The three teachers who came in second and third
at the Seychelles Partners in Learning Forum share their experience.
Ms Elvina Brutus and Ms Lynn Albert, from Anse aux
Pins primary school, who were awarded second place, and Mrs. Marie-Chantale
Nicole from Beau Vallon secondary school who came in third position, for their
innovative projects in the Seychelles Partners in Learning (PiL) Forum, qualify
to represent Seychelles at the Middle East and Africa PiL Forum which will be
held in Morocco later this year.
Ms Elvina Brutus has been a teacher assistant
for the past sixteen years and her dream is to pursue her studies in the
education field to become a fully qualified teacher. She enjoys working with children aged between
three and five years, she has a passion for the arts and considers herself to
be a creative and innovative person.
Ms Brutus who has been working at crèche level at Anse aux Pins
primary school since 1996, said that she has never had the opportunity to use
ICT in teaching before but wanted to participate in the competition. The project was her idea but she realised
that she needed help to integrate the ICT component in the lesson and therefore
brought her colleague on board.
Ms Lynn Albert who has been a teacher working with
pupils from crèche and primary two level for nine years. Teaching was not her first choice of career,
but she was encouraged by her mother, who is also working in the education
field, and she now finds that she enjoys what she is doing, and has the
patience required for working with pupils in the early childhood level.
The project entitled “Working with numbers” aimed at
helping the crèche pupils understand and master the formation of the numbers,
using the three types of lines - horizontal, vertical and curved lines. The
lesson initially started off with mastering the formation of the number five.
Initially the pupils needed help to familiarise
themselves with the classmate PCs (CMPCs) and once they got started, Ms Elvina
said it was a joy to watch the excitement and delight on their faces when they
were using the CMPCs. The pupils could
interact with the learning tool and they could grasp the techniques faster than
if the teachers were using the conventional methods. Pupils were able to use play as part of the
learning process, they visited other classrooms and went outside to take
pictures using the CMPCs.
Ms Albert said that she did not find it challenging to
take on the project with Ms Brutus. She
however felt that it was a constraint for them to compile the information to
complete the project as they had to work after hours and on weekends.
According to her working on such a project has given
her some baggage and she hopes to be able to work on something next year on her
own.
Ms Brutus said that while they were working on the
project, some of their colleagues were curious about what they were doing. They received a lot of help and support from
the management of the school.
The two teachers received the award for the teacher as
an innovator and change agent, and the fact that their project won the second
place in the Seychelles PiL Forum was a surprise to most of their colleagues. It has sparked off a lot of interests and
questions from other teachers at the school to participate in the next year’s
forum.
Mrs. Marie-Chantale Nicole has been in the teaching
profession since 2008 and works at the Beau Vallon secondary school teaching
social economics to students from secondary one to five.
Her project, “Prevention of teenage pregnancy”, which
came third at the forum, also received the award for learning that extended
beyond the classroom and addressed real world issues. The issue she has chosen to explore for the
project is featured in the health and welfare topic of the curriculum. She also conducted some research and found
interesting statistics on the increase in pregnancy among teenagers in
Seychelles.
Mrs. Nicole said that at first it was a challenge for
her to use ICT in her lessons, but found that with the new approach students
became enthusiastic, they were more interested and focussed which made it
easier to manage the classroom; as students were eager to learn on their own
and the lesson became more student-centered.
As part of her project she has involved the use and
promotion of the Youth Health Center, the school has created a club with the
help of the peer counsellor to share information and hold talks in other
schools on the issues of teenage pregnancy.
Mrs. Nicole says that the school management has been
very helpful and assisted with contacts with outside agencies and young
mothers. She is also thankful for the
support from the counsellor and the ICT teachers, and her other colleagues who
are still congratulating her for winning.
She added “The experience is worthwhile and I
encourage other teachers in the technical area to make use of ICT as it
improves students’ attention; more knowledgeable students can assist the less
able ones, which helps the teacher to better manage the classroom.”
