subjects, such as history, benefited from a lecture-style approach, whereas oth-ers, such as the sciences, used more practical approaches”.

There is a marked difference in the range of methodologies used by core subjects and those usedbyco-curricularsubjects.Thelattermainlyutiliselecturediscussion,demonstrationandobservation.Whileitmightseemoddthatpracticalsubjectssuchasdomesticscience,PEand

Use of methodology


Not very confident

Average confidence

Quite confident

Very confident

Understanding methodology

Use of methodology

Not at all confident 3% 6% Not very confident 2% 15%

Average confidence 5% 39% Quite confident 21% 35% Very confident 67% 5%



industrialartsuselecturediscussion,afemaleteachereducatorwasobservedgivingalectureabout how to score a goal in football from a course book while the trainees followed as she wasreadingfromthetext.Onetrainercommented:“Theco-curricularteachersindicated thatthemethodologiestheyusedthemostintheirteachingweredemonstration,experi mentallearning,observationandgroupdiscussionandlecture.[They]explainedthatthe trainees undertake practical activities in the morning sessions and in the afternoon teaching sessions they teach ‘theory’”. There doesn’t seem to be any marked differences betweenmethodologiesusedbyacademicandmethodologysubjects,butthenatural sciencestendtousemorepractical,learner-centredandinteractivemethodologiessuchasinquiry,discovery,co-operativelearning,etc.

8.3.4. Teacher educators explanations for the choice of methodology used

Most teacher educators acknowledged that they use a teacher-centred approach in their lessons andmanyrefertotheteachingcontextasjustificationfortheirpedagogicalchoices.Thereisabeliefthatifteachereducatorsleadtheclass,theycanmanagethecontext:“amorelearner-centredapproachisdifficultduetotimeconstraints,assessment,studentperceptions,classsizeandsyllabusrequirements”.

Contextual constraints on the use of different teaching methodologies While most teacher educators are keen to diversify the methodologies they use themselves and

thattheyteachtotheirtrainees,theyciteanumberofconstraintstodoingso.

Time Teacher educators consider they do not have time to use child-centred approaches in their

lessons. Lessons are only 45 minutes long. Teacher educators feel they have to follow the prescribedsyllabusandcoveralltherequiredmaterialfromthetextbookinthattimeandallthecontentfromthetextbookduringasemester:“allteachereducatorsbelievethatchild-centredapproaches were more time-consuming to plan and that given their busy schedules they had little time to spend on extra planning”. A teacher-centred approach is perceived as easier and takinglesstimetoplanandpreparelessons.Asoneteachereducatorsaid:“Itismuchquickertogivealecture”.Onegroupofteachereducatorsrecountedthat,whentheMinistryofEducationrecentlyadvocatedtheadoptionofchild-centredapproachesateducationcolleges,therehadbeenwidespreadresentmentamongteachereducatorswhosawitasasignificantincreaseintheir workloads.

Assessment Assessmentissuesareconnectedtowiderissuesoftimeconstraints:“therearetoomanyexams

to spend time doing activities”. Teacher-centred approaches are perceived as better suited to theprevailingassessmentandexaminationsystem:“Assessmentwasproblematicastheyfounditdifficulttomeshchild-centredapproacheswith‘outdated’assessmentpracticeswhichcallforblanketanswers.”Anothertrainerstated:“Iamcomingtobelievethattheexaminationsystemwould need to change for all the teacher educators to see the point in changing themselves”. The assessment pressures are an evident constraint on the way in which English language is taught. One English methodology teacher educator pointed out that since speaking and listening skills werenotassesseditwasdifficulttogetteachertraineestofocusontheseareas.

Class sizes Thelargeclassesfoundateducationcolleges,typically50to60traineeteachers,alsomakeus-

ingarangeofdifferentteachingmethodologieschallenging–duetothedifficultiesinarranginggroupings,movingaroundtheclassroomandsoon.Asonetrainernoted“teachereducatorsfindinteractivestudent-centredlessonsdifficulttosetupduetotheclasssizes.”

Classroom layout Related to class size is the issue of classroom design and furniture. The layout in most education

collegeclassroomsoffixedrowsofdesksandchairsandfurnitureisdifficulttorearrangeisfelt

to not be conducive to child-centred approaches. As a group the teacher educators recognised that appropriate layout and seating arrangements are necessary to support child-centred ap-proaches,includinghorseshoearrangementsandtablesgroupedtogether.Othersmentionednarrow classrooms with very little ventilation.

Student attitude and motivation Lack of motivation among trainee teachers was also cited as an issue in terms of choice of peda-

gogy as teacher educators suggested “a sizeable proportion of whom did not choose to become teachersand,inmanycases,havetositinsmall,hotclassroomsforuptosevenhoursaday”.Onetrainer wrote “teacher educators said that students are often too tired and too hot to engage in more interactive activities” As one trainer suggested “We can really help by providing methodo-logical training on how to motivate and engage students.”

Lack of training A number of trainers reported that non-use of different methodologies was due to “teacher edu-

cators not being familiar with different methodologies and do not understand how to use them in the classroom”.

Perception of teacher educators One further interesting comment made by one group of teacher educators was that teacher

trainees perceived a teacher educator who used child-centred approaches as ‘lazy’ in getting the trainee teachers to do all the work and not doing enough themselves.

8.3.5.Teachereducators’successcriteriafortheEfECTprojectintermsoftheiruseofmethodology?

The main success criteria reported teacher educators in terms of the methodology component of theprojectwere:

1. To change their current teaching methodology There is a realisation by teacher educators that their current teaching methodology has been

ineffective:“we have to change our behaviour. Now we use the lecture method, students are less creative.”; “Use lecture method less (all of us use 4-5 methods question and answer, discussion, lecture, practical, brainstorming)”; “use teacher-centred methodologies less”.

2. To improve their teaching through practical methods to deal with challenges Practicaltechniquestomeetthechallengesofthecontextweremostindemand:“teacher educa-

tors hoped that the EfECT project would provide them with methodologies and more importantly practical techniques that they could use to improve their teaching in the classroom given the current barriers they face”. Another trainer stated “they were seeking more practical and interac-tive methodologies they could use in class, for example fun ways to teach grammar.” Success for another teacher educator meant to “be able to use suitable, usable and modernised methods for our text books and teaching learning processes.”

3. To engage their trainees more though using interactive methodology “Teacher educators repeatedly stated that they wanted to use more interactive methodologies to

increase student energy, attention, and interest in the lessons”; “EfECT will be successful if we can learn many more activities to help trainees learn more to become better teachers.”; “I would like to try using more interactive methods in my lessons”; “Reuse the methodology our teachers teach us”.

4. To receive and give feedback after observation, both from peers and trainees Sometrainersalsoexpressedadesiretobecomemorereflectiveoftheirteachingpractice;toob-

serveandbeobserved:“reflect what did well and what went wrong with the methodologies used”, “observe other teachers how they use these methodologies in class in order to improve my teach-ing”, “capitalise on trainee feedback in order to improve my teaching.”.



5. To use more of the 21 methodologies by learning how to use them in the classroom Therewasaninterestexpressedinusingmoreofthe21methodologies: “To be able to understand

the different methodologies and be able to apply them in the classroom and make them ‘suitable’ for the subject”.

6. Other Additionalrequestsincluded:techniquesforteachinglargeclasses;Lessonplanning;

understanding how to make observation and demonstration these more effective as professional development tools and in being better able to discuss teaching and “doing action research”.

Teacher educators all expressed a strong interest in expanding and deepening the repertoire of techniquesandmethodsattheirdisposal,includingtrainingintheuseofITandmultimedia.The English academic teacher educators are keen to learn and apply more interactive methodologies that they can practically use in their classes. Quite a few trainers mentioned how their Teacher educatorscommenthowtheyarelearningmethodology,teachingtechniquesandactivities throughthetrainers’currentteaching.Onetrainerreportedthat:

“One of my chemistry academic teacher educators just visited our home and showed us a self-shot video of her teaching trainees today. She used three international methodologies in the lesson. She used role-play, group-work-to-sheet-on-board and (my own) ‘pink’n’green’ marking. I am so pleased because before the holiday she was very concerned at the idea of using role-play in chemistry, and today she did it completely off her own back. I discussed options with her, but I did not ask her to implement them or to video the lesson.’

Evidence from one trainer indicates that past methodology training has produced real change with intheEnglishacademicdepartmentathereducationcollege.Singaporean-financedtraining conductedinYangonhadbeentakenonboardinasignificantwaywithintheEnglishdepartmentat their education college. The training focused on communicative and more learner-centred approaches.Moreover,theEnglishdepartmenthadalsoadoptedtheobservationcriteriausedon thetrainingcourseincludingself-reflectioninobservationsattheeducationcollege.

Someteachereducatorswere,however,scepticalabouthowthecontentofmethodologyyear would be transferable to their contexts in practical way.

Inaddition,someteachereducators“feel very confident about their understanding and awareness of methodology”.Somefeeltheydon’treallyneedtolearnmoreaboutteachingmethodology,that they are extremely knowledgeable about methodologies and those most appropriate to use when teaching their subjects.

Other teacher educators admit that although ‘the way they teach is not the best’ they are not convinced due to contextual constraints that they can use more communicative or interactive methodologies.Forexample,onetrainerwhenshownthetextbookusedbyhisteachereducator was asked ‘How can I make activities with these lessons?’ .

8.4. Explanation • Itisnotablethatthestructuralconstraintstoimplementationofchild-centredapproachesby

teachereducatorsareverysimilartothosecitedmorewidelybyothersinthefield(Schweisfurth, 2011;Hayes,2012).Constraintssuchaslargeclasssizesarefrequentlycitedacrossthedeveloped worldasconstraintstoimplementinglearner-centred/child-centredapproaches.Lessarticulated by the teacher educators but also likely to be a factor is a perceived mismatch between these ap proachesandMyanmarculture,asexploredbyLall,2012andmorewidelybySchweisforthand Hayes.Inaddition,theimplementationofsuchapproachesrequiresawholesalechangeofculture andotherelementsofthesystem,includingassessmentandleadership.

• ThefindingthatteachereducatorscitetheexamsystemasakeybarriertoimplementingCCAfits closely with Lall’s 2013 study which found a “deep incompatibility between CCA … and the exam system”.

• Atpresentthereislittleincentiveforteachereducatorstodeviatefromthecurrentsystemof rote memorisation of textbook content without genuine understanding of the subject matter. The teacher educators need to get the trainees through the curriculum and through the exams. Teacher educators are judged – both by their students and superiors - by the exam results of their trainees.

8.5. Implications • Giventhecontextualconstraintscitedbyteachereducatorstotheimplementationofchild-centred

approachesitisimportanttoensurethatthemethodologycomponentoftheEfECTprojectfits with the local context. It will also be important to take account of recent research suggesting the contribution of direct instruction or whole class teaching when done well and interactively (Muijs andReynolds,2012,p.38).Inkeepingwithrecentexhortationsintheliteraturetomove beyondapolarisationofteacher-centredandchild-centredapproaches(Barrett,2007; Hardmanetal,2012)arecentreviewrigorousliteraturereviewofpedagogy,teachingpractices and teacher education in developing countries Westbrook et al (2013) found that methodological approaches by developing world teachers which were associated with the most positive outcomes used“ajudiciouscombinationofbothstudent-andteacher-centredpractices,integratingnewer pedagogieswithmoretraditionalones”(Westbrooketal,2013).Itseemslikelythatencouraging such an approach represents the best hope for the methodological component of the EfECT project.

• ThefindingthatteachereducatorsseetheexamsystemasakeybarriertoimplementationofCCA has profound implications for the project. As there is no guarantee that there will be appropriate reform of the exam system the EfECT methodology year should ensure that new methodology explored should be compatible with existing structural constraints.

8.6.Recommendation • ThemethodologicalcomponentoftheEfECTprojectneedstocombinetrainingaroundchild-

centredpracticessuchasinteractivegroupandpairwork,encouragingstudentquestioningwith bestpracticearoundmore‘teacher-led’or‘directinstructionpedagogies,suchasdialogue



involvingthewholeclass,demonstrationandteacherquestioning(seeWestbrooketal,2013) which are likely to be compatible with existing structural constraints on pedagogy.

