E.L. Africa Magazine | September 2022

SEPTEMBER 2022 VOL.3, NO.10

E.L. AFRICAN EXCELLENCE FOR THE POST-COVID REBUILD IN EDUCATION: Accelerating Zimbabwe’s Education Recovery Through Curriculum Revamp PG. 9

DR. ARTHUR P.T. MAKANDA

$2.99 USD

EDUCATIONAL LEADER AFRICA

CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES PG. 13 QUALITY ASSURANCE TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS: A LOOK AT SIERRA LEONE PG. 17

USING WALKTHROUGHS TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING PG. 25

Professional Development for School Leaders & Teachers Education Leadership Consulting Group (ELCG) has the tools and language to transform leaders. We work with organizations, school leaders and teachers to develop scalable tools and strategies.

By signing up to participate in professional development, you or your team will receive targeted training from experts through our customized virtual workshops. You will be able to add new and/or refined bestpractices tools to your professional toolbox!

DOES YOUR ORGNIZATION NEED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP?

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E.L. AFRICA | SEPTEMBER 2022

CONTACT US FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS

Email elafricamagazine@gmail.com with subject line: "Professional Development Inquiry"

E.L.

EDUCATIONAL LEADER AFRICA

TABLE OF

CONTENTS 9 12

AFRICAN EXCELLENCE FOR POST-COVID REBUILD IN EDUCATION

FIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE ATTENDANCE

27 31

INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS IN EDUCATION

ATTRACTING PASSIONATE TEACHERS

13

CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES

33

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

17

QUALITY ASSURANCE TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS: A LOOK AT SIERRA LEONE

30

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

21

REASONS FOR TEACHER BURNOUT IN AFRICA AND HOW TO MITIGATE IT

43

IN THE NEWS

USING WALKTHROUGHS TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

46

25

HEALTH & WELLNESS: TAKE TIME FOR SELF-CARE

E.L. Africa is a quarterly publication that focuses on school leaders' real needs, offering them practical and technical strategies for improving schools in a constantly evolving environment. Articles published in E.L. Africa are edited for style, content and space prior to publication. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent E.L. Africa positions. Endorsement by E.L. Africa of products and services advertised is not implied or expressed.

E.L. AFRICA | SEPTEMBER 2022

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ABOUT E.L. AFRICA MAGAZINE Educational Leader (E.L.) Africa magazine provides in-depth information about the most critical issues facing education leaders today in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Published four times a year, each issue has a specific focus area and articles are written by education experts and practitioners.

The E.L. Africa Magazine gives school principals/headmasters the resources, strategies, and inspiration required to prepare students for success. The magazine stirs school administrators toward openly discussing skills and strategies to improve schools and advance learning. It empowers these administrators to build an improved education system that is exceptional, independent and capable of self-sustaining with the correct mindset, by collaboratively sharing their skills. It also highlights their commitments and serves as an African solution to African problems.

Therefore, the E.L. Africa presents a paradigm shift, viewing the change in the education systems from the lens of experts and the school principals that implement/execute the education policies in the schools.

We embarked on this game-changing project as an inspiration to other educators to improve the education system in SSA. When you share your knowledge, skills and celebrate others without being apologetic, you feel fulfilled. It’s so important.

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EDITORIAL & DESIGN

E.L.

EDUCATIONAL LEADER AFRICA

WRITERS Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr.

Temitope Mustapha - Nigeria Chris Onwuka - Nigeria Sanvee Elmut Pinto - Togo Pascal T. Soklou - Togo

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHERS Dr. Ada Omile Dr. Frances Ufondu

CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Arthur P. T. Makanda Mrs. Frances Kamara Dr. George Wah Williams Dr. Thokolosi John Tshabalala Mr. James Okewa Mrs. Doreen Enone Mr. Hudson Mwiinga Mr. Peter Okware Dr. Ada Omile

CREATIVE DESIGNER

E.L. Africa magazine’s look at the post-COVID rebuild of education in Zimbabwe (pg. 9). Check out how Sierra Leone is using Quality Assurance to improve schools (pg. 17). Learn how to use walkthroughs to improve teaching and learning (pg. 25) and see how to practice using Instructional Rounds as part of your school improvement goals (pg. 27). Read about Cultivating Instructional Leadership (pg. 13), and how Sub Sahara African principals are becoming instructional leaders in the Principally Speaking section (pg. 33).

