eduSHARE from South Africa | Home language in the classroom
In 2023, Barbara Vauterin and Lisa-Marie Deman, two final-year students of the Bachelor of Primary Education at VIVES University of Applied Sciences, went to Durban in South Africa. They did a three-month internship at Mthombeni Primary School. During this international internship, we asked them to identify inspiring or interesting educational practices that can be used in teacher training in Flanders. For this purpose, they used the eduSHARE flow.
eduSHARE from Rwanda | Girls in technical education
This eduSHARE was developed by Lise Delbeke and Febe Deschrevel, two final-year students of the educational bachelor of secondary education mathematics and economics at VIVES University of Applied Sciences. During their internship at a secondary school in Rwanda, they interviewed four students about how to get girls more interested in technical education.
Planetary citizenship: a more holistic and inclusive approach
eNSPIRED spoke to Silvia Elisabeth Moraes. She works at the Faculty of Education of the Universidade Federal do Ceará in Brazil and is currently supervising an interdisciplinary project on planetary citizenship in the curriculum of a Brazilian university. While you have probably heard of global citizenship, Silvia prefers to talk about planetary citizenship.
Publication | 8 years of eNSPIRED: an overview
In this publication, we are looking back at the achievements of the eNSPIRED programme over the past few years. Since 2014, we have been organising workshops, seminars and learning weeks for teacher trainers, educations advisers and (future) teachers with education experts from countries in Africa, Asia and South America. We have tried to include all the materials that have been developed. Read, watch, listen and make use of these resources. They are and will remain, at your disposal through our online channels.
A Literature Review on Professional Learning Communities
Besides the inspiring practices, the webinar on PLCs shared key insights from a contemporary review of the empirical research on professional learning communities (PLCs) in twelve countries in Africa, Asia and South America.
Professional learning communities: an online exchange
On 21 October 2021, eNSPIRED organised a webinar on professional learning communities (PLCs). During this webinar the results of an international review study were presented by Dong Nguyen and Ellen Boeren of Glasgow University. Nathalie Aziza from VVOB in Rwanda, Paul Mphisa from VVOB in South Africa and Brenda Akite Otika from STiR Education shared inspiring practical stories, each story focusing on a specific aspect of professional learning communities.
Addressing issues through Professional Learning Communities in Rwanda
From 11 to 15 February 2019, sector educators with support from VVOB in Rwanda facilitated Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) of headteachers in 17 districts. The aim was to identify high priority issues and discuss a way forward.
Professional Learning Communites: a success story from South Africa
The concept of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as a means of teacher collaboration and professional development has proven its success in the Free State province, South Africa. After many officials and teachers were already familiar with the concept, more and more teachers are coming together in PLCs.
Professional Learning Communities: a video series by VVOB in South Africa
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are a way for teachers, school leaders and external experts from different schools to gather and have discussions with a facilitator about specific needs, common challenges and solutions that are established in the classroom. This way of school-based professional development is a form of lifelong learning and has proven to be very effective. To explain this concept, VVOB South Africa developed a series of five videos.
How to deal with newcomers in education?
In spring 2021, Edu by KU Leuven and the Flemish Association for Teacher Educators (VELOV) organised a professionalisation project about acting ethically as a committed teacher trainer in an ethnically and culturally diverse society. Together with our colleague Abbas Kigozi from VVOB in Uganda, two teacher trainers from VIVES college put together a webinar on 'how to deal with newcomers in education?'.
Podcast: The power of international exchange in education
We searched for stories of people who have experienced an international exchange and interviewed them online. The result: a podcast about the power of international exchange in education!
Multilingualism in education: an online exchange
In November 2020, experts from Vietnam, South Africa and Belgium met virtually to exchange expertise and experiences on multilingualism in education. Watch the full recordings here and download the presentations.
Inspiring teachers: Global Teacher Prize 2020
The Global Teacher Prize is an award presented annually to a teacher who has made a significant contribution to the community. eNSPIRED selected the most outstanding stories of teachers who were candidates for the 2020 prize and are thus working on innovations to introduce children to the wonderful world of education and to achieve equity.
Learning through play: iPLAY in Vietnam
Vietnam is changing rapidly. To reach their future potential, primary school pupils need a wide range of skills, including cognitive, social, emotional, physical and creative skills. The school culture in today's Vietnam is highly academic and results-oriented. Classroom practice is therefore very teacher- and knowledge-oriented. To change that, the iPLAY programme was installed by VVOB in Vietnam.
Video: Multilingual Education in South Africa
Dr Diane Rodriguez, Professor at the Fordham University Graduate School of Education loves to observe lingual education classrooms. Together with Dr Margaret Funke Omidire of the University of Pretoria, Dr Rodriguez visited the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria and Laerskool Pretoria-Oos in South Africa. In this video, you will see an observation of an elementry and college Sepedi language class.
Our first podcast: on multilingualism in education
We proudly present our first podcast! To promote the eNSPIRED learning week, VVOB in South-Africa, and the Department of Basic Education engaged in a conversation about multilingualism as an asset in South African education.
