Bread for the World – Sarah Fichtner

Teaching differently in Africa

In November and December 2015, in collaboration with Frederick Njobati from Cameroon, I conducted a formative evaluation of a teacher training programme in participatory and active pedagogy in Goma, Butembo and Bukavu in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our client was the provider of the training: the Communauté Baptiste au Centre de l’Afrique, funded by Bread for the World.

In the DRC, most students attend schools run by faith-based communities, if they go to school at all. Although the Congolese state is officially responsible for these schools, the communities usually have to take care of the funding and ongoing training of their teachers themselves.

In order to assess the impact and developmental potential of the training we were studying in terms of the cognitive activation of students and the design of effective participation structures in the classroom, we used a quasi-experimental control group design, classroom observations and guided interviews.

A year later, in October/November 2016, I was given the opportunity to attend the 14-day teacher training course in Goma as a participant observer and, in cooperation with the Web Edu TV project and cameraman Paratéba Yaméogo, to create the short film »Enseigner autrement en Afrique. La formation à la pédagogie active et participative en République Démocratique du Congo« (Teaching differently in Africa. Training in active and participative pedagogy in the DR Congo). French with English subtitles.

Category / Education
Client / Communauté Baptiste au Centre de l’Afrique
Funded by / Bread for the World; Web Edu TV/ PAVEA
Time / 2015–2016
Place / Democratic Republic of the Congo
Photos / Sarah Fichtner

Publications

Further information on the training project and film in French: Web Edu TV.

/ Sarah Fichtner (2017): En République Démocratique du Congo, la pédagogie active permet de se réconcilier, In: The Conversation France