Jill Trites, senior teaching specialist in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, is spending her summer in Mozambique working with private and public school teachers. She has been observing the 15 primary teachers at the non-profit elementary RAIS School in Mafarinha, Mozambique, and then conferencing with the teachers and the school director.
Some of the issues they are working on include class discipline, lesson planning (organization and preparation), and the use of authentic materials. Many of the teachers have completed a nine-month teaching certificate program, but they did not have many opportunities to student teach during their training. In addition to the work with the RAIS School, Trites will be conducting the same type of observation-conferencing opportunities with several teachers at a nearby public school. It will be very different because the average class size at the RAIS School is 28 while it is 60-65 at the public school.