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| Video clip of Student demonstration lesson with 60 students in Hossana, Ethiopia during January 2010 that includes visual tools, collaborative learning, community... • watch more Thinking Schools Ethiopia Video Clips • not playing—download free Quicktime Player (Win & Mac) |
Thinking Schools EthiopiaBuilding Schools from the Inside Out
A bricks and mortar school building is important, but what happens inside makes a lasting impact. Creating a Thinking School can improve how thinking happens within a school building for every student, teacher and leader. Imagine changing how we think about schools so we begin to see that designing Thinking Schools is within reach. Imagine Ethiopia becoming a change agent for education reform.
The momentum for change starts with local teachers improving their practice through collaborative learning, developing the skills they need to become leaders in pushing the limit of what’s possible in education and ends with improved thinking and learning for every student in the school.
Thinking Schools Design:
- improves learning through the use of visual tools;
- builds communities of teachers and learners;
- uses action research and authentic assessment
to improve teaching and learning; - uses minimal materials;
- results in whole school and community improvement.
Thinking Schools improve how the brain learns locally to have an impact globally.
Download the complete Thinking Schools
Ethiopia proposal (PDF)
Thinking Schools Ethiopia began in August 2009 when Robert Price, an education consultant with over 20 years experience classroom teaching and training teachers, did a pilot learning workshop with 70 teachers from seven schools in Addis Ababa. Robert’s connection to the schools came from his experience as a father of two adopted
children (Ashenafi, age 3 and Salem, age 5) from Children’s Home Society and Family Services in Addis Ababa. The schools were interested in developing new approaches to thinking with a student centered approach, and Robert was intrigued by the potential to create a sustainable international learning partnership.
Why Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world and has some of the greatest needs for educational reform. As the fifteenth largest country in the world, Ethiopia is a site of global interest with a rich history of collaboration set at the world’s crossroads. Improving education in Ethiopia has positive implications locally and globally.
Working Field Guide
The Working Field Guide is a collaborative reflective tool for understanding and considering options. Download the Working Field Guide (Acrobat PDF)
August 2009 In March 2008, the groundwork was set for the Thinking Schools sessions on the 23rd-29th August 2009 for seventy participants from various private schools and UNESCO.
The participants included three whole schools (one urban and two rural) and five smaller groups from additional urban schools. The sessions took place in Addis Ababa. The participant centered workshop mirrored a child/student centered approach. Reflections on the workshop showed that participants were more positive in their approaches to teaching and learning.
January 2010 The second of three pilot sessions in the 2009/2010 school year included over 200 participants representing government schools, private schools, and NGOs participating. Sessions took place in urban (Addis Ababa) and rural locations (Hossana).
May 2010 The third Thinking Schools pilot session included many more teachers and leaders from government schools,
the Ministry of Education, private schools, and NGOs. The implementation of the Working Field Guide, development of a teacher network, and micro action research grants were important growth steps for the May 2010 sessions.
Proposed 2010/2011
August 2010 Whole school training leading to establishing model schools; directors working with Ethiopian co-facilitators for large training sessions; expanding teacher to teacher and school to school networks; introducing action research by graduate assistants.
October 2010; January 2011; March 2011
Establishing three to five model schools; local trainers co-facilitating with directors at large group sessions; ongoing concurrent research in Ethiopia and the United States; Ethiopian teachers visiting schools in the United States; community video conferencing/distance learning developing with graduate assistants.
May 2011 Publishing a body of research from Ethiopian teachers and researchers; Ethiopian facilitators independently training within Ethiopia; new co-facilitators working with the directors; collaborating with the university network for new teacher training and ongoing teacher professional development.
Download the complete Thinking Schools proposal (Acrobat pdf)
The Ethiopian Flag
The green recalls the land and hope for the future, yellow stands for peace and love, and red is symbolic of strength...
Grants for action research (modeled on the mini economic grants) to build a body of action research by and for Ethiopian educators will begin in August 2010.read the request for proposals - pdf file
read the request for proposals - word file