9. Teacher training


Thekeyprojectobjectivesfromtheprojectinitiationdocumentareasfollows: • Outcomeindicator1.2-75%TeacherEducators(TEs)applymoreeffectivemethodologyintraining

teachers • Outcomeindicator3.1-75%ofTeacherEducators(TEs)demonstrateconfidenceinapplyingef

fective trainer training methodology in training student teachers • Outcomeindicator3.2-75%ofTeacherEducators’(TEs)classesobserveddemonstrateapplication

of effective interactive classroom teaching and learning methods in training student teachers

9.2.KeyQuestionsregardingteachertraining • Whichteachereducatorsareactuallyinvolvedinthetrainingofteachertraineestoteachin

primary schools? • Whatexperiencedotheteachereducatorshaveofteachinginprimaryschoolsthemselves? • Whatformdoespracticaltrainingaroundteachingtakeinthecollegesandhowisteaching

practice (practicum) organised in the colleges? • Giventhateacheducationcollegecontainsaworkingprimaryschoolor“practiceschool”onits

premises,howarethesepracticeschoolsincorporatedintothepracticaltrainingoftrainees?

9.3.Findings

Summary • Thepracticumelementinteachertraineestrainingisquiteminimalwithlittleusemadeofthe

‘practice schools’ on education college campus and teacher educators relatively uninvolved with practicum.

Itisgenerallyacknowledgedthatteachertrainingneedstoincorporateatleastthreeelements: • subject content (adequateknowledgeandunderstandingofthesubjecttobetaughtinschool); • pedagogic “methodology” knowledge / (knowledge of how to teach the subject); • a practicum (teaching practice)(Manycourseswillalsoincludegeneralstudies,studyofpsychology,sociologyetc.)

Asthesecondoftheseislargelydealtwithinsections7and8ofthisreport,thissectionwilllargelyconfineitselftothethirdofthese,howpracticalteachingpracticeisorganisedinthecolleges.

9.3.1. Involvement of teacher educators in teacher training

Asoutlinedinsection5,onlymethodologyteachereducators,whocomprisearoundathirdofthe totalnumberofEfECTbeneficiaries,areactuallyengagedwiththepracticaltrainingofteacher trainees to teach at primary level.

Academic and co-curricular teacher-educators are not involved with the practical task of training the teacher trainees to teach. These groups of teacher educators are essentially subject teachers,engagedinteachingsubjectcontentknowledgetothecohortof16and17yearold young adults in the colleges who comprise the teacher trainees. Academic and co-curricular teacher educators are unlikely to have taught in schools themselves.

Methodologyteachereducatorsarerequiredtohavetaughtforaroundfiveyearsinschools,

however,thisexperiencetendstobeatthetopendoftheschoolsystem,meaningthatmany methodology teacher educators may have very limited experience of teaching at primary level themselves.

9.3.2. Practical teacher training and use of the practical schools

Peer teaching and microteaching Peer teaching or micro-teaching appear to be the main practical element used in methodology

lessons. Teacher trainees will come to the board and teach their peers as if they were a primary class.Itshouldbenotedthatuseofsuchtechniquesisstillfairlyminimal.Duringtheobservation offourteenmethodologyclasses,peerteachingormicro-teachingwasobservedinjustoneclass. Other activities included practice in writing learning objectives but the vast majority of activity in methodology classes appears to involve rote learning and memorisation of texts associated with methodology.

Teaching Practicum – “Block teaching” During their second year at the education colleges trainees undertake four weeks of teaching

practice. This takes place in local schools outside the education college. As noted by Hardman inhisoutlineofateachereducationframeworkforUNICEF,“assistant township education officers and head teachers are charged with the responsibility of supervising, supporting and assessing students while on teaching practice”Hardmanetal,2013).Thismeansthattheteacher educators themselves are only minimally involved the block teaching practice. Teacher trainees do,however,writesomeformofreflectivediarywhileonteachingpracticeandthereportwhich comes back to the college appears fairly comprehensive (see Appendix 5).

Nevertheless,Hardmanetalnotethat: “Though many trainees interviewed valued their experiences on teaching practicum, many

also noted that they had been left largely to their own devices to accumulate teaching survival skills. Many of the placements in schools appeared ad hoc rather than designed to ensure that teaching practice was undertaken in situations where there was good practice. Students also reported that theory and practice are taught and learned largely separately and the assumption was that they would go into the schools and apply theory. Many of the student teachers interviewed reported that they were faced with many confusing situations which they did not know how to deal with, such as having to teach more class at the same time, and that they had limited support to help them solve problems.”

Hardman et al, 2013 Hardmangoeson:

“According to the student teachers, the head teacher and ATO [assistant township education officer] visits tended to be badly timed, rushed, irregular, and mostly orientated to assessment of teaching using summative numerical scores. Sustained formative feedback geared to the student’s own development appeared to be absent.”

Hardman et al, 2013

Use of the practice schools The presence of the practice schools within the education college grounds appears to present an

excellentopportunityforpracticeofteachingmethodologybytheteachertrainees,howeverit appears that this opportunity is scarcely utilised.

EfECT project staff have never witness teacher trainees being taken into the practice schools to honetheirteachingskills.Instead,perhapsonceayearorperhapsevenlessoften,agroupof primary children from the practice schools are taken into the college and a demonstration lesson willtakeplace,taughtbyoneoftheteachereducators,oftenonastageintheeducationcollege hall,usuallywiththewholecollegeinattendance.Itisunclearhowmuchtheteachertraineeslearn fromthisratherartificialdemonstration.



9.4. Explanation

• Theseparationoftheoryandpracticeinteachertrainingisacommonfindingthroughoutthe developingworld(Mulkeen,2010,Hardmanetal,2012).

9.5. Implications

• Itshouldbenotedthattheverylargenumberofsubjectstaughtintheeducationcolleges(18),and

a project design meaning that each EfECT trainer works with around 35 teacher educators with differentsubjectspecialismsmeansthat,althoughitisknownthatsubjectknowledgeisa criticalelementinteachereffectiveness,itisdifficultfortheEfECTprojecttoaddresstheissueof subject knowledge directly.

• Asnotedelsewhere,thefactthatthemethodologyteachereducatorsaretaskedwithtrainingthe traineesaroundprimaryteaching,whiletheacademicandco-curricularteachereducatorsare essentially teachers of young adults means that the methodology year needs to address both primary level teaching and secondary level teaching (the teaching of young adults).

• AsHardmannotes“Learning to teach effectively requires that trainees integrate the insights and concepts derived from the propositional knowledge taught in college, with the contextual and situated knowledge of specific classrooms and pupils. This implies that the theoretical and practical elements of the curriculum should be intertwined and presented in a dialogic relationship, rather than as discrete elements.” (Hardmanetal,2013).Impressingonteachereducatorstheneed to integrate these two types of knowledge needs to be a critical part of the methodology year.

• Theexistenceofthepracticeschoolsinthecolleges,combinedwiththelackofexperienceofthe methodology teacher educators around primary teaching means that use of the practice schools for the methodology teacher educators to practice teaching at a primary level could be a key element for these teacher educators. It is noted that the practice schools are functioning schools for the local community so it will be important to ensure that there is minimal disruption to the functioning of the practice schools.

• Itshouldbenotedthattheorganisationoftheblockteachinganduseofthepracticeschoolsare setbytheMinistryofEducationandchangingthesemaybeoutsidethescopeoftheEfECTproject, however there may be scope for advocacy to move these practices in a positive direction in the context of the education reform process in Myanmar.

9.6.Recommendation

• Whilethemethodology,academicandco-curricularteachereducatorshaveadifferentfocusfor theirwork,withmethodologyteachereducatorsresponsibleforteachertrainingandacademicand co-curricularteachereducatorsresponsibleforsubjectknowledge,itisrecommendedthatthe methodology year be taught to mixed groups as the teaching skills that are being addressed are generic and apply to all teacher educators. Mixing will also allow teacher educators with different roles to learn about and explore the different roles together.

• ThemethodologycoursecontentfortheEfECTmethodologyyearshouldcompriseacore curriculum around generic teaching methodology with divergent elements addressing issues specifictoteachingprimaryandsecondaryagephasesrespectively.Additionalcontentaroundthe practicalskillsinvolvedinteachertrainingwillberequiredforthemethodologyteachereducators.



10. Resources Utilised in Education Colleges and Universities of Education


Thekeyprojectobjectivesfromtheprojectinitiationdocumentareasfollows: • Outcome indicator 2.1 - 75% of Teacher Educators (TEs) have an awareness and under

standing of a wider range of effective teacher training methods and resources • Outcome indicator 4.1-Bankofeffective,internationallyrecognisedteachertraining/class

room methodology resources made available in every training centre (23 total) • Outcome indicator 4.2 - 75% teacher educators demonstrate increased understanding of

exploitingtraining/classroommethodologyresourcestoimprovetheirteachertraining competence

• Outcome indicator 4.3 - 75% teacher educators contribute to continued curriculum development through the effective use of classroom methodology resources

10.2.KeyQuestionsregardinguseofmethodology

• Inordertoaddressissuesofusingresourcesandofwhichadditionalresourceswere requiredinthecollegesitwasimportanttoestablishwhichresourcesarepresentlytobe found in the colleges and which are being used.

• WealsowantedtoestablishteachereducatorsownsuccesscriteriaaroundtheEfECT project and resources.

10.3. Findings

Summary

• Resourcesusedinclasseswithtraineesandthattraineesaretrainedintheuseofarevery

limited withlittlerealuseofresourcesbeyondtheMinistrytextbook,Englishgraded readersandsubject-specificmethodologytextsbeingaparticulargap.

• ICTinfrastructureandcommunicationispoor. • BeingabletousetheInterneteffectively,usingawiderrangeofresourcesandintroducing

a wider range of resources were cited as possible aims for the EfECT project.

10.3.1. Resources used by teacher educators to train student teachers.

In teacher educator focus groups the most cited examples of resources used by teachereducatorstotrainstudentteachersareMinistryofEducationissuetextbooks, boardandpen,andrealiaintheformofteachingaidsandkitboxes.Initialobservations ofclassesonlysawteachereducatorsusingtextbooksandboardandpen,however.

Ministry of Education text books AllacademicsubjecttextbooksotherthanMyanmarareinEnglish.Asreportedabove,

teacher educators state that they use these in class by translating content into Myan-mar for the student teachers. Methodology text books are in Myanmar other than those used by English methodology teacher educators.

Contentisdescribedatbestasbeingadequate;however,majorityopiniondescribesthebooksasbeingarchaic,outofdate,witholdandoftenunusabletextswhichareuninteresting in terms of presentation.

English academic text books contain lists of explanation and mostly reading and writing tasks and methodology books are traditional in terms of scope; there is little in terms of communicative learning.

Teachereducatorsfromoneeducationcollegemadethepointthatthesubjectspecificacademicandmethodologybooksdidn’tcorrelatewellwhichcreateddifficultiesinmeetingsyllabirequirements.

JICA previously provided a set of reference books written in English to all education colleges. However,theydonotseemtohavebeenutilizedasexpected.AccordingtoJICA,therearetworeasonsforthis.Firstly,lowlevelsofEnglishproficiencyandsecondly,theabsenceofareadinghabit. JICA note that teacher educators do not have a habit of self-study or they may be too busy with their other jobs.

Duringaninitialsitevisit,onesciencemethodologyteachereducatorsaidthatshehadsomevery good Indian science textbooks provided by the British Council through the local Millennium Centre but that she wasn’t allowed to use them as she was restricted to the set text-book by the Ministry – instead she gave these textbooks to student teachers for background reading.

Board and pen All education colleges now have whiteboards although some classrooms still have blackboards as

well.Oneeducationcollegereceivedtheirfirstwhiteboardonlylastyear.

Teaching aids Teacher educators in all colleges mentioned these as a key resource. They range from working

modelssimulatingtheeruptionofavolcanotodollsinethnicnationaldress,aswellaschartsandmaps. The science department in one education college children’s toys are utilised to illustrate the reproduction of animals.

Teaching aids are created by the teacher educators themselves and are used to illustrate learning points. Student teachers are also taught how to make the models for use in their own classes.

Whileindisputablyverycreative,teachingaidsvaryintheirpracticalapplication;one,aboxofshapesforprimaryteachers,wasreportedtohavegreatpotentialinateachingsituation.Oth-ers may work less successfully in classes of thirty to forty students because of size or design. Theyare,however,aconsiderablesourceofprideintheEducationCollegesandateachingaidscompetitionisheldeveryyear.However,manytrainersreportedseeingtheteachereducators’teaching aids exhibits from the competition being locked away in the education college after the competitionwasover,ina‘treasuretrove’ofothersimilarexhibitsfrompreviousyears.

