2017-08-22

Mastercard Foundation – AIMS Teacher Training Program enhances the skills of graduating Pre-Service teachers

The TTP has as goal to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in secondary schools in Cameroon. Part of the strategy is to train all the Mathematics Lecturers at the Higher Teacher Training Colleges (HTTCs) in the nation so that they, in addition to adopting the specialized TTP curriculum, can incorporate the TTP methodology into their teaching practices. The HTTC Lecturers began implementing the TTP methodology during the 2016-2017 academic year, thus exposing over 400 new mathematics teachers to the enhanced teaching practices.

However, since this year’s graduating class of future teachers has only had one year of exposure to the TTP methodologies, one of the important activities of the TTP is to provide follow-up and additional support. Therefore the TTP organized end-of-year workshops for the graduating mathematics student teachers at 3 HTTCs: Maroua (19th – 22nd May), Bambili (12th -14th July), and Yaoundé (18th – 20th July). The goal of the workshops was to provide additional Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes to complement what they received from the HTTC so that they can be posted to schools across the nation and be agents of change immersed in the philosophy of teaching mathematics differently in their schools.

The numbers of participating* Pre-Service Teachers were as follows:

HTTCFemalesMalesTotal
Maroua1092102
Bamenda29171204
Yaounde47074
Total43333376

The Pre-Service Teachers were trained on the following subjects:

  1. Reading and exploitation of the mathematics syllabus;
  2. Different pedagogic documents;
  3. Qualities of a good mathematics lesson;
  4. Lesson preparation and Delivery;
  5. Mathematical thinking and Problem Solving;
  6. Conception and Implementation of activities in the maths lesson;
  7. Gender responsive pedagogy;
  8. Management of maths as a subject.
  9. Community of Teachers
  10. Different school councils

The objectives of the workshop were to: provide an overview of the objectives and activities of the TTP; prepare pre-service teachers for better insertion into the teaching profession; reinforce the training these students have received in the HTTCs by equipping pre-service teachers with knowledge, skills and the attitudes they need to have so as to be amazing math teachers, and how to prepare and deliver participatory, engaging, interactive and gender sensitive mathematics lessons. Trainees during the evaluations indicated that they learned how to use active participation methods that allowed them to learn from each other and internalize the knowledge better.