Government, educational experts laud TEN initiative

Accra, Dec. 5, GNA - Government has lauded the efforts of the brains behind The Educators Network (TEN) initiative, assuring them of continuous support for the project.

From some 150 teachers who received training during the maiden TEN Conference in 2012, the initiative now attracts over 500 teachers annually from both public and private educational institutions, and imparts creative teaching approaches to them.

Letitia Naami Oddoye, founded TEN some seven years ago, when she was a teacher at the Lincoln Community School (LCS) in partnership with Sylvia Ampofo, Shula Glymin and Juliette Awua- Kyerematen, who are also teachers at LCS.

Lincoln Community School has adopted the TEN Teachers’ Conference as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative and this has encouraged more teachers of the LCS to volunteer to teach participants and to ensure that these educators in turn, pass on the creative learning skills they have acquired to their students.

“We cherish the teachers in this school, for all that they do, especially for equipping and allowing other teachers in both public and private schools to assemble at their premises to improve themselves and to pass on same to our children,” Gifty Twum Ampofo, a Deputy Minister of Education, said at the 11th Teaching and Learning Conference of TEN.

Some 600 teachers took part in the workshop.

Operating under the theme, ‘Inclusive Learning, Serving Every Child,’ members of TEN engaged Ghanaian teachers in workshops that sought to demonstrate how regular subjects could be planned and taught through the lens of inclusion, driven by formative assessments, with the goal of developing students who are independent problem solvers and creative thinkers.

Ghanaian academician, writer and educator, with the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana, Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy paid glowing commendation to the four originators of the initiative and other members of the Network.

Prof Sutherland-Addy was full of praise for the originators of the initiative, for their dream, stressing “it’s important to see people who have a dream but also take that dream and turn it into reality against all odds.”

Justifying the importance of the initiative, the celebrated writer said the teacher had to first be a learner. “The teacher must be the person who first gets joy from learning from multiple sources and then also gets joy of imparting what they have learnt,” she said.

She said it is non-negotiable for teachers to prepare adequately before presenting themselves before their students to teach them.  “It is disrespectful even to a child to go to them without getting yourself organized and preparing to see them,” Prof Addy said.

Speaking on the theme, Prof Addy urged teachers to give special attention to children who suffer exclusion due to their economic and social circumstances.

“Those sorts of children need your special attention; don’t discourage them,” she appealed.

Turning her attention to what she termed gender inclusiveness, Prof Addy drew the attention of teachers to gender responsive pedagogy which is a way of getting both boys and girls to respect each other, learn from each other and bring the best out of themselves.

GNA

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