Kit boxes Theseareboxescontainingobjectsdesignedtoillustrateasubjectspecificconcept,andareused

by both academic and methodology teacher educators. The boxes themselves are elaborate and well-constructed,butcontentsvaryanditcanbedifficulttoestablishtheirvalue.

Other classroom resources mentioned • Flashcards:mentionedbyteachereducatorsintwocollegesbutnotyetseenbeing

used • Leaflets • Flags • Currency/coinsinmathematics • Posters:however,onereportmentionedthatthesecouldnotbeleftonthewallsasthe

classroom was used by teacher educators of various subjects. • OverheadProjector:mentionedinonecollegebutteachereducatorsadmittedthat

they were hardly ever used • Projectors:butveryfewandonlysomemembersofstaffarepermittedtousethem • Scienceequipment:microscopes/slides/chemicals(whicharekeptinsand.One

teacher educator talked about the need for more sinks so as to be able to dispose of chemicalsmoresafely),periscopeandmirrors,roundbottomandflatbottomflasks, test tubes.



Resources specific to co-curriculum subjects • Music:Myanmarxylophonearethemostcommoninstrumentcitedinmusicclass,

although some teacher educators suggested they would welcome a wider range of instruments. Another teacher educator mentioned drums.

• Art:Paintsandbrushesareavailableinsomecolleges,inotherstherearenoneso teacher educators can only draw with their student teachers.

• DomesticScience:Thereareovensbutmoreareneededtocaterforthequantity ofstudentteachers(twoaloneinoneEducationCollege),pedal-poweredSinger sewing machines.

• Agriculture:sometools. • PhysicalEducation:footballs,volleyballs,shotput,discus.

10.3.2. Physical and ICT resources

Libraries All Education Colleges have a library. Opening hours tend to be between 9.00a.m. and

3.00p.m.,i.e.duringthetimeswhenmostacademicandmethodologyteachereducators are teaching and teacher trainees are in lessons. Teacher educators and teacher trainees areabletoborrowbooksforbetweenthreedaystooneweek,dependingonthecollege.It wasdifficulttogetasenseofhowmuchthelibrariesareused.

Librariesaregenerallyreasonablywellstockedwith,mostly,veryoldsubjectspecificbooks and some generally more modern methodology books as well as local newspapers in both Myanmar and English (‘New Light of Myanmar’). Methodology books are in both Myanmar and English. The English sections also tend to contain collections of old graded readers. One library had a large number of PhD theses in English which had been distributed by the MinistryofEducationandsomeyoungadultnon-fictionbooksinEnglish.EfECTtrainers alsoreportedfindingaselectionofnewphotocopiableresourceswhichhadbeenprovided by the British Council but which looked unused.

Computer rooms and ICT Mostcollegeshaveupto40computers.Oftentherewillbeoneroomwith20quitemodern

computers,e.g.withWindows7operatingsystemandanotherroomwitholdercomputers. InonecollegeteachereducatorsuseaprojectorduringICTlessons,andsometeacher educators also use this to show video clips in class. It is not clear how these computers are used or whether they are used well. A lot of trainers reported that computer use is limited to class hours and that neither teacher educators or trainees are allowed to use the computers outside of these times when they are not under supervision.

Education colleges have a computer room on campus but these seem to be underused. This is for a variety of reasons;

• ComputersarebrokenandthereisnodedicatedITstaffmembercanfixthem. • Teachereducatorsarenotallowedtousethem.(Oneteachereducatorsimplified

success criteria of the EfECT project as simply being able to use the computers in the computer room). In some education colleges they can only be used by the ICT teacher educatororthe‘businesstrainees’.Inanotherthereisafearthattheywillbreakthem, reportedly.

• Teachereducatorsdon’thavecomputerskillsthemselves. • Therearetoomanystudentteachersandnotenoughcomputers(onaveragethreeto

acomputer,asituationwhichworsenswhenbrokencomputersarenotrepaired) • Lackofinternetconnectivity.Veryfeweducationcollegeshavewifiandwhentheydo

it is unreliable.

When teacher educators do use the computer room it is to familiarize student teachers with basic computer skills rather than how to use ICT for teaching. Powerpoint presentations were also mentioned by one teacher educator.

Internet connectivity varies across colleges. In one or two colleges teacher educators re-ported that the internet was not working and not great when it is working. A number of colleges havewirelessinternetorsaytheyareabouttogetit,butmosttrainershavereportedthatconnectivity in their colleges is very poor. In some colleges there are desktop computers with internetaccessintheprincipal’sofficewhichmaybeavailableforEfECTtrainers’use.

Internet coverage is expanding rapidly throughout Myanmar and mobile phone technology is now widely available as prices have fallen. Most of the ECs appear to have a dedicated comput-er room. Not all of these computers are linked to the internet yet and those that are have con-nections which are still somewhat unreliable though this is steadily improving. Many teacher educatorsarenowabletoaccessinternetthroughtheirsmartphones,thoughatpresent,theytend to use this mostly for accessing games and for messaging.

Many teacher educators stated that they used the internet to access games and information to help improve their own and their trainees English. Fewer used the internet to access teaching resourcesforuseintheirclassesoftencitingtheslowconnectionspeeds.Despitethis,someteacher educators make extraordinary efforts to include material in their lessons by spending personal time downloading a whole range of material from websites such as YouTube and Eng-lishandgeographyacademicandmethodologyteachersinparticular,seeitasbothavitalandabsolutely necessary link for Myanmar to learning more about the world ‘outside’. PE teachers saidthattheyoftendownloadvideosofdances/songswithactions.

When asked if they were familiar with any teaching websites they said that they were not familiar at all but are very interested in being introduced to some. Teacher educators feel that they,too,shouldhaveunderstandingoneventhemostbasicformatofemailcomposition.Itseemsthatsometeachereducatorsaremakingeffortstoaccessinformationintheinternet,whereas others see it as a hard task due to accessibility issues. English and academic teacher educators tended to access materials in English as their medium of instruction is supposedly inEnglish,methodologyteachereducatorstendedtoaccessresourcesinMyanmarbecausetheir lessons are conducted using Myanmar as the medium of instruction.

Many teacher educators reported not being able to use the computer room in their college becauseitremainedlocked.Senioreducationcollegestaffmaybeconcernedthattheequip-ment will become damaged – this is similar to their rationale for locking the library and prevent-ing more use of books by education college staff and students. Many teacher educators cited limitationsintheirownlanguageproficiencyasanobstacletoeffectivelyusingtheinternetandotherresourcesinEnglishsuchasjournals,magazinesandnewspapers.

Despitetherebeingtworoomsstockedwithcomputers,almostalladministrationinthecol-legesremainspaperbased–theremaybeoneortwoadministrativecomputerspercollege,but the majority of administration is done on paper.

The upcoming UNESCO Project contains an ICT component and Education Colleges have re-ceived ICT training before but this was one-off and seems to have little lasting impact.

Language laboratories Language laboratories are reported to be a wasted resource due to the poor condition of

theequipment,muchofwhichisbroken(defectiveearphones,forexample).Themajorityofteachereducatorswhodousethemexpressfrustrationatthisstateofdisrepair.However,oneteacher educator held both the language laboratory and computer room up as something the education college should be proud of.

Inoneeducationcollegeitisusedfordrillingandrepeating,mostlyusingstorieswhichoneteacher educator picked up when on a training programme. Education colleges also have au-dio cassettes (‘Interchange’). In one of the more prominent education colleges the laboratory is newerandhousesvideoandstereoequipmentbuthowmuchitisusedisstillunknown.



Classroom furniture TheEducationcollegestendtohavelarge,airyclassrooms,usuallywithfans.Mosthavewhite-

boards. Classrooms tend to be furnished with old fashioned desks in rows or long benches whichstudentteacherssitat;whenpossible,chairsaresometimesmovedforgroupwork.TheYangon University of Education had some classrooms with more modern furniture which was more moveable. Generally teacher educators view existing classroom furniture coupled with class size as a barrier to experimentation. Classrooms get very hot and teacher educators and trainersoftenreportdifficultyinmotivatingstudentsintheafternoons.

10.3.3. Resources that teacher educators teach student teachers how to use.

Teacher educators commented that they instruct student teachers how to use the kit boxes andteachingaidstostimulateinterestanddemonstratelearningpoints,largelythroughques-tion and answer.

Some teacher educators referenced teaching student teachers how to use dictionaries and reference books but that a lack of resources hindered them.

In the initial informal observations trainers did not report directly coming across student teach-ers being taught how to use any resources. Focus groups also gave the impression that there was little active teaching of teaching using the resources. This was borne out at one Education collegewhereteachereducatorssaidquiteopenlythattheydidnotexplicitlyteachstudentteachershowtouseresources,butratherusedtheresourcesattheirdisposaltoteach.

10.3.4.Teachereducators’successcriteriafortheEfECTprojectintermsofuseofresources.

Successcriteriawerelargelydefinedastheavailabilityofandaccesstoup-to-datemodernresources,themostoftenexpressedbeingprintedmaterial(coursebooks,dictionariesetc.)and technology (internet).

Information technology ‘Being able to use the Internet effectively’ was high on teacher educators list of success criteria

for the EFECT project. One of the biggest areas of concern for all teacher educators is ac-cessing up to date and more effective resources to support them in their work. One teacher educator who has had experience of using more modern online materials (including some Britishcouncildigitalresources),expressedaninterestinknowinghowtousesuchresourceseffectively,butwasdiscouragedbypoorinternetconnectivity.OtherswereunfamiliarwiththeconceptofincorporatingICTbutinterestedinfindingoutmore,recognizingtheneedforthiswhileatthesametimeadmittingthattheirknowledgeandskillsneedsignificantimprovement.

As well as wanting to increase their understanding of how to access information and resources ontheinternet,anduseITasproductivetool,teachereducatorsarealsokeentopromotesafeuse and make student teachers aware of the downside of internet and computer use.

BeingabletouseExcel,saveresearchdigitallyandusetheinternettoresearchclassesaswellas current affairs and read current international textbooks in their subject in order to have up-to-date information for their student teachers were also cited as possible success criteria.

Printed material One important criteria cited by English teacher educators for project success was an in-

creased ability to more effectively access and integrate a much wider range of English lan-guage materials into the preparation and delivery of lessons. Improving the use of classroom resources such as dictionaries and reference books was viewed by some teacher educators assomethingthatwouldbeuseful.Justhavingaccesstogoodtextbooks,grammarbooks,

picture books and story books was deemed success criteria for some. English dictionaries (for sub-ject specialties) would be useful so teacher educators could look words up from textbooks themselves and thus help their student teachers that way.

Other Someoftherespondents’answersreflecttheirlackofexposuretoteaching/training resources;many referenced success criteria as their being able to demonstrate to student teachers how to use resourceseffectively,butdidnotspecifywhichresourcesinparticular.Otherssaidtheywouldlikemoreteachingaidsandtrainingonhowtousethem.Anothersaidthatiftheycouldchoose,theywouldlikemorerealia,dollsandtraditionalmaterials.

10.4. Explanation

• Thepaucityofresourcesinthecollegesneedstobeunderstoodinthecontextofahistoryof under-resourcing of education in Myanmar.

• ThepoorinternetinthecollegesreflectsthepoorinfrastructureinMyanmargenerally,itishoped that this situation will be addressed rapidly in coming years.

• Frequentandrelevantuseofresourcesbeyondthetextbookisakeyattributeofeffective teaching(e.g.Westbrooketal,2013).Theevidentnervousnessofteachereducatorstostraybe yondthetextbookisevidenceofahighlycentralised,top-downandupwardlyaccountable education system where decisions around curriculum have been tightly managed at the highest levelsofgovernment(PyoePin,2014).

10.5. Implications

• TheEfECTprojectwillneedtoworkcloselywithdevelopmentpartnerssuchasJICAandthe MyanmarMinistryofEducationitself,astheseagenciesprogressthereformoftheeducation college curriculum.

• ItwillalsobeimportanttosupportandencouragetheMyanmarMinistryofEducationtowardsa more open approach to the use of supplementary text books and resources.

• TheEfECTprojectisinagoodpositiontofillgapsinthelibraryresources,e.g.throughproviding gradedreadersandsubject-specificmethodologybooks,asfarastheprojectbudgetwillpermit

• Improvingtheuseofclassroomresourcessuchasdictionariesandreferencebooksisanotherkey area where EfECT can contribute.

