Abstract
This self-reflection article explores the collaboration with a nongovernmental organization serving underserved students in Malawi and a private Midwestern university educator preparation program which provided research-based pedagogical culturally responsive practices to teachers. Through strong partnerships, education programs can combine their academic and activist voices to prepare teachers as change agents. This article examines the Malawian education system that is gradually shifting from a decentralized system. The authors provided professional development focused on a framework of gradual release model of culturally responsive strategies to be employed in a rural secondary school in Malawi. Finally, the article concludes by sharing lessons learned.
Keywords
Education is the equalizer in any society, but increasingly in Malawi, rural kids are being left out of the best schools due to opportunity (Determined to Develop Annual Report, 2016). In 2017, Determined to Develop , a nongovernmental organization, and a private university in the mid-western United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together on giving rural students access to a high-quality secondary education. With social justice at the fore front of the mission, the professors from the Teacher Education Department of the private university in the mid-western United States decided to participate in this venture, a co-construction of a secondary curriculum to serve a new rural secondary school. After the initial exploration of secondary education in Malawi, we responded by providing a culturally responsive gradual release pedagogical framework and modeled its implementation to support teachers’ classroom experiences in advocating for underserved students. Our experiences working with teachers and administrators from the United States and Malawi, a unique collaborative experience, suggested that teacher practices are common across cultures if demonstrated and embedded with fidelity. The value of building trusting relationships in partnerships to advance reciprocity of ideas and knowledge was pivotal to this cultural exchange.
In this article, we first describe the context for our work with a rural secondary school through reflections of our observations of Malawian schools from primary through secondary school settings, based on interactions with education officers from the Malawian Ministry of Education, school visits with students, teachers, administrators, and parents, and examination of education artifacts. We then provide a background of the Malawian system of education and critically review the secondary program. We share our professional development offerings specifically focused on using the framework of the gradual release model to integrate culturally responsive teaching strategies in the rural secondary school. Finally, the article concludes by sharing lessons learned from the Malawian service abroad experience that advanced the cultural competence of all participants.
Context for Malawi Visit
Determined to Develop (D2D) invited us, Teacher Education professors from a private university in the mid-western United States, to observe our pre-service teacher, but most importantly to support their project of opening a rural high school in rural Malawi. D2D is a nongovernmental organization. At the core of their work in rural Malawi is the empowerment of the people of Malawi and sustainable, community-driven solutions to promote human advancement (D2D, Annual Report, 2017). D2D is registered in both the United States and Malawi, with a focus on four cornerstones: education and youth support, health and nutrition, women’s empowerment, and environment. D2D has sponsored many students over the years sending them to the best secondary schools in Malawi. The thrust to open a rural secondary school was the persistence of poverty and a lack of resources, capacity and quality of education in even the best secondary schools in Malawi.
D2D took the bold step to encapsulate their vision of providing a “world-class” education for rural Malawian youth, with the opening of a secondary boarding school for boys. Even though they have worked to support the education efforts in other secondary schools in Malawi, they identified the need for better education offerings for rural Malawian students. D2D has established a program with the midwestern university where for the past 5 years, college students from the United States complete a 2 months practicum at their compound in Malawi. The compound currently houses over 60 boys ranging from eight grade to university level, offering them a nonformal curriculum with tutoring services to support their educational success. This program has proven successful over the years with both the local and international support and resources. Hence, the concept of hiring teachers from both Malawi and the United States to provide a unique opportunity for Malawian students to gain a global education in this new secondary school evolved. This new high school would further develop and sustain the educational efforts of D2D fulfilling their aim to meet the needs of rural children trapped in poverty. It would therefore mean providing a curriculum that represents a global outreach while sustaining and building the capacity and quality of education in this rural community. D2D believed that intentional professional development geared toward shifting teacher traditional instructional practices and teaching English across the curriculum would further the education of the youth. In Malawi, most students have been taught in the vernacular language and textbooks tend to be in Chichewa, the national language (Blanks, 2014). While teachers have been encouraged by programs such as TALULAR (Teaching and Learning Using Local Available Resources; Gwayi, 2009), the instructional framework has not been adjusted to meet the needs of students effectively in the classrooms.
