Teacher Support Department Conducts Annual Middle School Programme Trainings

The Aga Khan University Examination Board’s (AKU-EB’s) Teacher Support department conducted a series of trainings across Pakistan, centered around AKU-EB’s Middle School Programme (MSP). This undertaking began in late March lasting all the way till the end of May, and saw members of the Teacher Support department travel to Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, interior Sindh and Punjab before conducting a final round of trainings in Karachi. A total of 998 participants from over 100 different schools were able to benefit, with a great deal of appreciation being expressed for the hard work of the team during this process.

Three different types of trainings were conducted during this period, depending on the needs of schools in each region. 

MSP Beginner Trainings were offered to individual schools that planned to begin conducting the MSP, so as to introduce participants to the logic behind project-based learning, the importance of interdisciplinary learning and the application of learning to students’ everyday lives. The trainings also taught new MSP participants about both the conduct of the programme, as well as how to assess students on the basis of competencies as outlined by the programme (i.e. communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking etc).

MSP Refresher Trainings were offered to schools that were already conducting the programme, but might have hired new teachers since their initial orientation or might still want additional training for their faculty. These trainings were also sometimes conducted for multiple schools in one region, depending on the need presented at the time.

Annual Teacher Meetings, the third and final type of training, consisted of sessions attended by multiple schools in the region that had already been conducting the MSP during the current cycle. The sessions presented these schools with the opportunity to come together and share their learning, achievements and challenges during this period, while operating in a collaborative atmosphere that promoted new ideas and inter-institutional learning. This type of training also represents a part of AKU-EB’s yearlong “MSP ongoing support programme”, which aims to identify the main problems individual schools may encounter with the MSP over the course of the year and then offer customised sessions to address these problems during the team’s visit. Finally, these trainings also consisted of sessions that were aimed at helping teachers to facilitate students better. 

Participants across Pakistan shared their positive sentiments about the trainings. 

Alvina Abaidullah from Jadeed Dastgir Ideal High School, Gujranwala, remarked: “My experiences with the training and with the MSP have been wonderful! I’ve learned many new things during this whole process, and feel I can better implement the MSP in the future.”

In all cases, trainings were aimed at engaging participants through creative activities that represented the concepts being communicated. For instance, a game of Tic Tac Toe saw participants from different schools paired together and asked to share their individual experiences and ideas as a group in a unique way. The “MSP Teacher Train” activity attempted to physically demonstrate the “train of thought” and process behind the conduct of the MSP, helping teachers to visualise the project, while “Symbol Tombola” imparted techniques to participants on how to be more observant and mindful towards students during MSP competency assessment. Finally, “Flagup” was an activity that asked participants to observe one another whilst working and recognise each individual’s dedication by awarding them flags featuring positive adjectives. 

“Such meetings are extremely useful to learn from each other’s experiences,” said Rafiq Alana from Aga Khan School, Garden, Karachi. “The way facilitators adapted to deal with sessions today was very motivating!”

Manager, Teacher Support, Ali Bijani stated: “Despite severe weather conditions such as an avalanche and snowfall in Gilgit-Baltistan, as well as heatstroke in parts of Sindh, we persevered! We travelled the length of Pakistan, met many inspiring individuals and reached many different communities. I am proud of my entire team for their hard work and dedication.”