Supporting Open Practices with Teachers in Zambia

Authors

  • Kris Stutchbury Faculty of Education and Language Studies Open University, UK
  • Lore Gallastegi The Open University
  • Clare Woodward The Open University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v6i3.367

Keywords:

school-based professional development, learner-centred education, capacity development

Abstract

This paper demonstrates how the features and affordances of open learning have been developed in new and productive ways to provide school-based continuing professional development for teachers in Zambia. It presents and critically reviews data from 200 teachers who have taken part in phase 1 of the Zambian Education School-based Training (ZEST) – a project which, over the next three years, will be scaled-up across Zambia. The project is underpinned by the belief that knowledge about teaching is co-constructed through participation in, and reflection on, practice. Thus, the emphasis is on empowering teachers to work together to develop practices appropriate to their context – open practices. In the study, we describe an on-going process of realist evaluation which enables us to establish at an early stage what works in which contexts and informs on-going project planning. It concludes that this approach to evaluation has the potential to be helpful in understanding open practices and how they can be developed.

Author Biographies

Kris Stutchbury, Faculty of Education and Language Studies Open University, UK

Kris is a Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education and Academic Director of TESSA. She is also co-Director of ZEST. She works on other international projects and is a module team chair on the Open University Masters programme. She has recently completed a professional doctorate in Education.

Lore Gallastegi, The Open University

Lore is a Staff Tutor based in Scotland. She is co-Director of ZEST and has previously worked on an international development project in Malawi. She is a module team chair for one of the modules on the Open University degree in primary educational studies.

Clare Woodward, The Open University

Clare is a lecturer in International teacher education at the Open University. She specialises in English language teaching. She worked on English in Action - a project to support English teaching in Bangladesh and has led projects in Peru and Columbia. Her particular interest is in the use of video to support teacher learning.

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Published

2019-11-19

How to Cite

Stutchbury, K., Gallastegi, L., & Woodward, C. (2019). Supporting Open Practices with Teachers in Zambia. Journal of Learning for Development, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v6i3.367

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 3 (2019): ISSUE 3

Section

Research Articles

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Received 2019-10-08
Accepted 2019-10-19
Published 2019-11-19