In June 2017, we worked with D2D for 9 days to understand their mission and vision and provide a framework for them to start their world-class secondary school. It was crucial that we witnessed the Malawian education system at work in various school settings to inform our work with the co-construction of the curriculum for the secondary school. Seidl (2007) asserted teachers must learn what it means to become students of a particular context. They must learn about the range of cultural experiences and norms within a specific community and begin to situate education within an understanding of the goals and expectations the community has for children and for education (p. 170). Hence, we visited village local schools. From the confines of a one-room basic primary school absent of desks and chairs, to the under resourced buildings of a Community Day School, where students entertained us under trees, we observed Malawian students, teachers, and administrators. We explored the technical high school furnished with great facilities to increase the skills of their students preparing them for a demanding skilled marketplace, to a Catholic boarding school where the boys were intently studying to pass high stake tests. We observed from a distance the testing facility, a sacred space where students’ fate and futures were determined after 18 months wait time for the scores. We moved on to a newly built Catholic girls’ boarding school, its world-class facilities, a testament to international investment and pride, its curriculum and practices, a validation that student engagement is possible and real in rural Malawi.
We spent time with students, parents, grandparents, education officers, community stakeholders, and Chief of the village who donated the land for the school, discussing the vision and mission for this new secondary school. The school promised to be a catalyst in changing the lives of not only students but also community stakeholders. Stears (2009) noted that learning in school is strongly connected to the interaction between the student’s community and school. The regional education officers shared insight on their views of best practices in most of the school settings. These conversations and interactions indicated a favorable view of a traditional teacher-centered style of teaching the Malawian curriculum for secondary schools and a lack of knowledge of the instructional strategies built into the Malawian curriculum document which were designed to engage students, in a student-centered classroom. Through observations of multiple school settings, both private and public, and a diverse collection of teachers in different school settings, with varied experiences, and expertise, major themes were observed that culminated into the professional development offering with a focus on culturally responsive teaching in a gradual release framework of instruction. Lemberger and Clemens (2012) noted that a curriculum that is designed to support students’ backgrounds can impact student achievement significantly as they will feel a sense of belonging, safety, and support in their learning environment.
Malawian Education System
Our work to co-construct a culturally responsive gradual release pedagogical professional development is predicated on the history and state of education in Malawi. As such, it is imperative to give a brief history of education in Malawi, learning conditions, secondary education and teacher preparation and professional development.
Background of Education System
Malawi has had one of the lowest participation rates in secondary education schooling in Africa, enrolling only 3% of the secondary school age group (Chimombo, 2009a). While our work focused on secondary education, it was vital to further understand the conditions that contributed to the status of the 4 years of high school education, as primary or elementary school education influenced the secondary education in rural Malawi. The first primary school in Malawi was founded in 1875, but guidelines for developing education did not become available until Malawi became independent in 1964. This newfound independence allowed more children to enroll in primary school, where the enrollment is still increasing today. In 1973, Malawi created its first Educational Development Plan, which included the years 1973 to 1980. Through this plan, 8 years of primary school and 4 years of secondary school were developed. Due to difficulty accessing secondary school, primary school became the main focus in the second educational plan that spanned 1885 to 1995 (Chimombo, 2009a). Malawi was the first sub-Saharan African country to declare Universal Free Primary Education (FPE) in 1990, which they entitled Education for All (EFA; Blanks, 2014; Chimombo, 2009a; Kendall, 2007). Primary school fees were officially abolished in 1994 (Blanks, 2014; Dube, 2017).
