West African teachers have a lot to say on the subject of teacher development. And their voices were heard throughout the week of August 13 at the West Africa Teachers’ Conference in Ghana.
More than a hundred teachers from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Benin gathered in Accra at the Ghana National Association of Teachers Conference Hall to present papers and exchange ideas on the conference theme: “Teacher Professional Development in the 21st Century.” The event was hosted by Teachers Without Borders and the National Africa Foundation.
The attendees represented 50 different schools, organizations, and institutions in the region, including the Ghana Ministry of Education, the Ghana National Association of Teachers, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, and 33 institutions of higher learning.
Dr. Emmauel Oniyama, from the College of Education in Warri, Nigeria, presented a paper titled Teacher Development in the 21st century: Beyond talk, chalk and board.
According to Dr. Oniyama, “Modern day teaching and learning has gone beyond the regular class system where students gather and are taught by a teacher. Learning and/or education now takes place with the use of information and communication systems or technologies.” He therefore proposes that African teachers enhance their lessons with the internet, libraries, Power Point and independent learning.
Dr. Oniyama was just one of many teachers advocating for African education to move “beyond talk, chalk and board.” A total of 56 papers were presented, covering a broad spectrum of topics, including: teacher training; assessment in schools; use of technology; curriculum development; and managing student behaviour.
The attendees also participated in workshops on TWB’s Certificate of Teaching Mastery and the Millennium Development Ambassadors’ Program.
By the end of the week, 19 Millennium Development Ambassadors were appointed and TWB’s Africa Regional Coordinator, Raphael Ogar Oko, was asked to run two more workshops in Ghana this month.
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