Scale seeks simplicity. Therein lies both a solution and a problem – at least for those working in large-scale implementation of educational improvement processes.

To be able to scale, you need to ensure that your intervention is: 1. Clear and communicable (i.e. does not need some very specialised level of knowledge to understand, and can be expressed in simple, short words)
2. Doable (has a limited number of specific steps that can be visualised and are likely to lead to the desired result, as evidenced

The Seven Secrets of Effective Teacher Training!

1.Understand the difference between competence, performance and effectiveness? Which one are you aiming at? Does your design and duration take that into account? (Key issue: most TPD programmes end up + being limited to the first – hence we do not see change in classroom practices)

2.What we don’t experience for ourselves, we can’t generate for others – teachers need to experience in training what they are required to create in their classrooms. (Key issue: most +

TPD is less about teaching/instructing teachers and more about enabling internal change - on how participants view students, learning, teaching, their own role. And then actually begin to practice the new in their classrooms, sustain and succeed, for their students and themselves f this is indeed the case, this will affect what we currently include, the performance standards we work towards, the methods we use, the preparation of faculty and teacher educators, the role of supportive supervisors, and the manner in which we assess TPD. +

The 'We Did It In Ethiopia' problem

During the years I frequented Afghanistan (2003-06), many an evening was spent under early curfew, unable to step out of our guesthouses/hotels after 4.30 pm. This naturally led to whoever was so confined coming together for + long conversations over unending dinners. Consultants who had worked in several other countries exchanged notes and one of the most commonly heard statements to wind up some long narration was: 'So there you have it - this is how we did it in Ethiopia (or wherever else). And +

Thread ahead!
When Maharshi Raman was asked ‘What is the proper way to treat others?’, he said: ‘There are no others.’

This should give us pause, shouldn’t it? While education should help strengthen our understanding of who we are, shore up our identity, it also needs to go beyond and establish we are different but not separate, not disconnected. Valuing one’s community, clan or country doesn't require hating others. Yet even as economies are globalized and the looming climate calamities make our very survival contingent on collaboration