Since 2013 we have been working in partnership with Maybank Foundation to deliver the ‘Teacher Development Project’ (TDP). This 3 year programme has been supporting primary school teachers, largely in rural contexts, in 9 states across East and West Malaysia through training, mentoring and remote learning. TDP has 2 main aims:
- To develop teachers' skills and knowledge so they are more able to facilitate effective communicative language learning within their schools, enabling pupils to learn more English by actively using it.
- To develop teachers' ability to independently manage their continuing professional development, through reflective practice.
Each year project teachers progress through a development cycle that starts with training on effective teaching techniques within the primary classroom. Teachers then return to their schools where they put it into practice in their own classrooms through a series of tasks. British Council teacher trainers visit teachers in their schools to mentor and support the teachers. In addition, teachers record and reflect upon their teaching through the use of smartphones enabling them to independently identify areas for further development, while providing evidence of best practice which can be shared with others.
The legacy of the project will be to provide schools with teachers trained in reflective practice ready to cascade their knowledge within their schools.