Learning Conditions
Many students do not attend school in rural Malawi as often learning conditions are brutal. Students in rural areas and girls have less access to education than do their male and urban counterparts (Chimombo, 2009a)). Over 80% of Malawi’s population lives in rural areas; however the students who live in these areas are often poor and have difficulty physically accessing schools (Dube, 2017; Kretzer, Engler, Gondwe, & Trost, 2017). The student to teacher ratio in Malawi is 120 to 1. Students often learn in classrooms without light, desks, or windows on a dirt floor. Due to the number of children, they often sit close together and look at a chalkboard on the wall (Blanks, 2014). Overall, enrollment decreases as grade levels increase. These poor and difficult learning conditions lead to low student achievement (Chimombo, 2009a). Students struggle with basic literacy and numeracy skills as most schools continue to use Chichewa, the national language irrespective of the predominant use of regional dialects. Students in Malawi primary education only read 11 words per min in third grade, and at least 18% of students are retained each year (Dube, 2017). In 2014, the Malawian government instituted a Language of Instruction Policy (LOI), stating that English will be the primary language used in instruction starting in the first year of primary school. This is in contrast to the lack of regulation in languages spoken in primary schools; however, most children entering primary school have not previously heard or learned English from their parents (Kamwendo, 2016).
The lack of access to a quality education also impacted students with disabilities, who are often not even identified in the schools. In Malawi, statistics are difficult to find and may not present a true picture; however, official data found that 5% of students in Malawi have a disability. However, the lack of identified students with disabilities is likely due to the physical challenge of traveling to school—and therefore a lack of access to school—especially in rural communities. It may also be attributed to the stigma that is presented to families and children with disabilities, as disabilities are often seen as a punishment to families in Malawian culture. Therefore, an estimate of at least 8% of children in Malawi have disabilities. In 2012, the Malawian government passed a civil rights bill called the Inclusion of People with Disabilities Act, which, among other things, entitled students with disabilities to inclusive education. However, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding inclusive education and disabilities in general. The only resource available in Malawi for teachers to identify and assess disabilities is called the Disability Toolkit. Each primary school is equipped with one; however, teachers are never trained for using this toolkit (Blanks, 2014).
Malawian Secondary School Education
Although there is a presence of curriculum in Malawian high schools, there is little consistency and a lack of access to high school in general (Chimombo, 2009b; Grant, 2017; Mwakapenda, 2002). Only half of children attend high school due to lack of access and the difficulty presented with obtaining entrance through the Primary School Leaving Examination (Chimombo, 2009a). To meet both demand and decrease dropout, low-fee private high schools have been expanding in Malawi (Chimombo, 2009b; Grant, 2017). Overall, there is a lack of regulation and quality in all areas of high school institutions, including the lack of appropriate curriculum in government-run Community Day Secondary Schools, satellite centers, and private institutions (Chimombo, 2009b; Grant, 2017; Mwakapenda, 2002). Research suggests that students who enroll in private high schools do not perform any better than students in public high schools in Malawi despite the hope that families have for these institutions (Grant, 2017). In addition, satellite centers were created for the students who do not do well on the Primary School Leaving Exam; however, curriculum here is also insufficient and often involves books with practice problems that students are required to share (Mwakapenda, 2002).
Although Malawi is becoming more democratic in nature, it has been largely unable to democratize high schools or high school curriculum. Therefore, much of the curriculum in Malawian high schools remains insufficient and inconsistent between schools (Mwakapenda, 2002). A centralized education system gives decision power to the ministry of education. A decentralized education system, such as that in Malawi, moves the main power from a centralized educational ministry to local governments, communities, and schools (Decentralization Thematic Team at Columbia University, 2017). Malawi has been attempting to decentralize their education system and move most of the decision-making power to different school districts. Issues that have arisen from this venture include lack of clear policy and difficulty reforming in areas of poverty, indicating that this process had not been easy (Chikoko, 2009).
