Previously in Episode 1:
- One of the ultimate goals of educators is to achieve the transfer of learning, where the learner is willing and capable of transferring the attitude, knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom into practice in real-life situations.
- What are the main transformational impact, findings and indicators after applying FIRSTedu on;
i. Students?
ii. Teachers?
iii. School leaders?
iv. Whole school?
Findings
Once the data was collected and transcribed, it was then analyzed, categorized and organized into themes and further sub-themes which emerged through the process. The process of transcribing the interviews helped us gain more understanding of the subject from repeatedly listening to and reading the transcribed interviews.
The key themes that emerged following data analysis as a result of the main transformational impact, findings and indicators after applying FIRSTedu on students, teachers, school managers and other stakeholders were; students and teachers development and wellbeing, academic competence and performance, positive relationship, confidence, cooperation, collaboration, change in the classroom setting, positive attitude towards designing lessons, reduction in the use of the stick, discipline cases, overall students behaviour, adoption of the ‘Rootsany’ name to ‘Rahmanees’, polite language, teachers openness in learning and receiving comments, students motivation towards learning, happy school life, time management, parents involvement, change in teachers role, good communication between teachers and management, school culture and frequent giving and receiving peer reflection report.
The detailed explanation of the findings (theme) from teachers and students response is given below.
Relationship
All participants acknowledge that everyone in the school is now enjoying the company he/she receives from another. There is a significant improvement in communication and interaction among teachers and pupils like greeting each other and exploring more on ones’ condition, solving individual and group problem, emphatic listening, eating together.
When discussing the new bond and ties, the school headteachers, Mr Swaleh Swaleh said,
“From the beginning of training days, the entire school community is living like a family. Our relationship has become solid, the management and the teachers now sit together and discuss issues in a very friendly manner. The relationship among teachers is also superb, no teacher is moving out of the school or walking within the school alone, in most cases you will find them in pair. Students also enjoy the presence of their teachers unlike before where these two groups were antagonistic. I have also observed a strong tie among students, always playing, performing tasks and walking together and also calling one another brother or sister. The school manager has initiated his way of playing and talking with students and this has made all students running to him, carrying kids on his shoulders and so on. Kids are now addressed with their desired professional such as engineer Fatma, doctor Muhamad, Pilot Khair etc.”
One of the students commented that “We no longer hide from the teachers, nowadays there are not furious like before”
The school manager added that. “Teachers-students relationship has become more positive. Previously, teachers used the stick as an aid to their verbal instructions and discipline cases, but after FIRSTedu, the students are now easily directed and engaged in several tasks. This has made the relationship between these two parties to be more positive and friendly.
The manager also gave out further observation on students-students relationship, saying that, “Student relationship and behavior now are like of the adults. The kind of words they used when communicating and playing tell me that we are bringing up very responsible members of society. The human relation among them is marvellous. They perform their duties with no or minimal supervision of the teachers and feel happy helping one another. This is one of the changes that have made Rahmanees be good ambassadors at home.”
All interviewed persons acknowledge that FIRSTedu Framework has united them. The headteacher added that even the parents are now firmly connected to the school and its program.
Generally, the school has turned from being merely an academic centre to a comprehensive nurturing institution. The students are now seeing their teachers as friends and mentors.
Adoption of FIRST-ADLX Framework based Lesson plan
The school has designed a FIRSTedu based lesson plan alongside the ministry format. Each teacher is required to fill the designed flow before lesson facilitation. The lesson plan has all five domains and 15 principles with lots of openers, energizers, closure and missions. All the teachers design and facilitate their sessions using FIRSTedu Framework
When she was giving a further explanation on this, teacher Saade said, “The design lesson plan has greatly eased our work, what is important for any teacher is just to stick to the flow and the whole session becomes more joyful and easier to attain the learning outcomes.”
Sir Titu, one of the religious teachers added that the understanding and retention level of students has grown up at a very high speed as results of the new lesson plan we are using when designing and facilitating our lessons.
The format comprises all the five domains of FIRST Framework and their principles.
Change in teaching methodologies and styles
From students view, the school has undergone a lot of changes in this year as compared to previous years. One of the grade five students, Khair Baraka Kondo, gave out his testimonies about the current teaching approaches when interviewed,
- How many years have been to this school?
“I have spent six years, from nursery to grade five now’
- I noticed that there are some changes in the school, have you noticed any changes this year in the classroom, the teachers, the activities etc?
“Yes is different; the school has developed before we didn’t have clean water but now we have something that purifies the drinking water. This was not here before.”
“Another thing is the way teachers teach. Before, when the teachers enter the class, they just greet and ask which topic we are then they start writing up to the end, then they give exercise then they ask is the lesson clear? then they go.”
“But now when they enter, they greet us then they ask the topic and they start revising the previous sessions, they ask questions, they give us exercise in groups, we discuss and then we present.”
- Which style do you prefer?
“I prefer the new ones because it is developed more than that one used before.”
- Wow, do you feel inside the class?
“I feel I understand more because we study things as a family, we are feeling happy and we are enjoying the lesson.”
The students were then asked to give any advice he would like to pass to trainers and teachers, he said, “teachers should be serious in their studies to make a better future for their pupils”
Adding to what the student has said regarding teaching styles, the headteacher said, “Before FIRSTedu, we were not giving our students what they were required to have, teachers used their traditional ways of pushing knowledge to students, telling a lot and were the only source of information. The focus was only on covering the syllabus (focusing on the content only). The students were dependants and entirely passive recipients.
And this was the end of Episode 2… Wait for us and Episode 3
Next Episodes Headlines:
- Adoption of the name “Rahmanees” from “Rootsany”.
- Readiness in learning and accepting challenges.
- Students’ motivation towards learning and school life.
- Confidence among the teachers and students.
- Academic Competence and performance.
- Parents’ involvement and observation.
- School culture.
- Conclusion and Recommendation.
Prepared by: Mr. Zinga Bakari, Director, Department of Education-AMYC Headquarters & FIRST-ADLX Master Facilitator
Supervised by: Dr. Baraka Kondo, Lecturer of Educational Psychology, Coordinator of Teaching Practices, University of Dodoma & FIRST-ADLX Master Facilitator.