Not goodbye to all that Enabling skills-sharing for sustainability Andy Keedwell Betru Shiferaw

1. Not goodbye to all that Enabling skills-sharing for sustainability Andy Keedwell Betru Shiferaw Kaleab Tensay Peter Hare Ethiopian Ministry of National Defence British Council Ethiopia Peacekeeping English Project

2. Our context • PEP funded by British Conflict Prevention Pool (FCO, MOD, DFID). • Managed by British Council in-country. • Set up 2008 with Ethiopian Ministry of National Defence as 5 or 6 year project, but British funding released on an annual basis. • Aim: to establish a sustainable system of English language training to support provision of Ethiopian peacekeepers to UN & AU missions. • Current focus on sustainability, not saying ‘goodbye’.

3. Where we work Shire: Central Command (2008) Mekele: Northern Command (2008) Bahir Dar: Western Command (2008) Harar: Eastern Command (2008) Addis Ababa: Resource Management College (2008) Peacekeeping Centre (2009) Debre Zeit: Air Force Command (2010) Hawassa: Special Forces (2010) Hawassa: Special Forces (2010)

4. What does project sustainability really mean? A much abused term……..rather unexplored in an ELT context ………….and often ill defined……………… British Council support in Ethiopia in itself is not sustainable – but a successful handover needs to result in continued programme delivery by the recipients of support to date. In our context……… Ensuring local partners are able to maintain / develop a flow of benefits, outputs and some, if not all, activities associated with the project to an acceptable level after the withdrawal of British Council and without external support.

5. Why we are relatively optimistic … Management factors • Policy fit: Ethiopia’s commitment to peacekeeping, Britain’s interest in region. • High level support from EMOND. • Realistic aims. • EMOND funding from start of project. • Participative management and development of leadership at central and local levels. • Ownership of and responsibility for resources.

6. Why we are relatively optimistic … Teacher focused factors • Specific target groups with clear needs and objectives. • Needs based training: teachers, coordinators, support personnel. • Teachers trained to CELTA level –a valuable professional resource. • A developing ‘climate of change’ in education in Ethiopia with buy-in from classroom practitioners.

7. Human resources: before handover can be successful • Trained personnel able to provide mentoring and induction for teachers newly recruited to the base. • A source of further training: CELTA trained teachers able to deliver training courses to less experienced teachers. • An experienced, capable, professional testing team able to supervise all aspects of test design and delivery. • Trained teachers able at each base to coordinate materials and support material design. • Trained teachers and military personnel at each base capable of supervising technology.

8. Meeting needs through further training: developing sustainability Becoming a Mentor: developing mentoring skills and developing an induction course: summer 2011. Becoming a Trainer: learning how to train and delivering (with support) an initial course to less experienced teachers: summer 2011. Ongoing support for testers and Item Writing course led by external consultant: autumn 2011. Developing and coordinating materials: autumn 2011. Coordinators’ meeting with focus on ensuring sustainability: winter 2011. Information technology training for teachers and relevant military personnel: spring 2012

9. Testing team: Ways of training • Learning to write test items: production and review. • Understanding and discussing test specifications. • Learning to exploit resource materials to produce tests, including authentic materials. • Learning the value of team-working. • A focus on trialing before full delivery.

10. Testing team: The results Overcoming challenges…… • Overcoming achievement-test based teacher misconceptions. • The challenge of standardising grading of speaking and writing: courses and training. • Test analysis – putting it into practice. • Helping candidates to become more familiar with the nature of a proficiency test. • Sharing, team-working and upgrading skills and knowledge.

11. Mentors: Ways of training • Production of a mentoring manual by mentors. • Identifying the qualities of an effective mentor – and how to put these qualities into practice. • Active listening – ideas and practice • Identifying and selecting ways of learning mentors prefer – and making decisions as to how mentees prefer to learn. • Advantages of observation – in a classroom setting. • Giving feedback – how can it be done without imposing ideas, methods and techniques?

12. Mentors: Ways of training

13. Mentors: The results

14. Teacher trainers: Ways of training • Enabling trainee teachers to identify what they want from a teacher-trainer - links between training and teaching. • Enabling trainee trainers to see what training requires beyond teaching – intervening, commenting, exploiting personal experience and teacher stories. • Enabling trainee trainers to assess the target situation and target needs – in an interactive way. • Enabling teacher trainers to identify possible sources of resistance to change – within the specific context. • Equipping trainee teachers with a range of techniques for stimulating and facilitating discussion and demonstrating activities with follow-up.

15. Teacher trainers: the results • A trained team of five novice teacher trainers. • Very positive evaluation of trainer performance by trainees. • Trainer able to train with support – developing independence. • Next course planned for 2012. • Challenges: sources of input? Peer training? Discussion groups?

16. Ongoing issues connected to a handover • Management of programme at centre and regions. • Resource management: of software, books, resources, stationery, software security and computers in general. • Financial support: Issues related to permanent budget allocation. • Teacher retention. • Establishment of a testing commission.

17. Conclusion • Teacher development: ALL: Courses seen as necessary to develop as teachers in this context. SPECIALISMS: Involve all teachers in a minimum of one: teacher training, mentoring, testing, SAC/IT. • At what point can we be sure an acceptable number of activities will continue after project closure? • The need to balance relatively long-term project planning with realisation funding can be cut at short notice at the end of every British financial year.