Teacher Preparation and Professional Development
With the many challenges facing the Malawian education system, teacher preparation and training are often absent. Estimates are that approximately half of the teachers in Malawi are untrained (Edwards, 2005). Teachers in Malawi may be educated for 2 years after secondary school; however, only half of them are estimated to be trained (Blanks, 2014). The Malawian government has previously tried to make and institute curriculum corrections; however, these attempts have not included enough input from the teachers and students who use this curriculum on a daily basis. In addition, the lack of teacher training for teaching secondary school is evident, as most teachers are trained to teach primary school and not secondary school. To remedy this, Malawi created an in-service integrated teacher program (MIITEP) in 1997, which included 3 months of residence at a college, teaching for 20 months in a primary school, and 6 weeks of revision and assessment. This training is available at six colleges; however, it remains insufficient in creating a standard for teacher education in Malawi (Blanks, 2014). The Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) noted the challenges faced secondary schools, poor infrastructure and use of untrained and underqualified teachers in the system. Professional development was not an embedded practice to support teachers adding to the harsh realities of the issues faced by these schools. Kayuni's (2010) findings revealed an increased dropout in the number of students and a decline in the number of quality teachers.
Teacher Preparation for Culturally Responsive Teaching
Teacher professional development in the resource-poor environments of developing countries often suffers from a lack of cultural supports (Gaible & Burns, 2005). This state of “perpetual transition,” in which the Malawian education system is continually changed, has been likened to a chaos and complexity theory, which states that underlying all the chaos there is some order, which allows the educational system not to fall apart. This order can be found in decentralizing education, creating more opportunities for girls to attend school, increasing access to teacher training and secondary school, as well as other policies that regulate the system (Kayuni, 2010). D2D focused specifically on developing a rural secondary school curriculum inclusive of community support; thus it was important to use a culturally responsive framework to co-construct the curriculum with students, teachers, and community members at the heart of its implementation and practice. As stated earlier, due to the large student to teacher ratio and difficult conditions, teacher-centered teaching style is most likely used by secondary school teachers in Malawi. This theory of teaching is reactive, and often produces self-fulfilling prophecies (i.e., students who are suspended are expected to act out more and therefore act out more; Timor, 2015). This way of teaching assumes that students are not mature enough to learn by their own devices, class rules and punishments should be the same for all students, and increased supervision or social ostracism is often used as a punishment. In most Malawian secondary schools, students have to take extensive notes, as textbooks are often few or nonexistent. Teaching guides are often insufficient and teaching aids are often absent (Kadzamira & Rose, 2003). One strategy to advance teacher instructional practices, that is not evident in Malawian education, is professional development on culturally responsive pedagogical strategies using a gradual release framework. Little research exists on professional development of Malawian teachers using a culturally responsive strategy even though there is a clear need for its use in secondary schools.
Theoretical Framework for the Professional Development
Archibald, Coggshall, Croft, and Goe (2011) purported that effective teacher professional development has five important characteristics. These include: (a) alignment with school goals, (b) focus on core content and modeling of teaching strategies for the content, (c) inclusion of opportunities for active learning of new teaching strategies, (d) provision of opportunities for collaboration among teachers, and (e) inclusion of embedded follow-up and continuous feedback. These characteristics were essential for the co-construction of a culturally responsive curriculum for the new rural secondary school as all teachers needed to be actively involved in this process. Macdonald suggested a curriculum that promotes interactions and allows learners to become knowledge producers by transformative change attained through their own actions. Teachers are pivotal in the reification of a curriculum; hence the need for them to unlearn their beliefs and values (Macdonald, 2003). Since the D2D goal was to develop a world-class education, the Malawian and American curriculums were documents used at to engage teachers; hence it was vital to collaborate in a culturally relevant, collaborative, and job-embedded professional development. The theoretical framework and model used in this professional development offering incorporated the beliefs of teachers, from Malawi and the United States, to foster a sustainable and high-quality education structure for students.
Culturally Responsive Teaching Theory in a Gradual Release Framework
Ladson‐Billings (1992) conceptualized culturally relevant pedagogy which is an approach that empowers students to the point where they will be able to critically examine educational content and processes and ask what its role is in creating a truly democratic and multicultural society. It uses the students’ culture to help them create meaning and understand the world. Thus, not only academic success, but also social and cultural success are emphasized (Milner, 2011). These culturally responsive strategies can be effective in a classroom if facilitated in a gradual release of responsibility instructional framework that forces optimal student and teacher interaction in the classroom (Fisher and Frey (2008). With the use of cultural knowledge and student experiences at its core, culturally responsive teaching is an appealing pedagogy for engaging teachers in professional development that fosters intercultural competence. Teachers will be constantly engaged in self-reflection regarding their instructional practices which will sustain their craft and advance student success. Ladson‐Billings (1995) further noted the purpose of culturally responsive teaching is to provide opportunity and support for students to learn meaningful academic knowledge, skills, and dispositions; affirm their identity and heritage; and become more critically aware and prepared to challenge inequalities. Just as students need to understand their learning, teachers need adequate background knowledge to know how to apply culturally responsive tools and strategies, (Hammond, 2015). Culturally responsive pedagogy fosters depth of knowledge and understanding of course content with the students’ needs as the focus of the learning. This disrupts the traditional mindset of planning and preparation where teacher behaviors are central to the instruction process. A student-centered approach to teaching and learning then dominates the professional dialog shifting the instructional strategies for student engagement. The gradual release of responsibility model posits that the teacher moves from assuming “all the responsibility for performing a task...to a situation in which the students assume all of the responsibility” (Duke & Pearson, 2002, p. 211). This framework is crucial in moving instruction from a teacher centered to a student-centered classroom environment (Fisher and Frey (2008). Gay (2010) suggested that minority students bring with them cultural and academic skills that they have mastered, so teachers should build on these skills through their curriculum and assessment practices. Since the D2D aim is to support and sustain the community development in rural Malawi, students will return to their communities as agents of change, cultural assets, building their lives.
The Professional Development Program
According to Bolam (1993), teacher professional development refers to “any professional development activities engaged in by teachers which enhance their knowledge and skills and enable them to consider their attitudes and approaches to the education of children, with a view to improve the quality of the teaching and learning process.” A private university in the mid-western United States Teacher Education Program offers a diversity course, which offers pedagogical practices on intercultural competence and culturally responsive pedagogy. Our teacher candidates are given opportunities to observe students and teachers in underserved school settings to engage them and develop their intercultural competence. We were eager to visit Malawi in June 2017 since for the first time one of our teacher candidates was completing her practicum in the Malawian school setting. We designed a professional development offering included culturally responsive strategies to support the intercultural exchange of educational ideas and strategies between the Malawian teachers and the American teachers. The most useful professional development focuses on active teaching, assessment, observation, and reflection (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995). With a focus on using culturally responsive teaching through a gradual release model framework, we sought to engage our group in dialog focused on the following: (a) deconstructing and co-constructing the Malawian and American English Learner curriculum, (b) identifying and building the instructional strategies and assessments within a gradual release framework to facilitate the curriculum, and (c) creating instructional tools to engage students with the curriculum.
Collaboration was at the core of the professional development offering since participants from both cultures needed to share their educational perspectives and skills to create the global curriculum for the students. Quintero (2017) shared individual teachers are important to educational progress, and major structural issues like poverty and inequality are tremendous challenges to educational achievement. However, when schools and school systems prioritize strengthening the interpersonal aspects of teaching and learning, even schools serving low-income students can attract, develop, and retain skillful and stable faculties and achieve good academic results. Participants included Malawian teachers, an American pre-service teacher, and the head teacher, an American who taught in the both the American and Malawian school systems. Both group of teachers shared complementary goals and a passion to work with the rural Malawian students. Our intentional observations of the Malawian system of education gave us a deeper understanding of the curriculum, teacher preparation, and practice, thereby giving us credence to work with both groups. It was essential that both groups experience opportunities to share their teaching backgrounds, understand their differences and commonalities. Using a culturally responsive pedagogy gradual release framework each group of teachers had open dialog about the teaching profession respecting and embracing a cultural exchange.
