Hundreds of Teachers Throughout Africa Are Now Offering Adapted Versions of Courses Developed in New Jersey Classrooms
TRENTON, N.J., June 30, 2023 - Progressive schools throughout the continent of Africa are eager to embrace the same innovative teaching strategies taking place in New Jersey classrooms every day.
And they have found the perfect, long-term partner – direct from the Garden State.
For more than a decade, the non-profit New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (NJCTL) has been working to bridge the education gap, finding ways to infuse New Jersey's high-quality curriculum into some of the most challenging schools in Africa.
In August 2012, NJCTL began working the World Bank and the Gambian Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to launch a program to improve science and mathematics education.
The ongoing effort continues this week, as NJCTL Executive Director Bob Goodman returns to The Gambia to meet with education ministers and policy makers about ways in which more teachers and students in Africa can benefit from courses developed in New Jersey classrooms.
To create highly collaborative classrooms, NJCTL uses its Progressive Science Initiative® and the Progressive Mathematics Initiative®, both of which have demonstrated strong success in effective classroom learning and teacher training in the United States and Africa.
"Through our work in Africa, we find a consistent thread: the teachers are amazingly committed and very enthusiastic to receive training and improve their practice," Goodman said. "Many of them spent weeks in NJCTL training. They were with us, day after day, ready to learn content that is aligned with state and national curriculum standards from the United States and adapted to prepare students for the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), the exam used by all English-speaking countries in that region."
Since its beginnings in The Gambia, NJCTL has continued to make enormous inroads in Africa, and has helped train hundreds of teachers, as well as Peace Corps volunteers, in The Gambia, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, and beyond.
Through NJCTL, teachers gain a better understanding of courses in science, math, and computer science. Teachers are eager to implement the student-centered instruction that is becoming common in New Jersey schools, such as students working collaboratively to solve problems. NJCTL's curriculum is supported, where possible, through interactive white boards and student polling devices.
NJCTL, has also worked in the Kingdom of Lesotho, where many rural schools do not have electricity. Both teachers and students demonstrate a dedication to education, often walking long distances each day to reach school.
In courses from chemistry to calculus, from biology to physics, teachers spend their vacation time learning what is taught in New Jersey. The magic of this initiative: the teachers then train other teachers, who train others, spreading the NJCTL courses into areas that Goodman's group cannot reach.
In 2020, the World Bank released a study to show the effect of NJCTL's work in The Gambia, focusing on learning outcomes among high school students. The findings showed a threefold increase in the number of students who qualified to enter university based on their scores on WASSCE exams. The impact is irrespective of students' gender or socioeconomic background.
"It is inspiring to see how teachers across these African countries are making the science and mathematics pedagogy their own, while engaging their students to reach new levels of understanding and achievement," noted Susan Olszewski, NJCTL's director of course development and international projects. "We hope that this approach will prove helpful for many more countries throughout Africa and the world."
NJCTL training is ongoing this summer. For example, in August, 750 teachers from Ogun State, Nigeria will be neck-deep in curriculum studies, as they continue an education program that began in December. The course load includes math, science, computer science and agricultural science. Some of the trainers teaching these courses travel to Nigeria from The Gambia. Dr. Goodman will be meeting with those Gambian trainers during his upcoming trip.
"Fortunately, our work on the international stage is also providing significant insights that enable us to improve these very same tools and approaches to support our core constituents in New Jersey and throughout the U.S.," Goodman said. "Programs developed with funds from the World Bank to the host countries can now be used by teachers in New Jersey, across our nation and anywhere in the world as a free, editable resource."
NJCTL is a nonprofit that is providing a simple, scalable solution for our nation's massive STEM teacher shortage and the great social injustice that comes from depriving underserved students access to STEM education. Learn more at NJCTL.org.
Media Contact:
Jonathan Jaffe
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SOURCE New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning
