Teacher-2-Teacher ready to expand: UWCSEA partenrs with the Cambodian Children’s Fund to provide teacher training in Phnom Penh

Seán McHugh, ICT Integrator and K-12 Digital Literacy Coach, Dover Campus
14 December 2015

As the College approached the final day of Term 3 last academic year, most teachers and students were anticipating the prospect of a few weeks of freedom and fun. However, the 'Teacher to Teacher' (T2T) team were instead anticipating an intense week of teacher training in Phnom Penh with teaching colleagues at the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF). This was to be the group’s fifth visit in two years.

T2T is a unique service initiative, providing curricular and pedagogical support to teachers at CCF schools. CCF operates six centres in Phnom Penh for students from preschool to university, many of whom used to work on the Phnom Penh dump site.

The T2T initiative sees UWCSEA teachers return to the same institutions and the same teachers every few months to build relationships, develop skills and move their practice forward. Visiting in UWCSEA school holidays in October, Chinese New Year and March, this ongoing relationship means that participants from both sides can work towards meaningful change over time. The commitment is considerable but all the UWCSEA volunteers feel anything less would be less than effective, resulting in support that is well-meaning but impractical.

During the visits the teams plan a syllabus that responds to evolving needs of three core groups: Early Childhood Education, English Language, and ICT/digital literacy development and integration. The eventual goal is for ICT to be an integrated element of ECE and EAL. After each visit, the participants remain in regular contact, reflecting on the learning from past visits, planning and preparing for the next. This allows for an iterative, collaborative process of improvement.

A positive benefit of this initiative for the UWCSEA community has been the positive impacts on the practice of UWCSEA teachers. This is summed up by Head of Grade 7 and Mathematics Teacher on Dover Campus, Matt Singer who says, “The T2T programme has been one of the most significant professional development experiences in my teaching career … my teaching experience has been extended with every visit. ... We have consistently modeled Assessment for Learning (AFL) techniques with the teachers. For the CCF teachers, this has had a transformational effect on how they seek feedback from their students. However, this focus on AFL in the T2T programme has forced me to consider each activity carefully and to improve my own practice. I have benefited from ‘teaching’ the concept to other teachers, as there has been a similar transformation in my approach to seeking feedback which has tied in very well with the focus on AFL at UWCSEA.”

This enhancement of classroom practice at UWCSEA is echoed by Aaron, a Middle School English teacher on Dover Campus, “By putting myself in the position of the teachers I was supporting I was forced to really consider what the absolute essentials are for effective learning to occur in the classroom. I have relished the opportunity to work collaboratively with the teacher trainers…. It has been challenging but it has allowed me to reflect on my own training, the PD I have had throughout my career and my own practice. I have been extremely grateful to have been able to share my understanding of curriculum design, pedagogy and leadership with the teacher trainers. The project is certainly unique and I would have to say that it has easily been some of the best PD that I have had.”

Aside from the professional benefits, the programme reflects the nature of the values and commitmment of our teachers to the UWCSEA values. Matt explains, “Working at UWCSEA has reinforced the importance of my own values and this programme has given me the opportunity to put those values into action. In my seven years at UWCSEA I have helped students to raise money for GCs, but I have no experience in sales. I have given students the opportunity to learn about the challenges faced by children all over Asia, and to raise awareness of the NGOs trying to help them, but I have limited experience in marketing and promotion. I have helped to build houses in Cambodia, although I am not a builder. However, the T2T programme has built on my professional skills and experience as a teacher, to give lasting benefit to the children at CCF.”

On a personal level, the T2T programme also links UWCSEA scholars back to the organisation which supported them at the start of their educational journey, allowing them an opportunity to give something back to their own community on a practical level. On the visit in July, three schoalrs (two from Dover, one from East) attended the workshops to act as translators. “While many of the CCF teachers have a good understanding of English, have the translators to bridge the communication was helpful,” observed Alison Forrow, Digital Literacy Coach on Dover Campus. “When working through a translator you really have to refine everything.”

The programme has just been extended, and there are hopes to bring the expertise and experience of the T2T teachers to similar NGO’s around the region. Matt explains, “the T2T Programme has the potential to lead social change in poor communities around the world. Sean McHugh and Debbie Cook (UWCSEA Dover staff who were instrumental in establishing the initiative) had a vision. I have been incredibly fortunate to have been involved. After starting with two projects, in Myanmar and Phnom Penh, we have the template upon which to grow the T2T Programme to successfully bring together NGOs and schools, reducing the start-up costs of each project, but maintaining and amplifying the impact on organisational change within the NGO.”