Ms. Chinenye Omile

Educational Leadership Africa Magazine (ISSN 2693-2806) is published quarterly in March, June, September, December by Educational Leadership Consultant Group(ELCG) in Virginia, USA. ELCG is an organization focused on training and development of education leaders. The EL Africa magazine, a component of ELCG, is the voice for principals, assistant principals, and other school leaders across Sub- Saharan Africa. The statements, opinions, and advertisements expressed herein are those of individual authors and companies and do not necessarily represent the views of EL Africa magazine or the ELCG.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A COLUMN IN E.L. AFRICA MAGAZINE? SEND AN EMAIL TO ELAFRICAMAGAZINE@GMAIL.COM

Article Submission: Submission on topics relevant to school leadership are requested. Email ideas and articles to elafricamagazine@gmail.com.

E.L. AFRICA | SEPTEMBER 2022

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EXECUTIVE PUBLISHERS DR. ADA OMILE

Dr. Omile earned her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership/Supervision K-12, from Argosy University, Washington DC, Post Master's Certificate in Educational Leadership & Administration from George Washington University, Master of Science in Computer & Information Systems , Master of Arts in Learning Disabilities, both from Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta Georgia. She has over 28 years of experience in Education and Leadership.

Her doctoral research in 2011 was focused on providing professional learning to school principals in Anambra State, Nigeria.

The result of the research showed a glaring gap in practice. To address the gap, she started Education Leadership Consultant Group (ELCG), a Non-profit organization that provides professional learning on effective schools to school principals and directors of private proprietors of schools in Africa. Recently, she concluded that we need to create a forum to reach more school principals throughout the Sub-Saharan Africa, hence this E.L. Africa magazine.

DR. FRANCES UFONDU

Dr. Ufondu earned her Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership from University of LaVerne, California. She earned a California Professional Administrative Services Credential; a Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential; a Master’s of Arts in Education Administration from University of Benin, Nigeria and a Bachelors of Science in Vocational Home Economics Education from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

In addition, she received a Professional Certificate in Accounting for Governmental and Nonprofit Organizations; a Chief Business Officer (CBO) certification through California Association of School Business Officials Partner Training Program; Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Certification in Curriculum and Instruction Leadership and Leadership Coaching.

Her dissertation in 2005 was focused on an in-depth research of skills required by principals to effectively implement the Public School Accountability Act in California. The findings indicated that principals perceived skills in visionary leadership as very important. The study also empowered staff members and students to reach high levels of performance; creating and communicating a school vision and aligning financial, human and material resources with the vision; student assessment, gathering, analyzing, and using data to inform decision making; demonstrating and understanding of curricular alignment to ensure improved performance and designing, evaluating, and refining curricular remediation programs.

Dr. Omile and Dr. Ufondu attended the same high school and college in Nigeria and have dedicated their career and life’s work to improving leadership capacity for educational leaders in the hopes of positively improving learning for our students. This E.L. Africa Magazine is designed to give educational leaders the tools to enhance and empower their teachers as they collaborate to improve teaching and learning for students.

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LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Here we go!

EMPOWER YOUR STAFF AND STUDENTS THIS SCHOOL YEAR The beginning of a new school year gives you the opportunity for a new start. Your initial faculty meeting should focus on grounding your staff in your school’s mission and vision, tied to the districts’ mission and vision, and your school’s improvement plan project or goals for the year. You are more than a school manager, you are the instructional leader, and you have the greatest influence and responsibility to set the culture of change in your school. We advocate the change or tweak in the old ways of managing your schools.

We are encouraging instructional leadership from all school leaders to promote academic achievements. We have articles in this issue to support your instructional leadership practices and other ways you can support your teaching staff. Plan professional development for your teachers that are functional, intentional, and most importantly – relevant.

You should also become computer literate yourselves and understand how any new technology tools or software that your school uses works. Be it a school/student data collection software, attendance and grading, or instructional tools.

