1
Lessons from the Aga Khan School Improvement
programmes in East Africa

• A Presentation made to the
• 15th International Congress for
• School Effectiveness and Improvement, Copenhagen,
  Denmark, 3-7 January 2002

David Hopkins
2
Overview

• The Aga Khan School Improvement Programme in East
  Africa
• Six Key Issues
• A Policy Proposal
• A Perspective on Educational Innovation in
  Developing Countries
• This presentation is based on Chapter 10 The
  Aga Khan Foundation East African School
  Improvement Initiative An International Change
  Perspective by David Hopkins, in in Anderson, S
  ed. (2002) School Improvement in the Developing
  World Case Studies of the Aga Khan Foundation
  Projects. Lisse, The Netherlands Swets and
  Zeitlinger Publishers. Electronic copy available
  from david.hopkins_at_nottingham.ac.uk

3
The Aga Khan School Improvement Programme
Principles

• School based
• Whole school as unit of change
• On-going professional development of teachers
• Attend to school management and other
  organisational conditions
• Prepare for institutionalisation and
  sustainability
• Involve stakeholders.

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The Aga Khan School Improvement Programme
Strategies

• Investment in district level teacher development
  personnel
• The emphasis on enhancing teachers general
  pedagogical expertise
• A focus on the adoption and use of child centred
  activity oriented methods of teaching and
  learning and
• The promotion of data-based decision-making for
  school development.

5
A Brief Summary of the Aga Khan Projects from a
School Improvement Perspective

• The purpose of this section is to provide a
  brief review of the Aga Khan projects in East
  Africa from a school improvement perspective.
  The intention is simply to provide a context for
  the analysis of key issues that follows. For
  details about the individual projects, the reader
  should refer to School Improvement in the
  Developing World Case Studies of the Aga Khan
  Foundation Projects edited by Anderson (2002).

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The Mzizima Secondary School Improvement Program,
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

• The Mzizima Secondary School in Dar-es-Salaam
  provided the focus for the first Aga Khan school
  improvement project. The Aga Khan Foundation
  funded a three-phase project at the school
  between 1985 1994. Phase I and Phase II
  (1985-90) focused on development of curriculum
  and learning resources and teaching strategies
  for the transition from Kiswahili to English
  medium instruction. Phase III (1991-94) of the
  Mzizima SIP had the following aims
• to sustain the accomplishments of Phases I and
  II
• institutionalization of the school improvement
  project (SIP) structures and processes
• to involve all subject areas and teachers, and to
  shift SIP activity from curriculum development to
  improvement in teachers pedagogical knowledge
  and skills,
• to develop the leadership capacity of teachers in
  the school to carry out the process on their own
  and,
• to continue to share the Mzizima SIP experience
  with other Tanzanian schools and educational
  institutions.

7
The Kisumu Municipality School Improvement
Project, Western Kenya.

• This Aga Khan supported school improvement
  project (SIP) began in January 1990 in response
  to declining academic standards in the Kisumu
  Municipality as measured on the Kenya Certificate
  of Primary Education (KCPE). The aim of the SIP
  was to improve the quality of teaching and
  learning in primary schools in the Kisumu
  Municipality by promoting the adoption of
  child-centered teaching methods and developing
  strategies to institutionalize the processes and
  outcomes. The school improvement strategy
  involved training teachers in a workshop setting,
  providing classroom-based technical assistance
  and support and providing instructional materials
  to support learning.

8
The Kampala Primary Schools Improvement Project,
Uganda.

• The Kampala School Improvement Project (SIP)
  began in November 1994 for an intended period of
  three years. The purpose of the SIP was to
  improve the quality of teaching and learning in
  Kampala primary schools through the promotion,
  institutionalisation and adoption of
  child-centred teaching methods and resources in
  project schools. This was to be achieved through
  a training model similar to Kisumu where a team
  of local master teachers were recruited and
  trained to provide workshops and intensive school
  based assistance to successive cohorts of
  government and privately funded primary schools
  in urban Kampala. The project also adopted a
  child-centred approach that they defined as
  increased extent of activity-based learning
  through greater pupil participation and group
  discussions.

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The Mombassa Primary Schools Improvement Project,
Kenya.

