A Montrose team of education experts has delivered new teacher training curricula in four core middle school subjects for UNESCO Strengthening Pre-service Teacher Education in Myanmar project (STEM), which supports the aims of the country’s National Education Strategic Plan (2016-2021) to improve the quality of basic education teaching and reform pre-service teacher training.
Montrose was contracted by UNESCO to write the student teacher textbooks and teacher educator guides for the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and ICT for the middle school teaching phase introduced in year 2 of the new four-year Education College degree. Montrose has been heavily invested in the programme from the outset, having worked extensively on development of the primary school teaching phase (introduced in year 1 of the degree), and the programme’s initial design phase in 2015/2016.
Both pre-service and in-service teacher education in Myanmar are undergoing long-term improvements to bridge theory and practice, encourage reflective teaching practices, and move away from an embedded reliance on rote memorisation and teacher-centred strategies.
Workshops took place throughout the year of implementation, initially in-country. Following worldwide travel restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Montrose worked with UNESCO to organise highly effective remote workshops using Zoom. Montrose responded quickly to the developing situation by running training and trials of the software for its team members in preparation for the online workshops. In combination with UNESCO’s in-country support, this maintained momentum and motivation for the project and kept vital progress on track.
Both in-country and remote workshops saw experienced international curriculum development experts from Montrose work in collaboration with highly respected Myanmar teacher educators and university professors to develop syllabi and student-centred teaching and learning activities to meet the aims of the new curriculum.
Montrose also organised for international authors to attend lesson piloting sessions at an Education College in Yangon in January, giving them valuable experience and understanding of the environment in which the curriculum would be delivered. As a result of this experience, the Montrose teams were able to accurately and appropriately tailor their teaching and learning materials to the Myanmar context.
Rebecca Evans, Montrose Myanmar Country Coordinator, said: “We are delighted to have been part of the STEM programme and to work with the Ministry of Education, UNESCO, and international and national education experts to contribute to Myanmar’s education reforms, to strengthen the education system and ultimately to improve learning among Myanmar’s children.”
Elements covered by the new curricula included subject knowledge, pedagogy, lesson planning, classroom management, delivery of student-centred teaching and learning strategies, differentiation and inclusive teaching, gender sensitivity, consolidation of learning, formative and summative assessment techniques, and matters of national importance such as peace education and education for sustainable development.
As well as international curriculum development experts, Montrose also employed national education specialists within each subject, and administered the project through the experienced in-house programme management team based in the company’s Yangon office.
For more information please contact the Montrose Myanmar Office: myanmar@montroseint.com