Despite the widespread practice of teaching English as a second language in most secondary schools, Wasambo High school desired to create a curriculum where English would be the first language taught in the classroom. This posed a challenge since half of the teachers spoke English as a second language while the other half, American teachers had never taught in a setting where English was not the dominant language. Reciprocity became the core element of building the professional relationships as we exchanged different cultural ideas in education disrupting traditional ideas of pedagogical practices in both cultures. Our intercultural competence was tested and respected as we attempted to create a solid framework curriculum for the students who would be exposed to a truly integrated Malawian American curriculum. The teachers had many questions for us such as “How to teach note taking? How to teach a group discussion? What is the best way to conclude a lesson? During assessment of lessons learned you have discovered that half or one third of the class didn’t understand the standards you taught, for what percentage does the teacher has to repeat the lesson and when?”(Mtika & Gates, 2010)
Based on the questions from the teachers in our initial group interactions, we sought to provide the tools to meet their needs. Firstly, we examined the Malawian secondary curriculum provided by the Ministry of Education as the core document to facilitate the professional development of all teachers. It is crucial to utilize and respect the cultural practices of a group, when engaging in cultural competence. The transition from traditional classroom practices to culturally sensitive contexts that value students’ diverse cultural perspectives requires teachers to be culturally competent (Skepple, 2014; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). The teaching standards described in the curriculum were completely deconstructed for teachers giving them student friendly objectives to facilitate instruction in the classrooms. It also provided strategies to facilitate the content in the classroom. We combined this powerful document with the American standards for teaching English language learners, a curriculum that is not used and offered in Malawian schools. This provided the foundation for us to intentionally build the curriculum to teach English across the curriculum with a focus on listening, speaking, writing, and reading embedded in interdisciplinary content areas (Fisher, Frey, & Rothenberg, 2008) . We used the Malawian curriculum to plan and model curriculum mapping, perused a Malawian assessment tool, and used it to create a blueprint for classroom assessments and curriculum, a backwards design approach. Backward design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) is a strategy for developing assessments, curriculum, and instruction based on a clear articulation of learning goals. Starting with learning goals, desired outcomes are specified; assessments are then developed based on a clear picture of the desired performances; and instructional strategies and materials are designed last, to prepare students to succeed on the assessments.
Secondly, we added to teachers’ instructional strategies repertoire to facilitate the curriculum as both groups of teachers had different cultural experiences in teaching students. Based on our observations in various school settings in Malawi, we noted a dominant direct instruction model of teaching and learning, where teachers are the source of knowledge dominating the classroom and students were receivers “empty vessels” of knowledge. The focus on preparation for high stake testing compounded with a lack of resources contributed to a teacher-centered approach to teaching and learning. We provided a scaffolded lesson plan format to support the culturally responsive instructional strategies in the classroom. Vygotsky’s (1986) zone of proximal development advocated the merits of scaffolded instruction. Scaffolding is a process in which both students and teachers are active participants in the learning process. The teacher models the expectations and content for the students and gradually release them to learn independently. The lesson plan consisted of several sections. This model of instruction, first articulated by Pearson and Gallagher (1983) and later expanded by Fisher and Frey (2008), consists of four phases of learning. These are: Teacher Modeling (I Do), where direct instruction takes place in the classroom, learning goals are articulated, content is modeled and demonstrated; Teacher Guiding (We Do), intentionally guiding the students through small group interaction to scaffold using critical thinking questions, cues and prompts; Teaching Checking (We Do) formatively assessing students through questions, as students actively collaborate with their peers to clarify and extend their conceptual understanding of the content; Student Independent Practice (You Do), students demonstrate their understanding and mastery of the content through an assessment for review, extension, and enrichment. We added another component, called Closure/Summary, collaboration between teacher and students debriefing the lesson explicitly linking content to students’ backgrounds and culture.
The linchpin of the gradual release of responsibility was the collaborative learning phase of instruction, when students work in partnership with one another to discuss, interact, and produce (Fisher & Frey, 2008). Student mastery of content is facilitated with the use of higher order questions to engage them and critically assess their comprehension of content. The teachers’ role becomes minimal as the classroom as the provider of content as students scaffold their own learning and demonstrate student ownership. The teacher then becomes the facilitator of learning and the student owner of the content. This is a shift from the teacher-centered classroom experience typical to the Malawian secondary schools. The teacher will no longer be the sage on the stage but a facilitator of instruction. Ford (2010) believed that a collaborative student-centered classroom can exist if students’ lives and culture are essential ingredients in that classroom. We shared strategies such as explicit instruction, small group work, think alouds, think-pair-share, reciprocal teaching, project-based learning, and assessments to enhance students’ vocabulary and build on their background knowledge. These instructional strategies will only increase student engagement and grant opportunities for so many English learners to practice and build their language proficiencies.