Also, the beginning of a new school year is a great opportunity to create safe and inclusive environments for all students, promote and empower each student to reach their greatest potential, help lift up their voices and encourage leadership roles for them. You can create a school advisory team made up of admins, teachers and a student representative. Remember that it is our job as educators to foster and ensure that we create a culture of support for the youth in our schools and under our care.

Have an Awesome School Year!!

Ada Omile Ada Omile Executive Director E.L. Africa Magazine

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CONTRIBUTE TO E.L. AFRICA MAGAZINE! If you’re an expert in education, please share your knowledge and experience with your fellow school leaders in E.L. Africa magazine. Write about one of the following themes or submit an article on another topic of interest to principals, assistant principals, or aspiring principals.

Themes for Next issue Technology Instructional facilitators for every school to support teachers.

School Improvement plans.

Use of Substitute teachers at Sub Saharan Africa schools.

E.L. Africa is YOUR magazine—help make it an even more valuable resource by writing an article or passing these themes on to a colleague who has a great program or unique perspective.

Content Manuscripts should explore one theme or other topics of professional interest to secondary school principals.

Manuscripts are evaluated by ELCG/E.L. Africa magazine staff members and are judged on their relevance, interest to principals, timeliness, originality, readability, and credibility. E.L. Africa magazine seeks articles that: Describe best practices and exemplary programs objectively and include evidence of success as well as a discussion of problems Explain how principals can act on the information Include advice, resources, and examples Offer opinions on some topic of professional interest to principals Requirements Manuscripts should be no more than 2,000 words, including references, but may include additional supplemental material.

Successful manuscripts are written in a tone and style appropriate to a magazine; are well-organized; clearly establish the purpose of the article; use specific examples —it is best to show, and adhere to the rules of grammar.

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How to Submit Please send your manuscript to elafricamagazine@gmail.com and include: The manuscript prepared in MS Word.

A cover letter that indicates your intention to submit the manuscript to E.L. Africa magazine and stipulates whether the manuscript has been submitted elsewhere.

Contact information for each author: school and title, telephone number, and e-mail address.

A two-sentence author biography. The first sentence should include a current title, school and e-mail address; the condition sentence should highlight key accomplishments or reinforce your authority in discussing the topic.

Photographs If you’d like to send photos to accompany your article, please attach the JPEG files to an email and send them to elcgtraining@yahoo.com. If no photos are available, E.L. Africa will select file or stock art to enhance the article.

PRINCI-POLL We asked a group of 66 principals across Sub Saharan Africa

"As a school leader, what aspect of improving school culture do you find the most challenging?"

Check out their responses!

MAKING STAFF FEEL VALUED?

CONNECTING WITH COMMUNITY?

UPHOLDING STUDENTS MORALE?

OTHER?

E.L. AFRICA | SEPTEMBER 2022

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AFRICAN EXCELLENCE FOR

POST-COVID REBUILD IN EDUCATION

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ACCELERATING ZIMBABWE'S EDUCATION RECOVERY THROUGH CURRICULUM REVAMP MEET DR. ARTHUR P.T. MAKANDA

D

r. Arthur P.T. Makanda is the Director of Curriculum Development Unit in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in Zimbabwe. During the interview for E.L. Africa magazine, he revealed the following: I joined the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education In 2015 after retiring from the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

My first assignment was to review the Education Curriculum, which was last reviewed during the Rhodesian era in 1974. The country had a two-tier education system that is Group A - schools that were meant for the whites and a few elite families from people of Color Group Bnative education for Blacks.

In 1999 the former and late President of Zimbabwe His Excellency Cde R.G. Mugabe received a report from the Presidential Commission of Enquiry into the Education and training in Zimbabwe and the report made sweeping recommendations to revamp the education system with an anchoring Philosophy of Humanism (Unhu/Ubuntu). The recommendations cut across the two Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and Higher & Tertiary.

My duty was to attend to recommendations that would make sweeping changes to the Primary and Secondary Education at National level. I then coordinated stakeholder’s consultations, the writing of the Narrative Report, which captured the views of stakeholders, and the Curriculum Framework 2015-2022, which is the current national education policy document. As I write this, the country is in the process of reviewing the Implementation of this Framework. The idea is to see whether the Curriculum is fit for purpose and whether it is addressing the National needs.