• The Mombassa School Improvement project (MSIP)
  began in 1994 for an intended five years. This
  SIP built on the lessons of the Kisumu and
  Kampala projects and was more ambitious than its
  predecessors. It was designed to influence all
  primary schools in the District (initially 112
  but grew to 162 during the lifetime of the
  project) and to explicitly enhance capacity
  building within the local educational system.
  The aim of MSIP was to improve the quality of
  teaching and learning in Mombassa primary schools
  through the promotion of child-centered teaching
  methods. The key strategy for achieving this
  goal was classroom-based in-service teacher
  training. Others were the provision of
  headteacher training, increasing the capacity
  of school management committees and local
  education authority systems and the involvement
  of parents.

10
The Dar-es-Salaam Primary Schools Improvement
Project, Tanzania.

• The Dar-es-Salaam Primary Schools Project
  (DPSP) is being implemented in the Kinondoni
  District. It began in 1996 for completion in
  March 2000, and works with 15 of the Districts
  70 public primary schools. It has introduced 5
  schools to the program in each of 3 Cycles. The
  DPSP addresses whole school improvement in light
  of Tanzania Government policy to decentralize the
  education sector. The main foci have been the
  strengthening of the capacity of school
  committees and school heads to manage schools
  effectively and efficiently, and to provide
  professional support for teachers of English,
  Mathematics and Science. The Projects approach
  combines a center-based training model using a
  modular approach, as well as school-based
  support, follow-up and monitoring.

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The Zanzibar Secondary English Language
Orientation Project

• This project is quite different to the other
  five described here in that it caters for a quite
  specific need - the introduction of English
  medium instruction in schools. The project has
  largely focused on curriculum development so the
  emphasis on training and skill levels seen in
  other projects are not as well developed. The
  Zanzibar education system is unique in Africa in
  providing ten years of basic education. Gradual
  reorganization of the system has allowed the
  phasing in of an orientation year, but the future
  of an orientation year is therefore uncertain,
  given that the Ministry in Zanzibar is planning
  to move teaching in the medium of English down
  through primary schools. There is a strong push
  towards teaching in the medium of English in
  Zanzibar and approaches such as the FIELOC
  developed in the Aga Khan Mzizima Secondary
  School have been utilized in the SELOP course.

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Lessons from the Aga Khan School Improvement
Programme

• The commitment to child centred learning
• Curriculum versus pedagogic development
• The focus on teacher learning, professional
  development and leadership training
• The school as the unit of change and capacity
  building
• Local support infrastructure
• Sustainability

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The Commitment to Child Centred Learning

• Defining Child Centred Learning
• Differing Perspectives on Child Centred Learning
• The Case for Constructivist Approaches
• The Need to Focus on Learning as well as
  Attainment

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Curriculum Versus Pedagogic Development

• Child Centred Learning and School Based
  Curriculum Development
• What is a Curriculum?
• Models of Learning - Tools for Teaching
• Implications - link curriculum and instruction
  and develop a range of comprehensive programmes

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The Focus on Teacher Learning and Leadership

• The East African context
• The theory-demonstration- practice-feedback
  paradigm
• The workshop - workplace distinction
• Leadership for transforming learning

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Whole School Approaches and Capacity Building

• The necessity for a whole school approach
• Components of capacity
• Knowledge, skills and dispositions of staff
• A Professional learning community
• Programme coherence
• Technical resources

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Local Support Infrastructure

• Networks have the potential to support
  educational innovation and change by
• Disseminating good practice
• Keeping the focus on teaching and learning.
• Enhancing the skill of teachers
• Building capacity for continuous improvement at
  the local level
• Ensuring that systems of pressure and support are
  integrated
• Acting as a link between the centralised and
  decentralised initiatives.

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Sustainability

• Human resource issues
• Re-professionalisation
• Conceptualising strategies with whole systems in
  mind
• High degree of policy consistency

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Strengths and Weaknesses of the Aga Khan School
Improvement Programme

• The main strength of the initiative was that it
  focussed on the crucial lacuna in current reform
  initiatives, the lack of attention to capacity
  building.
• The main weakness of the Aga Khan approach was
  that it was insufficiently strategic. This is not
  to say that the focus on child centered learning
  and capacity building was wrong, it was rather
  that they needed to be conceptualised somewhat
  differently. In educational cultures like those
  in East Africa there is a desperate need for
  curriculum and teaching programmes that directly
  effect student learning in achievable and
  practical ways.

