LSI Concludes Successful Third Year On Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice in Malawi
Malawi – The Learning Systems Institute (LSI) at Florida State University has led the USAID-funded Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice (STEP) in Malawi Activity since 2022. The third fiscal year of the activity ended September 30 and substantial progress continued as the project moved into year four.
Numerous achievements were made during the 12 months. A diploma and degree in primary education curriculum and assessment framework was developed with the Directorate of Teacher Education and Development (DTED). Twelve Ministry of Education (MoE) staff participated in a Diploma Degree benchmarking trip, and support was provided to the DTED to update the Teaching Practice (TP) model, focusing on system and process aspects and updating key teaching practice guiding documents.
During year three, 6,644 books, including 5,808 National Reading Program teacher’s guides and learner books in English and Chichewa for Standards 1-4, were delivered to all primary Teacher Training Institutions (TTI). Teacher educators (TEs) across the country were supported in implementing 50 Participatory Action Research (PAR) projects and 38 TEs completed the Foundational Literacy Course.
In the past year, STEP collaborated with various development partners and implementing partners intervening in education. One collaboration was with USAID/Malawi and the World Bank, where discussions were held about the existing Continuous Professional Development (CPD) system, its gaps and challenges, and how an upcoming intervention from the Global Partnership for Education could support CPD. STEP also collaborated with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to learn about general mentorship/induction for teachers and determine areas in which to work together.
“One of the biggest reasons to have induction standards for newly hired primary teachers is to ensure quality education,” said Dr. Zizwa Msukuma, Director of the Directorate of Teacher Education and Development Directorate of Teacher Education and Development. “Well-prepared teachers deliver better lessons ... [and] new teachers feel confident.”
LSI’s Dr. Adrienne Barnes-Story is the Primary Investigator for the activity. Dr. Barnes-Story and the STEP consortium is working to support the Ministry of Education-Directorate of Teacher Education and Development to implement the activity in all teacher training colleges nationwide. The consortium consists of Learning Systems Institute, School-to-School International, Development Aid from People to People, CharChar Literacy, and the University of Malawi.
STEP has two overarching objectives. The first is to support the higher education systems to train teachers in early-grade instruction. The second is to provide pathways of continuous professional development for teachers to excel in their discipline and at the primary school level.
“The STEP consortium is proud to support the Ministry of Education as it improves higher education programming and career paths for primary school teachers. As we begin year 4, we aim to prioritize the development of a diploma curriculum as well as electronic continuous professional development opportunities for teachers.”
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