The Education system is presided over by two Ministries, The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, with the Minister, Deputy Minister, Permanent Secretary, Chief Directors, Directors at the Head Office, Provincial Education Directors and Staff at the Provincial Offices (Zimbabwe has 10 Provinces) like counties, District Schools Inspector at the District level and the counties has more than 200 Districts, then schools are manned by headteachers. The Ministry also works with Private proprietors

who have their schools, Mission schools, Council schools, Individual schools, and Farm schools.

The Curriculum Framework 2015-2022 introduced a lot of changes starting with the structuring of the learning levels, ie., the infant level, Early Childhood Development A and B, the junior school and the secondary school from Form 1 to Form 6 then they transition to Higher and Tertiary Education into Universities, College and other training institutions. The Curriculum Framework introduced the learner-centered approach in the teaching and learning methods where learner activity participates in the learning.

New learning areas such as Physical Education, Sports, and Mass Displays, Visual and Performing Arts, Heritage Studies, Family Religion and Moral Education, Countries’ History and enhancing the learning of those subjects that were regarded as the core subjects: Mathematics, English, etc.

Heritage Studies is meant to introduce learners to their roots, heritage, and their identity as our young ones are fast losing their cultures through global influences. Family Religion and Moral Education made a revolution and world religions are being taught and this included African traditional Religion practiced by some communities in Zimbabwe, which is our foundation of being Zimbabwean.

In the year 2000 the country embarked on the land reform program and the education system has strengthened the teaching and learning of Agriculture and related subjects.

The main thrust of the framework was to introduce a variety of skills set such as Problem-Solving Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Leadership Skills, Communication and Teamwork Skills, Business Enterprising Skills and a host of other education values like Patriotism, Volunteering Discipline Honesty, the dignity of hard work. The changes in the education system were aimed at a total shift from being semi-skilled workers to innovators, owners of the means of production and entrepreneurs.

The Curriculum reform also made major changes in the assessment regime adding the Continuous Assessment to the Summative evaluation, which was only based on terminal examination.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary School collaborate with Universities and development partners to develop skills to implement the Curriculum changes and

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ACCELERATING ZIMBABWE'S EDUCATION RECOVERY THROUGH CURRICULUM REVAMP

emerging issues such as alternative teaching and learning methods, blended learning, compresses syllabi to address the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and this applies across teachers and Heads of schools.

TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING The country embarked on establishing Technical and Vocational schools starting with one in each Province. This was to complement schools that were already offering technical and vocational subjects in the country and are widespread. The project is still ongoing. Students are exposed to practical learning and are given projects to do which are very practical so that they develop: - research skills, creative skills, entrepreneur skills, critical thinking skills, etc.

The links with universities are multifaceted. The country embarked on a harmonized program of learning areas being offered at primary and secondary with Higher and Tertiary Diplomas and degrees. The Curriculum is very clear on pathways can take after going through learning areas offered at Secondary level.

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT One of the key education reforms was to develop a Teacher Professional Development Council, with a view to capacitate the teachers on the competence-based curriculum. Our teacher training colleges reformed their training syllabi to suit and match the demand and changes brought about the Curriculum. ECD A and B were made mandatory for all schools in the country, and this resulted in an enhanced teacher trainer program for ECD teachers. In-service workshops were conducted to train teachers in syllabus interpretation, methodologies, and how to implement continuous assessment especially when teaching and marking of continuous assessment learning activities (CALA). Private or non-governmental organizations also help in training teachers in best practices to match international standards. (NB details of the syllabus content of teacher and head training cannot be disclosed).

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION The pandemic saw schools experiencing lockdowns and alternative methods of teaching and learning, such as the use of Information Communication Technologies, the use of radio and television lessons, and WhatsApp’s in digitizing the content that is taught in schools. The two ministries have websites where teaching materials are uploaded.

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Uploading of teaching materials on USBs was done and this helped a lot in catching up. The schools also had their schools’ programs that were meant for learners to catch up lost time.

The country of Zimbabwe has a vision of becoming an upper middle-income economy by the year 2030 and the two Ministries have a mandate of developing human capital and nurturing innovations that address the country’s challenges. Human capital development will help the country to attain the Global Vision of sustainable development. In this regard the country expects everyone to enjoy the Natural resources of the country.