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Powerful Learning, Powerful Teaching and Powerful
Schools
Learning Potential of all Students
Repertoire of Learning Skills
Models of Learning - Tools for Teaching
Embedded in Curriculum Context and Schemes of Work
Whole School Emphasis on High Expectations and
Pedagogic Consistency
Sharing Schemes of Work and Curriculum Across and
Between Schools, Clusters, LEAs and Nationally
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Towards a Policy Framework

• Focus unrelentingly on student achievement,
  learning and empowerment.
• Create professional learning communities within
  schools.
• Fund the development and evaluation of a range of
  curriculum and teaching programmes.
• Help schools make informed choices across a range
  of models.
• Target funding and support for implementation of
  proven practices.
• Establish support networks at all levels of the
  system.

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How Schools Improve(Dalin 1994XVII)

• Dalin notes that many people assumed that there
  were certain obvious truths about reform
• reforms should be incremental and gradual rather
  than wide-ranging
• tight inspection and control are essential for
  success
• the issue is designing a reform and its materials
  so well that it can be implemented faithfully and
  well with minimal training and assistance, in
  other words teachers are consumers of new
  reform ideas
• success depends mainly on the quality of the
  reform ideas
• schools in general are resistant to reforms
• either top-down or bottom-up strategic work
  depending on the educational context referred to.
• In line with the Aga Khan approach, Dalin notes,
  all these obvious truths have been shown to be
  false.

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How Schools Improve Study Findings

1. Educational reform is a local process.
2. Central support is vital.
3. Effective system linkages are essential.
4. The reform process is a learning process.
5. Think systemic and big.

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How Schools Improve Study Findings contd

1. Focus on classroom practice.
2. See teachers as learners.
3. Commitment is essential at all levels.
4. Both local and central initiatives work.
5. Parent and community participation contribute to
   success.

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The Breakdown of the Culture of Learning and
Teaching (Pam Christie)

• Recognise the complex group and organisational
  dynamics crippling the work of schools
• The major task is the regeneration of schools as
  functioning organisations.
• The substantive task of learning and teaching
  needs to be bolstered.
• Organisational failure needs to be remedied in
  terms of school management and leadership.
• Build a sense of agency and responsibility at the
  school level.

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For more information on our approach to teacher
development and school improvement

• Hopkins D (2001) School Improvement For Real.
  London Routledge / Falmer.
• Hopkins D (2002) Improving the Quality of
  Education for All. London David Fulton
  Publishers.
• Hopkins D (2002) A Teachers Guide to Classroom
  Research (3rd Ed.). Buckingham Open University
  Press.
• Hopkins D and Harris A (2000) Creating the
  Conditions for Teaching and Learning. London
  David Fulton Publishers.
• Joyce B, Calhoun E and Hopkins D (2001) Models of
  Learning Tools for Teaching (2nd Ed.).
  Buckingham Open University Press.
• Joyce B, Calhoun E and Hopkins D (1999) The New
  Structure of School Improvement. Buckingham
  Open University Press.

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Presenter Note

• David Hopkins is currently Professor of Education
  at the University of Nottingham, where between
  1996 and 2001 he served as both Head of the
  School and Dean of the Faculty of Education. He
  is also Chair of the Leicester City Partnership
  Board and a member of the Governing Council of
  the National College for School Leadership.
• David Hopkins professional interests are in the
  areas of teacher and school development,
  educational change, teacher education, and policy
  implementation and evaluation, and he has
  published over thirty books on these themes.
  Among the most recent are School Improvement For
  Real (Routledge / Falmer, 2001) A Teacher's
  Guide to Classroom Research (Third Edition, Open
  University Press, 2002) Models of Learning -
  Tools for Teaching (with Bruce Joyce and Emily
  Calhoun, Second Edition, Open University Press,
  2002) and, Improving the Quality of Education
  for All (Fulton, 2002).
• David Hopkins becomes Director of the Standards
  and Effectiveness Unit at the Department for
  Education and Skills in February 2002 , and in
  that position succeeds Michael Barber as the
  Chief Adviser to the Secretary of State on
  standards issues. He is also an International
  Mountain Guide and has climbed in many of the
  world's great mountain ranges.