Many researchers recognize that formative assessment, when used appropriately, can support and enhance learning and motivation (e.g., Black & Wiliam, 1998). Assessment is a critical, life-changing experience in the lives of Malawian students. Standardized tests results determine the future of secondary students in Malawi. While this may the case in the American system, there are many options for students who do not succeed on these tests. This is not the case in Malawi where the option for most students is a perpetual life in poverty. According to Nelson, Palonsky, and McCarthy (2006), testing has become a national obsession in places where students may have a poor quality of education. However, Nelson et al. (2006) implied that culturally relevant instructional practices can be an antidote to standardized testing. Thirdly, we provided strategies to assess students intentionally through formative assessments in the classrooms through short cycle assessments. This will create a school culture where progress monitoring, remediation, maintenance, and enrichment of learning are operationalized to address students’ needs. Wixson and Valencia (2011) believed that students’ assessment should reflect their home environment, especially in terms of their language, literacy, and diversity. These ongoing assessments will prepare students to be lifelong learners beyond a standardized test. Students’ learning could also be differentiated in the classroom using the data from formative assessments, to organize them in groups and meet their respective needs. Students will then engage conversations and dialog with each other about their learning, giving them a chance to probe and redirect their ideas toward the learning goal and assessments (Young & Kim, 2010). Students would also get an opportunity to create their own data folders and track their progress, giving each other feedback and creating their own learning goals.
Lastly, we created instructional tools to engage students with the curriculum supporting the student-centered, collaborative framework of student engagement. Since note taking is the common strategy used in Malawian schools, we created artifacts such as guided note sheets for students, giving teachers resources to implement the student-centered strategies in the classroom. Stringfellow and Miller (2005) explain that guided notes consist of lesson outlines that provide main ideas and blank spaces for students to write in definitions, key concepts, and additional information. They may include questions that will be answered during lecture time. It was vital to create this guided note tool, since traditional note taking is an embedded practice in the Malawian school system. However, this tool supported a student-centered classroom, gradual release framework, ideally supporting all sections of the scaffolded instruction format. This tool will increase student participation in the classroom and generate a depth of knowledge from both teacher and student. We also provided a booklet of strategies to enhance student engagement and access to a better learning experience. It detailed culturally responsive strategies to support instruction. We provided chrome books for the teachers to spend time collaboratively working with the curriculum, lesson plan format ,and assessments to collaboratively engage in a job-embedded professional learning community. We also created a schedule for constant follow-up and feedback within the school amongst teachers, and on an international level through monthly reports between the head teacher and us, the university professors.
Lessons Learned
This proved to be one of the most rewarding educational experiences of our lives. Self-reflection should help decision makers adapt to novel environments and situations because it facilitates their ability to relate new information to prior knowledge and to understand ideas and feelings (Campitelli & Labollita, 2010; Sanders & McKeown, 2008). We were constantly reflecting on our practices as educators in a myriad of settings in our lives. Since we both worked in various school settings, we were confident that we could adapt and share our knowledge with the teachers and community stakeholders. We learned many lessons along the way.
Standardized Testing Dominates Our Lives
The achievement gap that continues to plague the American education system is prevalent in Malawi. In this case, rural students who live in poverty are the victims of the mandated tests. School climate and social contexts are not considered when students fail the tests. Teacher practice and quality continue to fail the students. This is common among underserved student populations and it continues to create a huge divide among our students. Malawi’s achievement gap is noticeable in the class structure. This can only be disrupted by a shift in teacher practice. We knew that our professional development would be the antidote to the current situation in Malawian schools. The fact is this is not new. We have used the same strategies in our urban schools in the United States. We knew given time, these students will be successful.