10.6. Recommendations

• TheEfECTprojectshouldsupporttheeducationcollegesbyhelpingtosupplymethodology resources,includingsubjectspecificresourcesandEnglishgradedreaders.

• TheEfECTprogrammeshouldsupportteachereducatorstousetheinternettosearchandsecure a wider range of resources and to use ICT more effectively in the classroom.



SECTION C – Findings from Previous Research11. Previous research relating to teacher training in Myanmar

This section of the report is somewhat different from the others since it focuses on a brief exploration of existingliteratureratherthanfindingsfromthefield,howeveritalsobeginswithseveralkeyquestions:

11.1.Keyquestionsaroundexistingliterature • DoestheexistingliteratureconcerningeducationinMyanmarbearoutthefindingsoftheEfECT

needs analysis concerning pedagogy and teacher education? • Sincemuchofthedocumentationproducedbydevelopmentpartnersinthecontextofthe

educationreformprocessmakesrepeatedreferencesto“Learner-centrededucation”(LCE),what light can the existing literature shed on attempts to implement learner-centred approaches in Myanmar and other developing world context.

• SincetheMyanmareducationtraditionisclearlyoneofdirectinstructionandwhole-classteaching, what does recent research on effective teaching have to say on the role of direct instruction.

Introduction Education research in Myanmar is somewhat limited and it is beyond the scope of this needs analysis to

produceacomprehensiveliteraturereviewofthisarea.However,theaimofthissectionistoprovideabroad overview of recent research relevant to teacher education and schooling in Myanmar in order to triangulatethiswiththefindingsoftheEfECTstaffduringthepilotphaseoftheproject.

MarieLallonchildcentredlearninginMyanmar

Summary • TeachersinMyanmar’smonasticsectorhaveagoodunderstandingofchild-centredapproaches

(CCA)andtheirbenefits. • However,teachersawCCAasforeignandWesternandparentswereconcernedthatCCAdidnotfit

with local culture. • TeachersperceiveadeepincompatibilitybetweenCCAandthecurrentMyanmarexamsystem. • LallrecommendsthatmodelssuchasCCAareadaptedtolocalcontextsbeforeattemptingto

implement these.

Marie Lall’s 2010 study aimed to explore the elements of child-centred methodology being used in My-anmar monastic schools and whether teachers and schools were accepting this new methodology and able to apply it. This resulted in a report written for the DFID funded British Council political economy projectPyoePin(Lall2010)andasubsequentjournalarticle(Lall,2011).AfurtherstudybyLall(2013)explores what teachers themselves had to say about the current state of education and what reforms they felt were needed.

Notingthedisadvantagesoftheformofteacher-centredmethodologycommoninMyanmar,Lallfindsthat teachers “had no difficulty explaining what they saw as the main elements of CCA” or of “the ben-efits they experienced when using CCA”, (Lall2010,p.1)howeveritappearedthatteachersstruggledtoapplythisapproachdueto“logisticalproblemssuchashighstudent-teacherratios,lackofspace,lack of teaching aids and lack of time.” (p. 2) In particular “Teachers, but also monks, trainers and train-ing providers all agreed that CCA requires teachers to do a lot more work overall”(p.2).Diggingdeeper,Lallreflectsthat “CCA was often seen as a ‘foreign’ or ‘western’ way to teach” and that teachers were “not used to the self-reflection and collaborative procedures which underlie such teaching” and were worried that “they might be asked questions they would not be able to answer”(p.27).Lallconcludesthat:

“The issue of respect and how the students view teachers and parents or other elders remains central as many see the main difficulty in how to balance the new approach and what is seen as the ‘modern’ and ‘western’ way with traditional Myanmar culture. Parents were especially worried that children would become too disrespectful and upturn the traditional hierarchies at home” (Lall, 2010, p. 27)



Inasubsequentjournalarticle(2011),Lallgoesfurther.Notingthat“CCA is promoted [by INGOs] as a panacea to Myanmar’s many educational challenges”(p.220),Lallobservesthat:

“Within the Western educational literature, where CCA emerged, there are critiques but these were not passed on to the wider stakeholders so they can form a balanced view and develop their own opinion. In effect, CCA is exported and subsequently pushed through these networks which use it to maintain and expand their programmes and support a handful of consultants who draw commercial profit from the endeavour”

(Lall, 2011, p. 231)

Observing that this approach “Fostered resistance as a largely western approach is seen to be eroding traditional hierarchies”, (p.231)Lalladvises:

“NGOs and INGOs who are exporting western educational practices to other countries must look beyond the ‘effectiveness’ of the model in the west and should adapt models to local contexts before implementation, but also leave room for development of context-specific models based on their experiences with implementation”

(Lall, 2011, p. 231)

Lall’sfurtherstudy,“TeachersVoice”(Lall,2013)focusesonwhatteachersthemselveshadtosayaboutthe current education system in Myanmar and what education reforms they felt were needed. The main findingsofthisresearch:

“ … showed deep incompatibility between CCA (which is official Myanmar education policy) and the exam system showed deep incompatibility between CCA (which is official Myanmar Education policy) and the exam system. The all pass system means that teachers are under time pres sure to get through the curriculum and the lack of space and time reduces their ability to use the CCA method. Capacity constraints both infrastructural and curriculum related were the second issue with oversized class room, leading to teaching attention deficit and rote learning methods, and a profession that needed increased professional pride and modernisation.”

Helen Drinan’s research in the context of the CESR

Summary • ReasonsforMyanmarteachersfailingtoteachusingEnglishasamediumofinstruction(EMI)in

clude both student and teacher levels of English being low. • RotememorisationofEnglishtextinEMIclassesiswidespreadleadingtolimitedunderstandingof

curriculum content.

Helen Drinan was engaged by the British Council to undertake two studies to support the work of the CoprehensiveEducationSectorReview(CESR),(Drinan,2013a;Drinan,2013b).

Drinan’sfirststudy,producedinJune2013–“Language in Education in Myanmar, with specific refer-ence to English”, focussed on the teaching of language in Myanmar with a particular focus on English. The report is intended as an overview of the situation in the form of a rapid assessment. The focus is on basic education and is based on short-term research and analysis of documents; interviews with key stakeholdersandvisitstoYangonUnstituteofEducation,YankinEducationCollege,primary,middleandhigh schools.

Focussing on the teaching of English in the colleges, Drinan concludes:

“Instructors teaching English sometimes teach in English but more often in Myanmar. This is be cause students enter the college with low matriculation results and low levels of English language proficiency. Those spoken to felt most of their students were elementary level at reading and writing. Their speaking and listening is even lower. Very few enter the Education Colleges at

an intermediate level and those who do are probably graduate educators from university. Therefore the translation method is used in teaching and students ‘ learn’ through memorisation.”

(Drinan, 2013a, p. 31)

Drinan goes on:

“ELT Methodology instructors are limited to a great extent by their: • ELT Methodology books; • The school textbooks which the methodology texts relate to and by; • The assessment system Instructors try to supplement the books by using flashcards, games and downloading techniques

from the internet (in the cities). However methodology tends to be teacher-centred with limited to no practice of language.”

(Drinan, 2013a, p. 32)

Referring to teaching methodology more generally in the education colleges, Drinan observes:

“When asked about methodology, instructors were keen to use terms like Child- Centred Approaches (CCA) and Child-Friendly Schools (CFS), however with further questioning it became apparent that they have just heard of these approaches rather than understood or used them.”

(Drinan, 2013a, p. 31) And goes on …

“The only method of teaching and learning that both teachers and students can use is rote, translation and memorisation. Therefore students leave school without truly understanding concepts or knowing how to apply these concepts”

(Drinan, 2013a, pp. 34-35)

The results of such an approach to methodology is captured by a quote from a chemistry teacher from Mon state:

“ …students who have their textbooks in English cannot ‘catch the concepts’; become disinterested in the subject; -… ‘students just don’t understand, when it is taught using an English text and with an explanation in Myanmar’.”

(Drinan, 2013a, pp. 34-35)

Drinan’ssecondstudy,producedinOctober2013,isaresultoftheextensionoftheoriginalremittoreviewthewholeoftheEnglishlanguagecurriculuminMyanmar(Drinan,2013b).Expandingontheworkoftheoriginalstudy,DrinancommentsontheEnglishlanguageproficiencyofteachers:

As Drinan notes:

“Teachers’ language is fossilised, meaning they seldom develop further than the grade they are teaching. More worrying is that teachers are not even at that level, as many have just memorised the textbooks they are ‘teaching’.” (Drinan, 2013b, p. 9)

In terms of the use of English as a medium of instruction for teaching maths and science, Drinan states:

“Using English as a Medium of Instruction (MoI): this is fundamentally not working for teaching Maths and Science as few teachers can use English, let alone, teach another subject in English. Students are not learning or understanding important concepts in Maths and Science. They merely remember the technical terms in English for the tests. Most teachers use a mix of Myanmar (for explanation) and English (for technical terms).”

(Drinan, 2013b, p. 9)



However, Drinan stresses that the issue is not just about the medium of instruction but wider is-sues around methodology:

“ … even if they were taught totally in Myanmar , students would still find understanding concepts difficult because of the teacher-centred methodology.” (Drinan, 2013b, p. 9)

Drinan concludes that:

“If English is going to be used as a MoI teachers need training and support in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)”. (Drinan, 2013b, p. 9)

TheUNICEFstudyarounddevelopmentofateachereducationstrategyframework

Summary • Transmission-based,teacher-frontedapproachestoteachereducationarewidespreadinMyanmar.

Also relevant to work in education colleges is the desk review of pre-service education and training of teachersundertakenforUNICEF(Hardmanetal,2013).Unsurprisingly,thefindingsweresimilartothoseofDrinanandthisneedsanalysis,Hardmanetalfindthat:

“While pedagogic content knowledge was discussed in some of the lessons observed, it was rarely demonstrated. Teacher educators used a combination of methods – demonstration, whole class teaching using question and answer, lecture and some simulation. However the main emphasis was on theoretical knowledge about teaching … Learning objectives were rarely stated at the beginning of lessons and at various stages throughout the class … Tutors also rarely used plenary sessions to draw the whole class together, during and at the end of the lesson, to summarise, consolidate and extend what has been covered and direct students to the next stage of learning. The model of teaching the students were being presented with here was essentially transmission-based, stressing a hierarchical learning of knowledge and conventional teacher-fronted classroom organisation. Such poor pedagogic practice, where large groups of trainees are lectured for much of the time, suggests that advocacy of new pedagogies was more in name than in practice”

(Hardman et al 2013, p. 15)

Whileputforwardasrecommendationsforschool-basedINSET,anumberofHardman’srecommenda-tionsareveryrelevanttotheworkofEfECT:

“The key objectives of the school-based INSET should be to: • Develop a system where teachers study in a variety of ways and reflect upon their own beliefs

and classroom practices … • Design a system where teachers and their colleagues engage in peer observations and dis

cussing of outcomes to improve the quality of teaching … • Design a system where teachers can plan together investigations in the classroom (action

learning)” (Hardman et al 2013, p. 27)The UNICEF Myanmar baseline study

Summary • Whole-class,transmissionmodelsofpedagogyarewidespreadinMyanmarschools. • Littleevidenceofstudentquestioningoropportunitiestodevelopcriticalthinkingorstudents

taking responsibility for their own learning. • Hardmanetalargueagainstthesimplisticpolarisationofteacher-centredandchild-centred

pedagogy. • HardmanetalrecommendanumberofmeasurestosupportMyanmarteacherstobroadentheir

repertoire methods used in whole-class teaching.

Another study highly relevant to the work of EfECT is that undertaken by Hardman et al (2012) to provide a baseline for a UNICEF initiative to encourage child-centred approaches in a number of primary schools. The baselinestudyasks:“What types of interactions do Myanmar primary teachers use to present, organise and sustain learning tasks and activities in Myanmar language and mathematics classes?”

The study takes a rigorous and systematic approach to coding teacher behaviour and types of interaction intheclassroomusingthreeinstruments:timelineanalysis,investigatingthefrequencyofteacherandpupilbehaviours and systematic coding of digitally recorded excerpts of lessons.

ThefindingsarecontainedwithinthebaselinestudyforUNICEF(Hardmanetal,2012)andasubsequentaca-demicjournalpaper(Hardmanetal,2014).

Perhapsunsurprisingly,Hardmanetalfoundthatteachersmainlyuseatransmissionmodelofteaching,oftenusingthechalkboardand/ortextbooktotransmitrecipeknowledgeforrecall.Therewaslittledifferenceinthe methodology used for teaching mathematics and Myanmar language.