PICTURED ABOVE, MAKANDA GOES THROUGH HIS BOOK WHICH ADVOCATES THE URGENCY OF PROMOTING AFRICAN LANGUAGES AS MEDIA OF INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS AND BUSINESS

5 WAYS TO IMPROVE ATTENDANCE

W

ith the new school year approaching this September, school leaders are looking forward to seeing all the students back in the classrooms. Many students, however, may not be consistent in their attendance as they should be. Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa still deal with “Street Children” – young children and teenagers selling products on the streets to support their families. Poor student attendance has serious consequences. Principals are essential to any school-based effort to address chronic absence.

Here are some research proven ways to improve attendance at your schools:

#1

#2 #3 #4 #5

One of the most important strategies in improving attendance is stressing just how important it is for success.

A key place to start is by analyzing school data on chronic absence. Once you have data, consider the following questions: Does the level of chronic absence affect a significant proportion of the student population? Is it higher or lower than the rates at other schools in the zone/region/municipality? Does the level of chronic absence differ among specific groups of students and their families? By grade level? By content? background? Neighborhood of residence? Attendance issues can be diminished with smart use of data, family outreach, and targeted intervention programs.

Strong attendance starts at home, schools should help families understand why attendance is important, and how to be proactive about missed days Attendance can be reduced substantially if schools’ partner with communities and families to monitor and promote attendance, as well as to identify and eliminate barriers that inhibit students from going to school every day.

There are numerous strategies principals can use to combat absenteeism. Whether it's recognizing students for good or improved attendance, or providing personalized outreach, these small changes can add up to a big difference in attendance.

Ensuring teachers make it to the classroom is also just as important as getting students to school.

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CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES BY: GEORGE WAH WILLIAMS, MA, M.ED

S

ustainable school improvements remain at the heart of educational endeavors across the globe, more so in developing countries than in the more developed educational landscapes.

Though performance improvement challenges differ between regions, programs, and schools, the commonality remains in the quest to improve and sustain school performance across critical service and support delivery sectors.

WHO IS AN INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER? Instructional leaders can be any number of people in a school. The principal, the assistants, the academic dean, department chairs, tenure teachers, and those with the most experience (longevity, qualifications, and the sophisticated ability to influence decision-making) are among the pool of instructional leaders. The list of school personnel above is by no means exhaustive but represents the cream of likely players. High on the list is the critical importance of principals who should serve as pacesetters, instructional recruiting connoisseurs, vision-bearers, and facilitators in chief. According to Gümüş et al. (2022), the role of principals encompasses instructional personnel supervision.

It accounts for a broader collection of capabilities vital to elevating the quality and outcome of educational service delivery.

Principals are inherently the drivers of change and, as advanced by Abdulwahab (2021), mediate said change through teachers and other school personnel.

Accomplishing this is by no means an easy feat. Principals bear the oneness of driving the change they envision in various ways. White (2021) cites the principals as trustbuilders, growth facilitators, and achievement influencers, among other critical roles. These roles are intricately connected to the positioning necessary for effective instructional leadership. With this in mind, Let’s take a closer look at principals’ facilitatory role as instructional leads and how that plays into the global focus of identifying and empowering line administrators and teachers to advance instructional practice for enhanced learning outcomes.

PRINCIPALS AS VISION-BEARERS AND TRUST BUILDERS Inarguably the most effective educational leadership 13

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George Wah Williams, MA, M.Ed., is the founding director of Educational Development Innovations, an author, civic advocate, lifelong educator, and a History instructor with Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

strategy commences with a clear projection of what that leadership seeks to attain. As Hancott (2017) puts it, visioning must remain an essential critical aspect of institutional leadership, and the lack is tantamount to ineffectiveness. Leaders, especially principals, take in the title and often neglect the role. The two are inseparable.

Wearing the crown essentially requires that wearers play the part. Taking on the role of principal presupposes that the title bearer has a clear understanding of the challenges faced by the school and embarks on the new journey with a set of strategies - however, structured intending to improve existing conditions and outcomes. As the lead administrators, principals are under legal, social, and moral obligations to intellectually invest wholeheartedly in their responsibilities. They understand their commitment to serve and protect the students in their charge. Additionally, the expectations are principals can raise the next productive community of local, national, and global leaders and ensure that their charge as leaders remains respected with fidelity.

