Rwanda – Online capacity-building for local English Language Trainers

In Spring 2020, Edinburgh College began working with the British Council Rwanda to design and develop the content for a 10-week online English Language teacher training course, and to support the British Council in its blended delivery to mentor teacher trainers in Rwanda.

The course formed part of the Building Learning Foundations Programme (BLF) funded by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), which aims to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in all of Rwanda’s Government-funded primary schools.

As part of the project, Edinburgh College academics developed an interactive 10 week (30 hour) blended EFL teacher training course, specifically designed so that participants graduated the course ready to deliver high-quality English sessions for teachers in Rwanda following the Intensive English course syllabus already developed as part of the BLF programme. The Edinburgh College team also designed two written assignments to assess learners’ progress on the course, as well as worked with the British Council to create a suitable assessment framework for observed teaching practice, and session guidelines for post teaching practice feedback, reflection, and planning sessions, which were delivered alongside the course face-to-face in Rwanda.

In the next stage of the programme, Edinburgh College remotely monitored and moderated the online work of the 65 trainees who took part in the course.

As the course forms part of the British Council’s wider programme for upscaling intensive English and building local trainer capacity, it was important that Edinburgh College engaged intensively with the British Council at all stages of the course’s design, to ensure the content being developed complimented existing provision and built upon work already undertaken as part of the project.

The development of this project shows Edinburgh College’s ability to design and deliver high-quality bespoke online English Language and Teacher training solutions, and to provide consultancy services on their implementation, for partners around the world.