Teacher Training to Transform Classrooms, Teachers, and Communities in Uganda

Ensuring quality teaching is a challenge around the world, and one which financial incentives have not been able to solve. This proposal tests the value of a fundamental pedagogical transformation in improving the quality of teaching and, thereby, parental demand for schooling. Kimanya-Ngeyo (KN), a Ugandan NGO, trains teachers by reorienting their attitudes towards the role of knowledge in society: teachers learn how theory and practice can be combined to apply knowledge towards the transformation of local communities. We are partnering with KN to study the effects of this program on student learning, teacher motivation and performance, and local cultural change in upper primary and secondary schools. We hypothesize that the teacher-training program enables teachers to not only impact student learning outcomes but to also become, in KN's words, "promoters of community well-being" by connecting classroom materials to community needs, making education locally relevant. This may allow teachers to connect with a deeper purpose connected to intrinsic sources of motivations.

*To learn more about key findings from this evaluation read Learning to Teach by Learning to Learn