“Pupils spent a great deal of time listening to the teacher explaining, asking questions, cuing choral responses, writing on the chalkboard, reading and managing the class.” (Hardman et al 2014, p. 17).

Hardman et al conclude:

“The closed nature of the questioning and direction by the teacher meant that pupils were rarely given the opportunity to ask questions or contribute their ideas. It therefore limited the extent to which pupils could develop their oral skills and critical thinking, and take responsibility for their own learning. (ibid)

Hardman et al’s recommendations are highly relevant to the aspiration of the EfECT project to develop its methodologycomponent.TheUNICEFstudyrecommends: • Effectiveuseofexplanationandquestionandanswerroutinesincluding: o Howtoaskopen-endedquestions, o Givingpupilstimetoanswerquestions, o Sharingquestionsatthestartofthelesson o Encouragingpupilstoasktheirownquestions o Beginninglessonsbygivingpupilsaquestionfromthelastlesson,askingpairstodiscuss aquestionforaminutebeforetheyanswerit o Gettingapairorgroupofpupilstosetquestionsforanotherpairorgroup • Settingalearningoutcomeand“the use of a plenary to draw the whole class together at dif ferent stages of the lesson, particularly at the end of lessons, to summarise, consolidate and extend what has been covered and direct pupils to the next stage of learning.” • “Training in the effective promotion and management of paired and group work and the setting of purposeful tasks.” (Hardman et al 2012, p. 10)

Interestingly,thetermsofreferencefortheUNICEFstudyrefertothelimitedsuccessthathasbeenachievedinencouragingchild-centredapproachesinMyanmar(Hardmanetal2012,p.51)

Hardmanetalseemtosuggestthatattemptstoencourageachild-centredapproach,initself,hasbeenlessthanhelpful,insteadadvocatinghelpingteachersto: “ … broaden the repertoire of whole class teaching currently found in Myanmar classrooms. Such an approach builds on the traditional model of whole class teaching but avoids the simplistic polarization of pedagogy into “teacher-centred” versus “child-centred” that has characterized much of the educational discourse in the international donor community.” (Hardman et al 2014, p. 17).



Hardman et al go on to suggest that: “In order to bring about such changes, school-based teacher development programmes need to start by helping teachers to explore their own beliefs by getting them to reflect on their classroom practices to bridge the gap between theories and actual classroom practice.” (Hardman et al 2014, p. 17).

Languagelearning‘attheperiphery’

Summary • TanBeeTinrejectsadichotomyofteacher-centredandchild-centredlearningintheMyanmar context where the “ joy of studying” is valued within both these traditions.

Anotherstudywhichquestionstherelevanceofthe“teacher-centred” versus “child-centred” dichotomy in theMyanmarcontextisoneproducedbyaMyanmarnative,TanBeeTin,investigatingdifferencesinEnglishlanguage teaching between the “centre” and the “periphery”.Withinanethnographictradition,TinemploysacomplexcontentanalysistechniquetoinvestigatethemotivesunderpinningagroupofKarenEnglishlan-guagelearners(Tin,2014)

TinconcludesthattheKarensubjectsofthestudyshowalessthaninstrumentalapproachtotheirlearning:“I am ‘happy’ to study but I don’t study to be happy” (Tin,2014,p.104)andcontraststhiswiththeinsistencewithin mainstream ELT teaching that students’ activities themselves should be fun.

Noting that “Knowledge has both a materialistic and a symbolic gain”Tinnotesthat,atleastfortheMyanmarsubjects of her study “Joy of studying exists in both teacher-led and student-led activities.” (p. 112)

Tin notes the “recurrent dichotomy in many theories of learning is the distinction between learner-centredness vs. teacher-centredness, where the former is regarded as more legitimate than the latter.” But rejects such a dichotomy in the Myanmar context in favour of a “consequential view of learning by doing, in which every deed has a consequence or a benefit (‘ah-kyo’), even if that consequence is non-observable and non-definable in the present, acting as a chain of causes and consequences”. (p. 113).

Reflectionsonthelearner-centredandteacher-centreddichotomyinwiderdevelopmentliterature

Summary • Anumberofdevelopmentwriterssuggestmovingbeyondthepolarisationoflearner-centred and teacher-centred; performance and competence models of pedagogy. • Structural,materialandculturalbarrierstotheimplementationoflearner-centredapproachesare cited.

HardmanandTinreflectarenottheonlyonestoquestion“an over-simplified conceptualisation of pedagogy as either teacher-centred or learner-centred” (Barrett, 2007, p. 273). Writing from the Tanzanian context, Barrett notes the polarisation between “transmissional, authoritarian or teacher-centred styles of teaching” and “con-structivist, democratic or leaner-centred” (p. 274). Mapping these poles onto Bernstein’s dichotomy between performanceandcompetencemodels,Barrettnotesthat,intheTanzaniancontext,lessonsexhibitingwhatis regarded as good practice contain a mixture of performance and competence modes of pedagogy. In par-ticular,whilemanyoutwardfeaturesofthelessonconformedtotheperformancemodel,“some teachers’ be-liefs regarding teaching and learning and relations with pupils could be viewed within the competence mode”, including the importance of “pupils’ conceptualisation of the subject matter”,andmakinguse“of the knowledge children acquired outside school”.

Schweisfurth (2012) reviews 72 studies of the implementation of learner-centred approaches in develop-mentalcontextsconcludingthat:“the history of the implementation of LCE in different contexts is riddled with stories of failures grand and small.” Schweisfurthgivesfourbroadreasonsforsuchfailures:

1. Expectations and implementation of educational reform - the nature of the change is expected toimplementlearner-centredapproachesistoogreatandtoorapidanddoesnotfitwithother aspects of the system such as examination culture.

2. Practical and material constraints – resources to support innovation such as school infrastructure,classsize,teaching-learningmaterialsandteachercapacityarelimited. 3. Culture–learner-centredapproachescanbeseenasopposedtolocalculturalvalues,particularly the expected roles of teachers and students. 4. Power and agency – change is driven by people who don’t have to implement it.

Writing in relation to innovation around English language teaching but with thoughts that clearly apply to in-novationgenerally,Hayes(2012)buildsonSchweisfurth’sobservations:

“Any conclusions about what may be best practice in English language (or any other) educational innovation need to be framed within the constraints and opportunities of the context(s) in which the innovation is to be implemented as well as within an understanding of the sociocultural and historical context of the system from which the innovative practice derives” (Hayes, 2012)

Findings from global research on effective teaching

Summary • Directinstructionorwhole-classteachingcanbeeffectiveifundertakeninteractively. • Directinstructionismucheasiertomanagethanconstructivistapproacheswhichcanbedifficult to set up.

It’sperhapsimportanttonotethat,while,astheseauthorsobserve,thefocusontheimportanceofchild-cen-tredlearningisstillstrongwithindevelopmentandmanypractitionercircles,evidencefromwiderresearchismuchmoreambivalent,asevidencedbytherecentwellpublicisedreview:“What makes great teaching? – Review of underpinning research” (Coe et al, 2014).

Inacomprehensivereviewoftheevidence,MuijsandReynolds(2012)citestrongevidencefortheeffec-tivenessof‘direct’orwhole-classteaching-Rosenshione,1979a,GoodandGrouws,1979;Nyeetal,2004,Stringfieldetal.,Croll,1996,GaltonandCroll,1980;Mortimoreetal–(MuijsandReynolds,2012,pp.36,37).

Directteachingisfoundtobeparticularlyeffectiveinassimilatingnewknowledge(p38),withyoungerlearn-ers,whenteachingrules,proceduresandbasicskills,withpupilsfromlowsocioeconomicbackgroundsandpupils starting from a low level of achievement in particular subjects.

Ontheotherhand,MuijsandReynoldsconcludethat,whileconstructivistapproaches(whichbroadlyequatestotheideaof‘learner-centredapproaches’)seemstofitwellwithrecentunderstandingoflearningtheory,research on the effectiveness of a constructivist approach to teaching is inconclusive and pure discovery ap-proaches,inparticular,donotseemtobeeffective.(Kirschneretal,2006)

Theauthorssiteseveralreasonsforthis: • Directteachingallowstheteachertohavemorecontactwithindividualpupils • Pupilsaremorelikelytobeontaskduringwholeclasssessions • Directteachingismucheasiertosetupandmanagethanmorecomplexarrangementsinvolving different groups of pupils doing different things in the classroom (p38)

It should be stressed that Muijs and Reynolds do not suggest that teachers should spend the whole lesson teaching the whole class and that whole-class teaching is less effective

The key point made by Muijs and Reynolds is that direct or whole-class teaching needs to be interactive (which the above evidence suggests is presently not the case in Myanmar). Muijs and Reynolds go on to make aseriesofrecommendations,particularlyaroundquestioning,toensurethatdirectteachingisconductedinan interactive way which mesh closely with the recommendations of Hardman et al (2012) above. (Muijs and Reynolds2011,pp.54-60)

Perhapstwopointsneedtobedrawnfromtheaboveevidence.First,thatwhetherteachingoccursinawhole-class mode or not is not the issue. Supposedly constructivist or child-centred teaching can be inef-



fective if it’s based purely on children’s self-discovery or overemphasises individualised work while direct or whole class teaching can be effective if it focusses less on group chanting and drilling and more on genuinely interactivequestioning.CoeetalrefertoGoodandBiddle’sconclusion25yearsagothat:

“At various times educators in this century have advocated large group instruction, smallgroup teaching and individualised learning! … However it seems clear that simple characteristics of instruction have never predicted instructional effectiveness … The issue is not individualised instruction or smallgroup instruction, but rather the quality of thought and effort that can occur within these structures …” (Good and Biddle, 1988, p. 116)

Thesecondpointisthat,liketheteachersinthemonasticschoolsinterviewedbyLall,teachersgloballyfindconstructivistmethodsdifficulttoimplement.Reviewingevidencethatteachersfoundconstructivistap-proacheschallenginganddifficulttograsp(Dharmadasa,2000);foundsuchapproachesburdensomeandwereconcernedaboutclassroomdiscipline(AuandCarroll,1997),MuijsandReynoldssuggestthat

“ in order to be able to implement constructivist strategies, teachers must reach a certain level of prior effectiveness. In other words, they need to be effective teachers before they can be effective constructivist teachers” (Muijs and Reynolds 2011, p. 87)

RigorousLiteraturereviewonPedagogy,Curriculum,TeachingPracticesandTeacherEducationinDevel-oping Countries

Summary • Developingworldteachersassociatedwiththebestoutcomesusedacombinationofbothstudent and teacher-centred pedagogies.

Bringingsuchdiscussionsbackintoadevelopingworldcontext,arigorousliteraturereviewonPedagogy,Curriculum,TeachingPracticesandTeacherEducationinDevelopingCountriesbyWestbrooketal(2013)foundthattwoteacherattitudesencouragedtheuseinteractiveandcommunicativestrategies: • apositiveattitudestowardstheirtraining • apositiveattitudestowardstheirstudents

Theseattitudesunderpinnedthreespecificstrategiesthatpromotedthisinteractivepedagogywereidenti-fied: • feedback,sustainedattentionandinclusion; • creatingasafeenvironmentinwhichstudentsaresupportedintheirlearning; • drawingonstudents’backgroundsandexperiences.

Thesethreestrategiesformedthebasisforsixeffectiveteachingstrategies: • flexibleuseofwhole-class,groupandpairworkwherestudentsdiscussasharedtask; • frequentandrelevantuseoflearningmaterialsbeyondthetextbook; • openandclosedquestioning,expandingresponses,encouragingstudentquestioning; • demonstrationandexplanation,drawingonsoundpedagogicalcontentknowledge; • useoflocallanguagesandcodeswitching; • planningandvaryinglessonsequences

Interestingly,andincommonwithmuchoftheotherliteraturereviewedhere,Westbrooketalfoundthatteachersassociatedwithpositiveoutcomes:

“ … used in practice a judicious combination of both student- and teacher-centred pedagogical practices, inte-grating newer pedagogies with more traditional ones … interactive group and pair work, encouraging student questioning, use of local languages and code switching, are seen within what is termed ‘student-centred’, ‘ learner-centred’ or ‘active methods’, … other practices … also seen to have positive outcomes, such as dialogue involving the whole class, demonstration and teacher questioning, … found within ‘teacher-centred’ pedagogies, … better be termed ‘teacher-led’ or ‘direct instruction’, carrying less pejorative connotations.” (Westbrook et al, 2013, p. 37)

This led to a:

“ … performance model, led by the teacher, who remains an authoritative figure, with strong framing of lessons, visible pedagogies and collective ways of behaving and standardised outcomes, but informed by a competence model where students’ needs are responded to by the teacher.” (Westbrook et al, 2013, p. 38)

Conclusion

• Themainapproachtoteachingmethodologyintheeducationcollegesisrote,translationand memorisation. • Acombinationofissuesaroundthemediumofinstructionandanarrowinterpretationof teacher-centred methodology means that there are serious problems around students understanding of the curriculum. • AnumberofresearchersbothinMyanmarandwiderfieldsofdevelopmenteducationhave suggested that a dichotomy between “teacher-centred” “child-centred” approaches is unhelpful when trying to move on practice in contexts where a tradition of whole-class teaching is strong. • Recentreviewsofglobalresearchindicatethatwholeclassordirectteachingcanbeveryeffective in a number of contexts if direct teaching is undertaken in an interactive way. A number of suggestions are made regarding how this can be achieved • Developingworldteachersassociatedwiththebestoutcomesusedacombinationofbothstudent and teacher-centred pedagogies.