Listening tips: podcasts on multilingualism in education
When researching a subject, we think of reading documents, watching videos and delving into the digital archives, but it is also interesting to browse through the wide range of podcasts on offer. That way you discover that extra bit of information. eNSPIRED selected some fascinating and inspiring podcasts on the theme of multilingualism in education. Have fun listening!
Report: Language Policy in Globalised Contexts
Dudley Reynolds, a Teaching Professor of English at the Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, made in collaboration with the research organization of the Carnegie Mellon University and Wise Qatar Foundation a report on language policy in globalised contexts.
Blog post: The centrality of language for learning
In this blog post, Ricardo Sabates, Professor of Education and International Development at the University of Cambridge and member of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre discusses the importance of mother tongue education, using data from a research project in Ghana.
Video: Learning in South Africa’s multilingual classrooms
The British Council of Sub-Saharan Africa aims for inclusive classrooms and believe in its positive benefits. That is why they started Teaching for All, an ambitious material and teacher development project. This video shows the importance of the project in the multilingual situation in South Africa.
On the way to school
The start of the school year may be (or dismay) a delight to millions of kids around the globe. However, it’s important not to forget that, in some parts of the world, even primary education can be a hard-won luxury. Some of the children have to take the most dangerous roads in the world to receive the education that some of us may take for granted. A photo collection showing children on their way to school makes you start thinking about equity in education
FUNDA OER, making a difference in the education landscape in South Africa
To improve teaching and learning for inclusive education, VVOB - education for development together with Inclusive Education South Africa (IESA), South African Council for Educators (SACE) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) worked hard in developing FUNDA, a platform for educational resources.
How to fix South Africa’s Schools: Lessons from schools that work
Discover this manual thet school leaders, teachers, parents, and other community members can use to turn around a dysfunctional or ineffective school.
Meet Jean Paul Sebisogo, a not-so-ordinary school leader from Rwanda
Since 2011, Jean Paul Sebisogo is the school leader of Paysannat L, a basic and secondary school in Rwanda. Among his students are 20,000 Burundian refugees.
Gender and Development for Cambodia: committed to constructive dialogue
In March Satya Roeurn, Programme Officer at Gender and Development for Cambodia (GADC) visited Belgium for the eNSPIRED international learning week on gender and education. He shared his insights on his organisation’s partnership with VVOB in the TIGER project in Cambodia, to transform schools into centres of excellence for gender-responsiveness.
Posters on gender and education
With a series of posters, educational experts from Cambodia and Rwanda told us about the educational context in their countries and how they work on gender equality in schools during the International Learning Week in 2019.
Welcome to the Bambanani series
Each child has the right to quality education and teaching inclusively can contribute to achieving that goal. This series of videos illustrates how teachers are teaching inclusively in South African classrooms. The videos focus on teaching numeracy and literacy in the Foundation and Intermediate phases.
Gender and education: two experts take the floor
During the international guest lecture on gender and education in Ghent on November 13, 2018, gender specialists madeleine kennedy-macfoy from Education International (EI) and Wendelien Vantieghem from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) were looking for a connection between these gender challenges.
YES! Youth Empowerment Surinam
“YES made me aware, so now I follow the right pathway." YES (Youth Empowerment Suriname) organises trainings for young people in which the development of a positive self image and discovering talents are central.
Gender integration in education: the success of training school leaders
With Girls on MARS in Rwanda, VVOB strengthens the professional development opportunities for primary school leaders and improves the mentorship system for newly qualified teachers. Gender is the thread connecting the four modules of the programme.
School clubs: students searching answers to gender challenges
During meetings of the Bubazi and Aspeka clubs, girls and boys exchange opinions about traditional gender roles and reproductive rights. Members of the club are offered a platform for self-development through a mini-enterprise that introduces them to saving systems, problem solving, entrepreneurship and leadership. Through collaboration they learn to share ideas, trust each other and how to be confident, which is beneficial for their self-esteem.
GRP4ECE toolkit: teachers challenge gender stereotypes
VVOB, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and public education partners in Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia have joined forces to develop a practical approach to gender-responsive pedagogy for early childhood education (GRP4ECE). The GRP4ECE toolkit empowers preschool teachers and school leaders to challenge gender stereotypes where they can do the most harm, but where they can also be challenged most effectively: the classroom. An environment free of stereotypes lays a firm foundation for young children to grow up freely exploring and developing their unique interests and talents.
"On a Plate", a short story about privilege
Illustrator Toby Morris reminds us that not everyone gets the same privileges in life, with this brilliant comic titled “On a Plate”. The illustrations depict the story of two individuals born into different households and how their backgrounds and families play a huge role in the kind of opportunities they get in life.
Working towards gender equality and violence-free education in Cambodia
VVOB in Cambodia made a video series with testimonials from gender role models and changemakers on violence-free schools and gender-responsive education in Cambodia. The testimonials are captured as part of the Teaching for Improved Gender Equality and Responsiveness (TIGER) project. In total, there are six testimonials in this video series.
Community Schools make the difference in Zambia
To also offer them local, quality and (almost) free education, parents and voluntary teachers opened the first Community Schools in 1992. By now, these Community Schools are well established in Zambia and no less than thirty per cent of the school-going youth go to such a school.
Quality education using low cost materials
Creative and quality teaching using recycled materials has found its way to teacher trainings in Zambia.