We Do Not Have All the Answers
We were gratified to have a pre-service teacher in Malawi and the head teacher who taught in both the American and Malawian schools. We faced resistance from personnel from the Ministry of Education, who initially thought we were there to impose our American culture exclusively on them. The past teachers and education officers had strong views about recruitment of teachers and expectations. Their reality is teaching in a male-dominated, patriarchal lecture-based school culture, where women played a minimal role in decision making. The teachers and head mistress took a passive role at the table and allowed the men to drive the conversation. While they valued our roles as college professors, we were not allowed to change the Malawian curriculum, which was never our intention. Since we both were looking through culturally responsive lenses, first, we were able to highlight and use the Malawian assets to reframe their initial resistance and engage in meaningful dialog about Wasambo High School. Second, we highlighted the powerful practices we observed in the school visits affirming their cultural practices and shared opportunities for growth with them. Third, we conceded that they will have to do the work. Our contribution is an opportunity for them to reflect and change their practices to ensure all students succeed.
The Power Is in Your Curriculum
One of the major take-aways was the way in which the standards are used by teachers in the American system (Cusick, 2014). Teachers are engaged in professional development that often deconstruct the professional jargon of standards and rewrite standards to be presented in a student-friendly manner. This often allows for more teacher ownership and student engagement. Interestedly, in Malawi, the standards are written in a manner that is student friendly and easily applicable in a student-centered setting. However, teachers do not take the ownership or develop teaching strategies that emphasize student engagement beyond note taking, thus perpetuating a traditional teacher-centered approach. Most past and present teachers had not examined their curriculum thoroughly. Since professional development is limited to the Malawian system, the teachers did not activate the tools available to them in the curriculum. We brought the document to life.
It Takes a Village
Parental involvement is crucial to student achievement. Wasambo High School Advisory Council intentionally garnered support from different stakeholders to support the students. The presence of the students who introduced themselves added a context and value to our work. The chief had strong advice for parents and students. The perspectives shared by each stakeholder was so important. Chief Wasambo’s charge to the parents was reminiscent of the old days when parents too were called to get involved in their children’s lives, with no complaints but with gratitude. Education is a gift. For these rural Malawi students, education was the only way out of poverty and it is new and refreshing. The celebratory festival with the village chief and people was a great way to celebrate Malawi culture and education. Celebrating independence for them was celebrating the opportunity of a world-class education.
Building Relationships Through Collaboration, Cultural Exchange, and Confidence
The collaborative effort of the group was the most significant benefit of the experience. Teachers collaborated in an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural setting producing high quality conversations. Professional development was a new concept for them. Culturally responsive pedagogy and student-centered teaching were taboo in the Malawian school culture. We experienced challenges initially as we spent most of the time talking and participants were unwilling to share. We gave the teachers an opportunity to write questions and share these with us. Our goal was to tailor the professional development to their needs. Eventually we witnessed a shift in their level of engagement. First, as the faculty members examined their Malawian curriculum with us, they understood the valuable powerful practices within and felt affirmed. We saw a cultural exchange of ideas to impact the classroom practices. We advocated for the teachers to have computers to support their knowledge form the professional development experience. Both Malawian and American teachers evidenced changes in attitudes and confidence as we immersed ourselves in the culture and education system
Conclusion
Clearly this study is only a beginning, and more research is recommended to advance the conversation on professional development in secondary education in Malawi. The limitations such as time and resources must be considered, as this was a brief experience in rural Malawi. This self-reflection article only focused on the perspectives of two participating professors and their experiences offering professional development to the Malawian and American educators. It would be important, however, for future research to further investigate impact of the culturally responsive strategies on the instruction and assessment of students at Wasambo High School. Another area to be explored is to measure the shift from a teacher-centered school culture to a student-centered culture where students are empowered. This will give us an opportunity to further examine the cultural exchanges between teachers and teachers, teachers and students, and teachers and other stakeholders. More data from the teachers and students may be gathered to provide the evidence needed for such research.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) declared no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Author Biographies