References

Au,K.H.andCarroll,J.H.,1997.ImprovingLiteracyAchievementthroughaConstructivistApproach:TheKEEP Demonstration Classroom Project. Elementary School Journal 97 (3), 203-21

Barrett,A.M.,2007.Beyondthepolarisationofpedagogy:modelsofclassroompracticeinTanzanianprimaryschools.ComparativeEducation43(2),273–294.

Cheesman,N.,2003.School,StateandSanghainBurma,Comparative Education,Vol39No.1

Coe,R.,Aloisi,C.,Higgins,S.andMajor,L.E.,2014.Whatmakesgreatteaching?Reviewoftheunderpinningresearch,http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/

Croll,1996,Teacher-pupilInteractionintheClassroom.InP.CrollandN.Hastings(eds)Effective Primary Teaching. London:DavidFulton.

Dharmadasa,I.,2000.Teachers’ Perspectives on Constructivist Teaching and Learning. Paper presented at the AnnualConferenceandExhinbitionoftheAssociationforChildhoodEducationInternational,Baltimore,MD,17-20 April.

Drinan,H.,2013a.Language in Education in Myanmar, with specific reference to English, Comprehensive Edu-cationSectorReview,SupportedbytheBritishCouncil

Drinan,H.,2013b.Phase2:Reform of the English Language Curriculum in Basic Education,ComprehensiveEducationSectorReview,SupportedbytheBritishCouncil

Galton,M.andCroll,P.,1980,PupilProgressintheBasicSkills.InM.GaltonandB.Simon(eds)Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom. London. Routledge.

Good,T.&Biddle,B.,1988. Research and the improvement of the mathematics instruction: The need for observational resources. InD.Grouws.&T.Cooney(Eds)PerspectivesonResearchonEffectiveMathematicsTeaching,LawrenceErlbaum.

Good,T.L.andGrouws,D.A.,1979.The Missouri Mathematics Effectiveness Project in Fourth-grade Classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology 71,355-62;

Hardman,F.,Stoff,C.,Elliott,L.andAckers,I.,2012.Child-Centred Approaches and Teaching and Learning Practices in Selected Primary Schools in Child-Friendly School Focused Townships in Myanmar, (UNICEF)

Hardman,F.,Aung,W.,Myint,A.A.,2013.Development of a Teacher Education Strategy Framework Linked to Pre- and In-Service Teacher Training in Myanmar, UNICEF.

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Appendix 2 – A guide to the Common European Framework

A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2

Listening I can recognise familiar words and very basic phrases concerning myself, my family and immediate concrete surroundings when people speak slowly and clearly.

I can understand phrases and the highest frequency vocabulary related to areas of most immediate personal relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local area, employment).

I can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. I can understand the main point of many radio or TV programmes.

I can understand extended speech and lectures and follow even complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar. I can understand most TV news and current affairs programmes.

I can understand extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly. I can mostly understand television programmes and films

I have no difficulty in understanding any kind of spoken language, whether live or broadcast, even when delivered at fast native speed, provided. I have some time to get familiar with the accent.

Reading I can understand familiar names, words and very simple sentences, for example on notices and posters or in catalogues.

I can read very short, simple texts. I can find specific, predictable information in simple everyday material such as advertisements, prospectuses, menus and timetables.

I can understand texts that consist mainly of high frequency everyday or job-related language. I can understand the description of events, feelings and wishes in personal letters.

I can read articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the writers adopt particular attitudes or viewpoints. I can understand contemporary literary prose.

I can understand long and complex factual and literary texts, appreciating distinctions of style. I can understand specialised articles and longer technical instructions.

I can read with ease virtually all forms of the written language, including abstract, structurally or linguistically complex texts such as manuals, specialised articles and literary works.

Spoken Interaction

I can interact in a simple way provided the other person is prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech and help me formulate what I'm trying to say. I can ask and answer simple questions.

I can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar topics and activities. I can handle very short social exchanges, even though

I can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. I can enter unprepared into conversation on topics that are familiar, of personal

I can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible. I can take an active part in discussion in familiar contexts, accounting for and sustaining my views.

I can express myself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. I can use language flexibly and effectively for social and professional purposes

I can take part effortlessly in any conversation or discussion and have a good familiarity with idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms. I can express myself fluently and convey finer shades of meaning.

Spoken Production

I can use simple phrases and sentences to describe where I live and people I know.

I can use a series of phrases and sentences to describe in simple terms my family and other people, living conditions, my educational background and my present or most recent job.

I can connect phrases in a simple way in order to describe experiences and events, my dreams, hopes and ambitions. I can briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

I can present clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to my field of interest. I can explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

I can present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.

I can present a clear, smoothly-flowing description or argument in a style appropriate to the context and with an effective logical structure which helps the recipient to notice and remember significant points.

Writing I can write a short, simple postcard, for example sending holiday greetings. I can fill in forms with personal details, for example entering my name, nationality and address on a hotel registration form.

I can write short, simple notes and messages relating to matters in areas of immediate needs. I can write a very simple personal letter, for example thanking someone for something.

I can write simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. I can write personal letters describing experiences and impressions.

I can write clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects related to my interests. I can write an essay or report, passing on information or giving reasons in support of or against a particular point of view.

I can express myself in clear, well-structured text, expressing points of view at some length. I can write about complex subjects in a letter, an essay or a report, underlining what I consider to be the salient issues. I can select style appropriate to the reader in mind.

I can write clear, smoothly-flowing text in an appropriate style. I can write complex letters, reports or articles which present a case with an effective logical structure which helps the recipient to notice and remember significant points.

Appendix 1 - Focus group guiding questionsEnglish proficiency - key research questions for focus groups: • What are the teacher educators’ perceptions of their own proficiency? • Do teacher educators feel there are any differences in their level of English proficiency in the different skill areas (reading, writing, speaking, listening)? • How confident do teacher educators feel about using English? • What reasons do teacher educators give for wanting to learn English? • What are teacher educators’ success criteria for the EfECT project in terms of their English proficiency

Use of English by teacher educators in their work - key research questions for focus groups: • What thoughts and feelings do English academic and methodology teacher educators have about teaching English proficiency and English methodology? • What thoughts and feelings do teacher educators who use English as a medium of instruction have about this? • What thoughts do all teacher educators have about accessing English Language materials and resources for their work, e.g. through the internet? • What are teacher educators success criteria for the EfECT in terms of their use of English in their work

Use of methodology by teacher educators in their work - key research questions for focus groups: • What is the teacher educators understanding of the 21 methodologies? • If teacher educators use terms such as “CCA” of “Child-centred approaches”, what do they understand by these? • What are teacher educators’ success criteria for the EfECT project in terms of their awareness and understanding of methodology • What training methodology actually used by teacher educators when teaching training sessions to trainee teachers? • What are teacher educators’ success criteria for the EfECT project in terms of their use of methodology for training student teachers?

Resources available in the ECs and UoEs- key research questions for focus groups: • What resources are used by teacher educators to train student teachers (text books, visual aids, practical equipment etc.) • What resources do teacher educators teach trainee teachers how to use. • What are teacher educators’ success criteria for the EfECT project in terms of use of resources



Appendix 3 - The Education System in MyanmarSummary •ThereisalonghistoryofeducationinMyanmarandahighvalueplacedoneducation,howeveritisnot alwaysclearwhatisvaluedandwhetherthisanappreciationforrotelearning,forliteracyand numeracy or the opportunity that education provides to promote critical thinking. •Thereisalotofwillingnesstolearnfromoutsideagencieswithintheeducationsystem,however,dueto theisolationofthecountryfromthe1960sto2012,theMinistryofEducationhasnotbeenusedto workingwithoutsiders.Perhapsasaresult,recentengagementhasarguablyhadlimitedimpact. •ThecentralisedandhierarchicalnatureoftheMyanmareducationsystemprovidesthecapacityto delivergreatsystemicchanges,however,thesystemisnotdesignedtoassessandrespondflexiblyto needs,independentdecisionmakingisdiscouragedanddelegationisrare.

1. History of the education system in Myanmar

The current national education system in Myanmar has its roots in the system of government-provided education that was established during the British colonial era. While Myanmar has a long history of education throughmonasticschools,datingbacktothe11thcenturyorearlier,theBritishwerethefirsttodevelopastate education system.

In1835–44threeAnglo-vernacularschoolsopenedinTavoy/Dawei,withabi-lingual,English-centredcur-riculum.In1866thecolonialgovernmentestablishedaDepartmentofPublicInstruction,whichadministered‘grants-in-aid’toschoolsinLowerMyanmar.In1874,aGovernmentHighSchoolfirstopenedinYangon.

TheAnglo-vernacularschoolswereattendedpredominantlybyupperandmiddleclassMyanmar,forwhomagovernment-provided education enabled advancement within the civil service and in other aspects of social and economic life in the colony. Monastic schools continued to provide education across Myanmar during thistime,particularlyinUpperMyanmar,withtheBritishprovidingsomesupporttotheseschoolsuntilthe1920s; missionary schools (including provisions for teacher education) were also present in Myanmar from as far back as the 16th century.

Accesstoeducationforwomengreatlyincreasedduringthecolonialera.Previously,womenhadhadsomeaccesstomonasticschooling,dependingontheschool.Thecolonialgovernmentestablishedthefirstgirls’schools,whichsawadramaticincreaseinthenumberofwomanreceivingaformaleducation.In1911-1921thenumberoffemalestudentsenrolledinschoolrose61%(by45,000students),whilein1921-1931numberrose82%(100,000students),(Cheesman,2003).

A state teacher education system also developed during the colonial era. The Department of Public Instruc-tionhad4travellingteachertrainers(circuitteachers)whotaughtgrammar,arithmeticandlandmeasuringinthemonasticschools–buttheseattemptswerereportedlyreceivedindifferently(Cheesman,2003).In1877teacher education programmes began in Yangon at the Government High School. In 1881 similar schools with attached teacher education programmes were started in Sittwe and Mawlamyine. In 1912 Elementary Training ClasseswerestartedforteachersintheVernacularschools,whichproduced200teachersannually(Than,2013).Yangon University was founded in 1920 and started to provide a diploma in teaching classes for graduate stu-dentstoteachhighschool.In1926,ateachertrainingcollegewasopenedasaconstituentcollegeofYangonUniversity.

The British colonial system (with some adjustments made by the Japanese) formed the basis for the national educationsystemintroducedviaindependentMyanmar’sfirsteducationpolicyin1950,whichcentralisedschooling and made it dependent on state funding. The newly independent government schools were met withhugedemand(Cheesman,2003).Anumberofteachertraininginstitutionsopenedinthe1950stoat-tempt to provide a teaching force to meet this new demand.

UndertheMyanmarSocialistPeople’sParty,in1965educationprovisionwasnationalised.Missionaryandprivateschoolswereeitherabsorbedbystateorshutdown,whilemonasticschoolsweretightlysupervised.Myanmarlanguagebecamelanguageofinstructioninallschools,includinginareaswherechildrendonotspeak Myanmar as a mother tongue.

In1981thegovernmentintroducedtheNewEducationProgramme(NEP),whichstemmedfromaNationalSeminar on Education held in 1979. The NEP was introduced to upgrade the overall standard of education in the country.

