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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 Ethiopia becoming a change agent for education reform.
Thinking Schools Model
The Thinking Schools approach uses visual tools; community building techniques; inquiry mapping; collaborative learning; assessment and documentation; collegial coaching and environmental mapping to build a sustainable thinking and learning community. The participant-centered workshops for educators mirrors the same student-centered approach that Thinking Schools uses.
Thinking Schools Professional Development in Ethiopia
The first phase of the Thinking Schools Ethiopia Project included three large scale professional development sessions for hundreds of educators between August 2009 and May 2010. Participants included pre-K through high school teachers and principals as well as university professors and leaders from UNESCO, NGO’s, the Ministry of Education, and government officials.
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.
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.
October 2010 Training of leadership teams from government schools, private schools and NGOs with the Growing Thinking Schools Inside Out guide and training. Met with the Head of Addis Ababa Education Bureau government schools.
April 2011
Growing Thinking Schools Professional Development Training with Addis Ababa Bureau of Education experts, Ministry of Education experts and other education leadership teams. Thinking Schools Ethiopia builds its infrastructure as part of Eminence Social Entrepreneurs and Ethiopian based organization.
Jan 2012 Proposed start of initial pilot project with 30 Addis Ababa government schools, private schools and local rural schools. The project would be scaled to the whole Addis Ababa school system starting in July 2012.
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