The Teaching in Action professional development seminar begun at Teachers College in 2007, which helps Tanzanian teachers use more participatory and student-centered methods, has won the Ashoka Changemakers Champions of Quality Education in Africa award.

Teaching in Action, initiated in 2007 by former TC Associate Professor Fran Vavrus and developed since then with TC Associate Professor Lesley Bartlett, was one of three projects that won the award, which carries a $5,000 prize. The competition is designed to focus attention on “on innovative, effective approaches to improving student learning outcomes in Africa.”

Funded by AfricAid, Teaching in Action is an annual professional development seminar that encourages Tanzanian teachers to use of student-centered, participatory teaching techniques in order to foster critical thinking skills in secondary schools. Teaching in Action works with teachers in a wide range of subjects. The goal is for those educators to serve as model teachers with expertise in participatory, student-centered teaching methods.

Since 2008, Lesley Bartlett and several TC students have teamed with Vavrus, who is now a professor at the University of Minnesota, and faculty members from the Mwenge University College of Education in Tanzania on Teaching in Action initiatives in the Kilimanjaro region. To date, the program has reached hundreds of Tanzanian teachers across the country.

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a nonprofit organization focused on social entrepreneurship. Founded in 1981, the organization currently works in more than 60 countries and serves more than 2,000 social entrepreneurs. Ashoka’s Changemakers initiative sponsors competitions intended to develop innovative solutions to social problems.

Published Friday, Sep. 4, 2009