Overall,educationishighlyvaluedintheabstractinMyanmar(ZobristandMcCormick,2013),andMyanmar’slong history of education and historically high literacy rate are a source of great pride. Teachers have a high socialstatus,despitehavinglowpay.However,theeducationsystemhassufferedfromchronicunderfund-ing.Inthe1980s,Myanmarwasdowngradedbydonoragenciestoleastdevelopedcountrystatus,andinvestment in education declined in the 1980s. There are few reliable statistics on government expenditure formuchofMyanmar’srecenthistory,butUNESCOrecordsfrom1972-2011suggestthatpublicspendingoneducationfellfroma‘high’of3.27%ofGDPin1973to0.57%ofGPIn2000,(Indexmundi,2014).Thisunderfundinghasseriouslyaffectedtheeducationsystem’sabilitytodeliverqualityeducationtoMyanmar’schildren.

2. The current school system in Myanmar

Myanmar’s2008constitutionstatesasaBasicPrinciplethat‘TheUnionshallimplementfree,compulsorypri-maryeducationsystem’(Section28,paragraphc).TherehavebeenrecenteffortsonthepartoftheMinistryof Education to guarantee this and ensure universal free primary education in order to achieve Myanmar’s commitment to Millennium Development Goals 2 and 3. The main efforts have consisted of expanding a schoolgrantsprogrammeandmakingschoolfreeatprimaryschool(2010-11),middleschool(2013-14)andsecondaryschool(2015-16),(MyanmarTimes,2014).TheMyanmarGovernment’sownfiguresstatethat,for2014,73.8%ofpupilscompletedprimaryschoolbutonly31%completedHighSchool(MyanmarMinistryofEducation,2014).

Thecurrentbasiceducationsystemisstructuredasfollows:Early childhood (3-5 years) •Primaryandpost-primary(5-9years)-35,548schools,with5.2millionstudentsenrolled •Lowersecondaryormiddle(10-13years)-3,022schools,with2.3millionstudentsenrolled •Uppersecondary(14-16years)-2,306schools,with700,000studentsenrolled (datafromUNICEF,2012)

This structure is expected to change in 2015 with the introduction of a Kindergarten year to replace the 1st yearofschooling,sothatchildrenwillnowstartprimaryschoolat6yearsold.Thereisalsoaplantoextendhigh school so that children leave at 17 or 18 years old.

The data above presents a relatively optimistic picture of children’s access to education. Even though children areencouragedtoenrolinprimaryschoolattheageof5,manychildrenbecomeenrolledonlywhentheyaremuch older than this. The current net enrolment rate is 84% in primary education but this still means that 16% of5-9yearoldsarenotinschool.Theprimarycompletionrateisonly54%(UNICEFMyanmar,2011).Inrecentyears,thegovernmenthasusedapolicytoenrolprimaryschoolstudentsinsecondaryschools.Ingeneral,duetothisaction,thesecondaryschoolenrolmentpercentagehasincreasedfrom43%in1999and53%in2008,toover58%in2011(UNICEFMyanmar,2011).Socio-economicdisparitiesareextremelyhighinsec-ondaryeducation,asonly28.2%ofsecondary-agechildrenfrompoorhouseholdsattendschool,comparedwith85.5%ofchildrenfromtherichestfamilies.Mothers’educationalsoholdsanimportantinfluenceoverthesecondaryschoolenrolmentrate:datahasshownthat83.9%ofchildrenwhosemothershadfinishedsec-ondaryorhighereducationwereenrolledinsecondaryschools.Thisfiguredropsto54.1%forchildrenwhosemothersonlyfinishedprimaryschoolanddropsagainto31.2%whenmothershadnoeducation.(UNICEF2012).AccordingtoareportbytheUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme,only18%offemalesand17.6%ofmalesovertheageof25hadfinishedsecondaryeducationinMyanmarin2010.



Monasticschoolsoperateinnearly230townshipsandaround1,400schoolsareregisteredundertheMinis-tryofReligiousAffairs(MoRA),andwereservingaround180,000childrenin2010(UNICEFMyanmar,2010).These schools teach the state curriculum and students are often allowed to take the state examinations. No officialdataaboutenrolmentatothertypesofcommunity-basedschoolsexists,asthesearefundedbyindi-vidualdonors,communitiesandinternationalaidorganisations.

Thosechildrenwhodoattendschoolreceiveavariablequalityofeducation.Theschoolsystemandtheas-sessmentsystemarebothhighlycentralised,withteachersteachingtotestswhichtendstolimitflexibilityandinnovationinteaching.Asaresult,thereisnopropersystematicmethodofassessingstudents’achievementsorlearningprogress:eveninliteracytestsintheirMyanmarmothertongue,only25%ofstudentspassedwithaminimumlevelofcompetency(UNICEF,2012).Inothersubjects,particularlyEnglishandMathematics,scores were even lower.

Many of these issues have been acknowledged by the Ministry of Education and explored in some detail intwoEducationSectorreviews,thefirstin1992andthesecondin2012-present.The1992reviewfoundchronicproblemswiththeeducationsystem,includingthat‘Myanmar’srigidschoolexaminationsystem,whichencourageselitism,isarelicofthecolonialperiodthatsurvivedMyanmar’sgainingindependencein1948andstilldominatestheeducationsystem.Withfailurerateshigh,successinexaminationsbecameanimportant target of education.’

ThecurrentComprehensiveEducationSectorReview(CESR),undertakenwithinternationaldonorsupport,identified18priorityareasforreform,includingteachereducation.Manyofthefindingsofthiscurrentreviewechothefindingsofthe1992review.TheCESR’sfindings,togetherwithguidanceprovidedbyanEducationPromotionImplementationCommittee(EPIC),haveprovidedthebasisforthedevelopmentofapackageofQuickWinstoalleviatesomeofthemosturgentneeds,introducedin2014-15,andacostedNationalEduca-tion Sector Plan (NESP) for 2015-17 which is currently being drafted and will be reviewed by Parliament in early 2015. The NESP will set in motion an extensive process of education reform. In September 2014 the parliamentpassedanewNationalEducationLawwhichwasinformedbytheCESR.TheNESP,inturn,willoperationalisetheNationalEducationLawandsub-laws/regulations.

3. The role of English in the school system

In1965,allschoolsinMyanmarwerenationalised,whichmeantthatdifferenttypesofschoolswerebroughttogetherunderasingleuniformsystemofeducationfortheveryfirsttime,andthelanguageofinstructionforbasic education was mandated as Myanmar. (This had already been done at the university level a year earlier in1964,withtheenactmentoftheUniversityAct.)ThepracticeofusingEnglishasamediumofinstructioninprivately-run European Code Schools and the system of teaching English from kindergarten onwards that was followed by Anglo-Vernacular Schools thus came to an end.

From1965,EnglishwastaughtasaforeignlanguagefromStandardFiveinallschools(ashadbeenthecasein Vernacular and National Schools since 1950). Since English was the foreign language with which Myanmar peopleweremostfamiliar,itwastobeusedasamediumfortheacquisitionofknowledge.ThusthemainfocusofEnglishteachingduringthatperiod(1965-1980)wasondevelopingreadingskills,throughwhichwrit-ing skills could then be developed.

The 1981 New Education Programme changed the fortune of ELT in Myanmar dramatically as it prescribed theexpansionoftheroleofEnglishinMyanmareducation.From1981onwards,Englishwastobetaughtasacompulsorysubjectfromkindergarten,withtheaimwasofdevelopingallfourskillsofspeaking,listen-ing,readingandwriting.TheNEPalsoprescribedthatEnglishbeusedasamediumofinstructionatuppersecondary level to teach science subjects and economics. A new set of English language textbooks was introduced,withthelowerlevelsfocusingonthedevelopmentofallfourlanguageskills,andafocusonliter-arytextsinthefinaltwoyearsofbasiceducation.Theninthstandardtextconsistedofavarietyoftextsthatstudentswerelikelytoencounterintheirfutureacademiccareer,whiletheprescribedtextfortenthstandardEnglish was an adaptation of an English novel.

The desire to further upgrade the level of education to an international level prompted the revision of the basiceducationcurriculum.Onthisbasis,anewEnglishtextforStandardTenwrittenbylocalELTspecialistswas introduced in 2000. The new text exposes students to a variety of text types and includes activities that are more communicative in nature and a separate section for developing speaking skills.

Todayatthetertiarylevel,Englishisthemediumofinstructionformostdisciplinesandacompulsorysub-ject for study throughout the undergraduate course for the majority of disciplines. The English specialization course,whichoffersEnglishlanguage,literatureandlinguistics,hasbecomemorepopular.Frombeingof-fered in graduate and postgraduate programmes at only two universities – Yangon and Mandalay - today the course is being offered by nearly all the universities in Myanmar.

Currently,EnglishisintroducedfromGrade1whenthechildrenareaged5yearsold(inthenewschoolsys-temthiswillequatewith6yearsofage),andcontinuesthroughuntilGrade9,whenthechildrenarearound13yearsofage.InGrades10and11,thosestudentswhooptforthesciencesubjects,maths,chemistry,physicsandbiology,aresupposedtostudythesesubjectsthroughthemediumofEnglishandtextbooksfor these subjects are in English.



Appendix 4 - Summary of findings from observation of teacher educator lessonsThefollowingobservationdatawascollectedbysixclustermanagersobservingTEclassesinfifteenECsinOctoberandNovember2014.Clustermanagersobservedsixteenacademiclessons:biology,chemistry,economics,English,mathematics,Myanmar,physicsandhistory;fourteenmethodologylessonseducationalpsychology,educationaltheory,English,generalscience,geography,mathematicsandMyanmarandnineco-curriculumlessons:music,domesticscience,agriculture,danceandPE.Themainfindingsforacademic,methodologyandco-curriculumlessonobservationsareasfollows:

1. Academic classes for teacher trainees

1.1. Class size:

• Averagejustover40(classsizesrangedfrom21to58)

1.2.UseofEnglishbyteachereducators(TEs)innon-Englishacademiclessons:

•Averagejustover10%(useofMyanmarjustunder90%)despitethefactthatcoursebooksareand the language of instruction is supposed to be English

1.3. Resources:

•Inover90%ofobservedlessons,thecoursebook,blackboardandchalkwerethemainresources used. • supplementarymaterialsused:A3,A4paper(2lessons),cut-ups(1lesson),amap(2lessons),

subject dictionaries (1 lesson)

1.4.LessonPlanning:

• clearstaging–injustover10%oflessons • aleadinand/orintroduction-injustover10%oflessons • awarmupactivity–injustover5%oflessons • clearlinksbetweenstages–justover5%oflessons • areview–justover10%oflessons

1.5.Classroomfunctionsandteachingtechniques

• Inover80%oflessonsobserved‘explaining’oflessoncontentbytheTEwasfollowedbyasking

questions • Askingquestionswasthepredominant‘classroomfunctionandteachingtechnique’. • TEasksquestions,teachertrainees(TTs)answer • Mostansweringischoral. • Injustover15%oflessonsTEsnominatedindividualTTsand/orindividualTTsvolunteeredanswers. • Chantandinstantindividualansweringsuggestmemorized,rotelearnedanswers.Littleevidenceof

questionsprovidingmorechallengeforTTstoanswer. • Genuineopenquestions:evidencedinonelesson(Englishlesson) • ElicitingandConceptchecking:littleinevidence(inaround5%and0%oflessonsrespectively) • Checkingunderstanding:typicallyuseofclassroomlanguageineffectiveincheckingunderstanding,

e.g.TE:‘Doyouunderstand?’or‘Isitclear?’TTchorallyanswer:‘Yes’.

1.6.Activitiesandpractice

• Asmentionedabove,predominantTTactivity–choralansweringofTEsquestions • Injustunder20%oflessonsobserved-individualTTsorsmallgroups(2,3,4TTs)nominatedto

stand and read aloud parts of the text to the class • Intwolessons-individualTTsnominatedtostandandtranslatepartsofthetextfromEnglishto

Myanmar to the class

• Intwolessons–TTsplayedagame.Inbothcases,thegameresultedinonlyoneorahandfulofTTs involved in ‘playing’ it at the same time while other TTs were not involved and passive.

