Overview of successes and challenges of Introducing Student Centred Approaches in Pre-service Science Teacher Education in Cambodia

1. Introducing Student Centred
Approaches in Pre-service
Science Teacher Education
in Cambodia
World Conference on Science and Technology Education,
September 29 – October 3, 2013

2. Objectives
Successes & challenges in a
science teacher trainer development programme
between 2008 and 2013
in Cambodia

3. VVOB in a Nutshell
Education for Development
Quality, Efficiency and Effectiveness
• Technical assistance
• Strengthen Capacity
• Local partnerships
• Focus on Meso-level capacity
• Link with Macro-level policy & Micro-level needs
Bridge the North and the South
• Internships
• School Links
• Partnerships with Flemish University Colleges
Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance
Founded in 1982 as a non-profit organisation
Main donors are the Belgian and Flemish governments

4. Objective: Graduate teachers apply improved teaching methodology
Strategy: Capacity Strengthening of Pre-service Teacher Training for
basic education
Teacher Training Programme
Science education
Biology, Chemistry
Physics, Earth Science

5. Pupils at
primary schools/
lower sec schools
MoEYS central level (TTD), donors, …
SEAL
Programme
Teacher Trainers
at PTTCs/RTTCs
Student Teachers
at PTTCs/RTTCs
Target groups

6. 75 % of teachers
96 % of university students
67 % of all primary and secondary school pupils
…were killed/starved when the Khmer Rouge was in power.
Long-term Impact on the Education System and
Human & Social Capital in Cambodia
Cambodia: the legacy of Pol Pot
71.2% of children aged 12-14 are not enrolled in secondary schools

7. Education Indicator Year Cambodia
Net enrollment primary education (%) 2011 98
Gross enrollment primary education (%) 2011 126
Completion rate primary education (%) 2011 90
Progression to secondary school (%) 2010 80
Overaged primary school attendance (%) 2010 42
% population 15-24 not complete primary edu. (%) 2010 32
Pupil-teacher ratio, primary 2010 48
Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary 2007 29
Literacy rate, youth total (% of people ages 15-24) 2009 87
Education Indicators

8. • EFA Development Index 2010
(N = 127)
Source: UNESCO 2012
Cambodia: Quality of Education
EDI Component Value Ranking
1. UPE 0.957 59
2. Literacy 0.739 94
3. Gender 0.883 97
4. Quality 0.621 111
Overall EDI 0.801 100

9. Significance
• Relevance of teaching quality (Hattie, 2009)
• Prevalence of rote learning
• Increasing relevance of science lessons & motivation
 Reduce number of drop-outs and increase proportion of
students studying science.

10. Theory
• PCK – TPACK (Schulman, 1986, 1987; Mishra & Koehler, 2006)
– Components of subject knowledge
– Vs. generic pedagogical focus (Ball, 1991) and technological
determinism (Oliver, 2011)
– Including
• Alternative representations
• Typical misconceptions
• Choice of examples
• Student activities
• Curriculum knowledge

11. Example PCK
Textbook Earth Science

12. Example PCK
Teachers doing a ‘solar system walk’

13. Theory: Student-Centred Approaches
• Learning model (Lea et al., 2003)
– Active students
– Deep learning and understanding
– Shared responsibility & accountability for learning outcomes
– Sense of autonomy
– Position of teacher
– Reflexive approach to teaching and learning

14. Examples Student Centred Approaches
Concept Tests & Peer Instruction Active reading & writing
Reasoning (Donuts) Experiments

15. Zero and Low-Cost Experiments

16. Zero and Low-Cost Experiments

17. Programme Implementation
• Piloting & mainstreaming stage
• 20 days of training (2-year period)
• Peer learning workshops
• Lesson observations (2/ year)
• Support monthly technical meetings at college
• Teaching resources in Khmer
– Teacher manuals, experiment boxes, posters, multimedia, labs
– Quality assurance by MoEYS

18. Evaluation
Outcome
Knowledge and skills
Usage of materials
Impact
Behaviour and attitude change
Higher motivation and satisfaction.
Improved learning outcomes (pupils)
Institutional level
(MoEYS)
Interviews with MoEYS officials Interviews with MoEYS officials
Plans (TDAP, ICT Master plan)
Organisational level
(TTCs)
Reports to MoEYS
Checklist s
Interviews with TTC Management
Individual level
Teacher trainers Lesson Observations
Survey
Focus Group discussion
Interviews with teacher trainers
Teachers Lesson Observations In-depth interviews young teachers
Student teachers Lesson Observations during
practicum
Lesson plan analysis
Interviews with student teachers
Interviews with young teachers
Pupils Lesson observations in schools

19. Findings: Use of SCA by teacher trainers
Comparison of use of various SCA by science teacher trainers in 2012 and 2013

20. Results: Quantity
• High reported usage, but decrease one school
year after training
– Shorter school year
– More selective use after trying out

21. Results: Quality
• Main findings from lesson observations
– Limited content knowledge
– Deductive approach (use of experiments)
– Classroom size & infrastructure
– Narrow interpretation of SCA (‘getting student active’)
– Positive effects on student motivation

22. Success Factors
• Involvement teacher trainers & MoEYS from early stage
• Collaborative definition of priorities in curriculum
• Measuring impact using existing data
• Week-long workshops complemented with regular
‘lesson study’ sessions to build capacity

23. Challenges
Challenges reported by science, pedagogy and agriculture teacher trainers for integrating SCA
(2011 – 2013)

24. Challenges
• Role & authority of the teacher
• Availability vs. accessibility of materials
• Limited preparation time (salary reform)
• ‘Wide and shallow’ curriculum
• Weak accountability structures & incentives (North, 1994)

25. References
• Links
– http://vvob.be/cambodia/
– http://www.slideshare.net/StefaanVandeWalle/
• Contact
– @stefaanvw
– Stefaan.vandewalle@vvob.be