Teacher capacity-building courses bring new perspectives – Prof. Sutherland Addy

Professor Esi Sutherland Addy, an Educationalist, says engagement of teachers in capacity-building courses brings a new perspective to teaching activities in the classroom. She said these courses encouraged peer review and offered teachers the opportunity to add more insights to existing knowledge. She said this in an interview with the press on the sidelines of the Lincoln Community School's collaboration with the Educators Network on the 13th Teaching and Learning Conference in Accra. The conference was attended by 530 teachers from various private and public schools. 'One of the things that I admire about these particular efforts that have been made is that somebody needs to care about the teacher's welfare,' she said. The Educationalist said somebody needed to care about teachers, the fact that they need some time out to step outside their normal environment, interact with other teachers, and look at different ways of doing things. She said these kinds of informal short courses were critical to brin ging new energy and perspectives into the teacher's lives. Prof. Sutherland Addy urged the teachers to incorporate the teaching of Ghanaian cultural heritage, particularly the languages, symbols, and music, into their teaching practices. She said the incorporation of Ghanaian cultural heritage into teaching and learning activities by educational institutions would play a major role in promoting the study of Ghanaian culture by the students. Mrs. Lesley Tait, Head of Lincoln School, said the effectiveness of a teacher had a direct correlation with the environment. She said when teachers engage in capacity-building courses, it correlates with improved performances by the students. She urged the teachers to adopt modern teaching and learning activities devoid of root learning and memorization into more effective teaching and learning activities with an emphasis on critical thinking and problem-solving. Source: Ghana News Agency