MIND MAIN PHASE 2010-2011

A Case Study BY Charles Chingwalu, MIND Programme Coordinator

Walking the talk: The MIND approach to continued professional development

Ruth Sambaleni is a female tutor at Kasungu Teachers College in central Malawi. Since obtaining a local education degree a while ago, she has never been re-trained in Continued Professional Development (CPD). She teaches a class of 50 trainees. And there are a 100 such tutors at Kasungu TTC in the same situation as Ruth. This is where Northampton-based Clement Chunga, a seasoned educator with a broad range of skills, did two separate volunteering placements. And this is a case study of his volunteering journey.

As a result of MIND's pre-departure training, Clement structured his programme into three main areas: Systems review, capacity building and service delivery. He spent 60% of his placement on the second aspect, with the first and third aspects receiving 20% and 15% respectively. Clement delivered well tailored CPD sessions to 43 local tutors, in two separate assignments. He shared and developed the skills of local tutors in the planning and delivery of education to trainee teachers. The qualitative evaluation clearly indicates that Clement was successful in instilling professional relevance to the 43 local tutors, critical for managing the 21st century education needs of the girl and boy child.

By capacity building the local tutors, the foundations of sustainability have been established as this has long term effects. "As a result of this CPD training, I have gained significant skills and will certainly self-reflect myself as a tutor to re-connect and improve my professional relationship with my trainees", commented Ruth Sambaleni in her evaluation report. Upon receiving his CPD certificate from MIND, this is what Moses Wajanja had to say: "MIND has rejuvenated my positive attitude in approaching and delivering training, but above all to self-evaluate myself on a regular basis".

(This report can be downloaded in full as a pdf document. )

Last updated 11/11/2011