• LimitedevidenceofTTsengagedinactualpracticeofnewmaterial/languagetaught • LittleevidencetosuggestalevelofchallengeforTTsinlessonactivities • LittleevidenceofTTspractisingskillsandsub-skills.Inonelesson,TTsinsmallgroupsaskedtoskim

andscanforkeyideasandanswerstotheTEsquestions.Onelesson–TTsaskedtomakenotesof thekeyideasfromthepassageinthetext.Accordingtotheobserver,TTsinsteadcopiedwhole chunks of the text

1.7.Activitiescateringtoarangeofpreferredlearningstyles(visual,auditory,kinesthetic)

• Activitiesmainlyauditory–listeningtotheTE,somevisual–boardwork • Kinesthetic-littleinevidence–inover90%oflessonsTTsremainedseatedforthewholeofthe

lesson

1.8. Interaction patterns • WithQ&Athedominantclassroomactivity–TE-TT,TT-TEpatternswereobservedinallbut1lesson. • Alllessonsexceptoneweredescribedasteacher-centredwithlittleornoopportunityforlearner-

autonomy • Alllessonsexceptonewerenotinteractive • Wholeclassthedominantgrouping. • Groupwork(TTsorganizedintogroups–rangingfrom6to11TTs)observedinaroundaquarterof

lessons • LittleevidencerecordedofindividualTTwork

1.9.Classroomatmosphere–TEmovement • Inaround85%oflessonsTEsremainedatthefrontoftheclassforallormostofthelesson

2. Methodology

2.1 Class size:

• Average47(classsizesrangedfrom17to60)

2.2UseofEnglishbyTEsinlessons:

• Averagejustover10%(useofMyanmarjustunder90%)

2.3 Resources:

• inover90%ofobservedlessons,thecoursebook,blackboardandchalkwerethemainresources used.

• supplementarymaterialsused:A4paper,flipchartpaper(1lesson),realia–woodenbuildingblocks (1lesson),amap(1lesson),primaryschooltextbook(1lesson).

2.4LessonPlanning:

• aleadinand/orintroduction-injustover10%oflessons • awarmupactivity–injustover5%oflessons • inonelesson–onestage–45minutes-Q&A-TE-TT,TT-TE • areview–justover10%oflessons • inonelesson–afeedbackactivityinvolvingindividualTTsandtheTE-10minutes

2.5Classroomfunctionsandteachingtechniques

• Inover85%oflessonsobserved‘explaining’oflessoncontentbytheTEwasfollowedbyasking questions

• Askingquestionswasthepredominant‘classroomfunctionandteachingtechnique’. • TEasksquestions,TTsanswer • MostansweringischoralthereforelittlechancetocheckindividualTTsunderstanding • Injustover20%oflessonsTEsnominatedindividualTTsand/orindividualTTsvolunteeredanswers.



• Chantandinstantindividualansweringsuggestmemorized,rotelearnedanswersandrote learningofwholepassagesinthetext.LittleevidenceofquestionsprovidingmorechallengeforTTs to answer.

• Genuineopenquestions:evidencedinonelesson • Givinginstructions:generallylonginstructions–littleevidenceofeffectiveconceptcheckingafter

eachinstruction;onelesson-clear,goodgradingoflanguage(Englishlesson), • Elicitingandconceptchecking:littleinevidence(inonelessonand0%oflessonsrespectively) • Checkingunderstanding:typicallyuseofineffectivequestions,forexample,‘Doyouunderstand?’to

checkunderstanding,e.g.TE:‘Yourememberthespellinggame?’AlotofTTsdidn’t.TheTEstarted the game’.

2.6Activitiesandpractice

• Asmentionedabove,predominantTTactivity–choralansweringofTEsquestions–indicating memorizedinformation,relyingonrotelearningandrepetition.Noopportunitiesforgenuine discussion or creative or critical thinking

• Inonelesson-individualTTscametotheboard-actingasprimaryschoolteacherspractising teaching material just studied

• Inonelessonon‘learningobjectives’-smallgroupsgivenaprimarytextbookandwrotethelesson objectives – then one TT from each group presented their group’s ideas to the class

• Genuinegroupwork-inonelessononeTTpeerteachingtoasmallgroupof5,6TTs;inonelesson small group discussion with TTs discussing ideas together

• Intwolessons-smallgroup‘discussion’notinvolvingdiscussion.TTssittingingroupstoreview material studied - sitting silently no discussion

• Intwolessons–activitieswithlimitedTTengagementandinvolvement,onelesson-individualTT presentationtoaclassof60TTs–mostTTspassive,notinvolved,lostfocus;onelessonagame– poor instructions and set up and a game which resulted in only a handful of TTs involved in ‘playing’ it at the same time while other TTs were not involved and passive.

2.7Activitiescateringtoarangeofpreferredlearningstyles(visual,auditory,kinesthetic)

• Activitiesmainlyauditory–listeningtotheTE,somevisual–boardwork • Kinesthetic-littleinevidence–inover85%oflessonsTTsremainedseatedforthewholeofthe

lesson • Onelesson–TTsinsmallgroupsusingwoodenshapestobuildahouse-TTsveryengaged;one

lesson TTs playing a spelling game and running to the board

2.8 Interaction patterns

• WithQ&Athedominantclassroomactivity–TE-TT,TT-TEpatternswereobservedinallbut1lesson. • Alllessonsexceptonewereteacher-centred • Alllessonsexceptonewerenotinteractive • Wholeclassthedominantgrouping. • Groupwork(TTsorganizedintogroups–rangingfrom6to13TTs)observedinaroundaquarterof

lessons • OnlyonelessonwhereTTsinvolvedinindividualwork

2.9Classroomatmosphere–TEmovement

• Inover80%oflessonsTEsremainedatthefrontoftheclassforallormostofthelesson

3. Co-curriculum

3.1 Lesson types:

• 2distincttypesoflessonswereobserved • Type1)classroominstruction–‘lecturestyle’-usingacoursebook–TEexplains,asksquestions–

TTs answer mostly chorally • Type2)e.g.dancing,playingamusicalinstrument,singingasong,makingsomething–abow,a

buttonhole,abasket;doingneedleworketc.procedure-TEdemonstrates–TTscopyandpractice

3.2 Class size:

• Average41(classsizesrangedfrom31to43)

3.3UseofEnglishbyTEsinlessons:

• LittleuseofEnglishobserved(useofMyanmaralmost100%)

3.4 Resources: • inaroundathirdofobservedlessons,acoursebook,blackboardandchalkwerethemainresources

used • supplementarymaterialsused:amap(1lesson),musicinstruments(2musiclessons),bamboo

(1domesticsciencelesson),ribbon(1domesticsciencelesson),material,thread (1 domestic science lesson)

3.5LessonPlanning:

• Littleevidencerecorded–mostlessonsrequired‘minimalplanning’

3.6Summaryofco-curricularlessons

3.6.1 “type 1” – lecture style lesson Classroomfunctionsandteachingtechniques • Inalllessonsobserved‘explaining’oflessoncontentbytheTEwasfollowedbyasking

questions • TEasksquestions,TTsanswer • MostansweringischoralthereforelittlechancetocheckindividualTTsunderstanding • InathirdoflessonsTEsnominatedindividualTTsand/orindividualTTsvolunteered

answers. • Noevidenceofotherclassroomfunctionsandteachingtechniquesobservedorrecorded Activities and practice • PredominantTTactivity–choralansweringofTE’squestions-occasionalindividual

answering • Inonelesson–individualTTaskedquestions,TErespondedtoquestions Activitiescateringtoarangeofpreferredlearningstyles(visual,auditory,kinesthetic) • Activitiesmainlyauditory–listeningtotheTE,somevisual–boardwork

3.6.2 Type 2 lessons

Classroomfunctionsandteachingtechniques • Inalllessonsobserved‘modelling/demonstration’ofactivitybytheTEwasfollowedby

TTs practicing • Inaroundhalfofthelessonsobserved–TTspracticedasawholeclass • Inaroundhalfofthelessonsobserved–TEnominatedindividualTTsorasmallnumberof

TTs to practise the activity in front of the class • ‘Monitoring’bytheTEevidencedinthreequartersoflessons Activities and practice • Wholeclasspracticeofactivity • IndividualTTsnominatedtopractiseactivityinfrontoftheclass–otherTTwatching,

passive

Activities catering to a range of preferred learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) • Alllearningstylescateredfor–visual,auditoryandkinesthetic



Appendix 5 - Block Teaching Assessment FormThefollowingobservationdatawascollectedbysixclustermanagersobservingTEclassesinfifteenECsinOctoberandNovember2014.Clustermanagersobservedsixteenacademiclessons:biology,chemistry,economics,English,mathematics,Myanmar,physicsandhistory;fourteenmethodologylessonseducationalpsychology,educationaltheory,English,generalscience,geography,mathematicsandMyanmarandnineco-curriculumlessons:music,domesticscience,agriculture,danceandPE.Themainfindingsforacademic,methodologyandco-curriculumlessonobservationsareasfollows:

1. Academic classes for teacher trainees

1.1. Class size:

• Averagejustover40(classsizesrangedfrom21to58)

1.2.UseofEnglishbyteachereducators(TEs)innon-Englishacademiclessons:

•Averagejustover10%(useofMyanmarjustunder90%)despitethefactthatcoursebooksareand the language of instruction is supposed to be English

1.3. Resources:

•Inover90%ofobservedlessons,thecoursebook,blackboardandchalkwerethemainresources used. • supplementarymaterialsused:A3,A4paper(2lessons),cut-ups(1lesson),amap(2lessons),

subject dictionaries (1 lesson)

1.4.LessonPlanning:

• clearstaging–injustover10%oflessons • aleadinand/orintroduction-injustover10%oflessons • awarmupactivity–injustover5%oflessons • clearlinksbetweenstages–justover5%oflessons • areview–justover10%oflessons

Trainee’s name………………………..... Roll. No ……………......….. Education College ……………………. Subject …………………...................…. Topic of the lesson …....................................………………… Class …………………………................... School ……………....………. Township ………........……………………. Date …………………………....................

neviGdessessa eb oT ataD tnemssessA .oNPoints

Score Remark

1. Lesson plan writing

- Demonstrates awareness of all elements of a lesson plan

(When teaching General, Social and Basic Science to primary students, preparing and revising the lesson plan without disturbing the objective of the lesson set in the teacher’s handbook to be in accordance with current situations)

10

2. Introduction - Linking students’ background knowledge and contents of the lessons

- Raising students’ motivation 10

3. Tasks - Giving tasks that can reach the objective of the lesson

- Giving tasks in which students can participate (thinking and answering the question, discussing, experimenting and studying their environment etc.)

10

4. Questioning - Using questions that can let students think- Giving adequate time for thinking

10

5. Getting students’ attention

- Maintaining students’ attention during the whole lesson

10

6. Supporting students learning

- Supporting and helping all students to be able to participate in all tasks.

- Providing opportunities for students to be able to express their ideas and assumptions freely.

10

7. Teaching aids - Using the board effectively- Using teaching aids effectively

10

8. Subject mastery - Teaching complete and correct facts- Explaining lessons with the help of examples and correct choice words until students understand

10

9. Concluding - Supporting and helping students to be able to conclude the important points themselves

10

10. Clothing and the way of speaking and writing

- Dress code which is suitable for a teacher- Giving clear and exact instructions with the

help of words that students can understand easily

10

Total

Remark: : Pass points – 50 Credit points – 80

Teacher undertaking assessment Signed: ------------------------------------- Name: -------------------------------------- Position: ---------------------------------- EC: ------------------------------------------



The EfECT needs analysis was written by: Ian Clifford, Emily Speers-Meers, Glenn Allies, Jonathan Bennett, Davie Channon, Steve Draper, Dr Khaing Phyu Htut, Vanessa Komiliades, Carolyn Mutch and Aye Aye Nyein.

The text drew on reports written be the following EfECT trainers:

Paul Laity Robert Gibbs Amanda Weatheritt Olga Torres Dominic Field Sandee Ying Tang Gareth Butt Wendy Jackson Gregory Quinliven John O’Hara Thomas Lowe Kerstin Kovacic Alison Shepherd Laura Hirsch Alexander Poitier Lea Hunnings Lucia Palero Marilyn Roberts Alice Redfearn Michael Henderson

Soraya Pahm Naomi Pitkeithly Marilyn Dulay Selina Keeton Nicola Dietrich Simon Gibson Alain Coronel Thomas Carey Felicity Knowlson Jennifer Pang Indi Bains Neil O’Sullivan Antonia Cain Sarah Hampton Stella O’Shea Jean Hampton Tomislav Gapic Mariam Rutherford James Ayling Amie Dodd

The following also contributed: U Zaw Win – statistical analysis

Documents

EfECT Need Anylisis cover - 1 - British Council · The needs analysis combines quantitative findings from APTIS testing of English proficiency and results