“From attendance to fun”: Teachers apply new skills in the classroom

Entrepreneur Elijah Schaffer has been a teacher for four years, following two years of training to get his certificate. He joined Jeremy AIC school in Kenya this year, teaching maths to four-to-six-year-olds, and had the opportunity to take a one-year remote training course with the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa’s Professional Development Centre. He describes some of the outcomes.

I am very happy to have joined that class.

“With our culture, we use the term duduvule (a type of insect) for someone who cannot meet expectations, for example, is unable to write an answer on the blackboard. Avoiding this language has created a friendly environment between me and the learners. When no harsh language is coming from me, the learners expect to hear something good from their teacher.

“Some of the learners are Muslim, some are Christian, some don’t have a religion. You need to be very careful in what language and examples you are using. I can now handle learners with different speeds of learning, those from different backgrounds, and according to their gender.

“The course has also made me very proud of my lesson plans – maths has turned from attendance into fun. Instead of being given information, the learners explore things. I have gained a reactive method of handling maths: if today a teaching method does not work well then tomorrow I will change this method.

“When I applied for the training, I hoped I would learn how to be a better maths teacher, and learn skills for handling my class – and I achieved 90 percent of what I hoped for.”