Principals are vision-bearers and, considering their immense influence on the school community, enable those under their supervision to acquiesce easily. Regardless of how formed their vision might be, they are duty bound to leverage the help of other functionaries - proximate or otherwise - to fashion out and articulate their vision in

CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES

in consumable ways that increases buy-ins from essential staffers. The vision on its own is meaningless if it is not in sync with the drive to improve instruction and school performance. Galvanizing the buy-in of essential staff such as teachers requires trust-building, and as Browning (2014) contends, trust-building strengthens ownership among constituents such as teachers. What strategies principals employ are as crucial as getting teachers excited about the vision. With community buy-in comes the next task of facilitating the process of growth.

PRINCIPALS AS GROWTH FACILITATORS Principals, like corporate managers, are not apt to get their “hands soiled” but often transfer, mandate, direct, persuade, or convince line managers using any positive means to galvanize community support for their vision.

Most principals are enthroned in times of institutional setbacks and take on the critical role of moving institutions forward. Educationally, the foremost ambition of principals is to improve instructional outputs and increase school performance. Growth in terms of instructional performance and student output vitally requires increased levels of facilitation.

Facilitating development requires that principals model through programs and policy actions (Thessin, 2021).

Thessin maintains that while principals are, by their mandate, drivers of growth. They, by default, benefit professionally from the interactions facilitating institutional change. To drive growth, principals must possess the innate relational skills to articulate desired vision and leverage internal and external resources critical to stimulating growth from within.

PRINCIPALS AS ACHIEVEMENT INFLUENCERS The primary role of the principals is to lead the improvements in institutional achievement - leading improvement rests on several factors, including those within their gambit of influence. As principals - similar to other managerial positions - recognizing the enormous power of the job, especially with those under one’s supervision, is essential. How principals utilize that power is even more critical.

Using a combination of subliminal and direct actions invigorate and sustain school growth. In their study on how strong principals succeed, Gordon and Hart (2022) showcased how principals' leadership behavior largely energizes the attainment of institutional goals and students’ success. Leadership behavior underpinned by a deep sense of social, cultural, psychological, and

importantly, instructional aptitude is needed to attract the desired influence for achievement. It is, therefore, no understatement to recognize the irreplaceable impact of principals on students’ performance and school achievement. Principals, as earlier mentioned, are the fulcrum on which change pivots. Principals drive achievements by exerting influence on those critical to materializing the change.

After reviewing the potentialities and leadership inherent in the position of principals and their influence on instructional leadership, why have so many principals failed in their quest to drive change and increase instructional effectiveness and students’ performances?

FACTORS UNDERMINING PRINCIPALS’ INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP Principals have generally failed to lead school improvement for three researched-generated reasons. One such reason is a principal's perception of their relations with teachers. Perception of principal-teacher relations might seem unimportant to many but does pivotally play out in how principals see themselves in the eyes of those they supervise. An unfavorable perception of oneself or thoughts of being disliked by teachers rob principals of their esteem, power, and influence to engage meaningfully. In such a situation, and as Shaked (2019) points out, perceptional misjudgments undermine principals’ image of themselves through the eyes of their teachers.

Some principals are not simply derelict in discharging their duties but have very little understanding of principals' roles and responsibilities. The deficiency in understanding principals' roles is close to a poor perception of their relations with teachers. Gaining clarity contributes to better positioning, productive engagements, and stronger connections. Clarifying the principals’ role in instructional leadership - among other critical responsibilities - comes with a heightened valuing of the office's mandate. Shaked contends that principals who were unaware of the mandate of the principal’s office were more likely to negate the attending responsibilities associated with the assignment (Alsaleh, 2019). Finally, there is a third scenario in which principals take on the role without an ounce of a school’s unique goals. Where one does not exist, defining or developing feasible school goals provides a leadership framework by which principals can effectively lead.

Strategic leadership requires leaders to harness individual goals and merge such goals with institutional vision (Hansen & Lárusdóttir, 2015).

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CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES

CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS, HOW? In the previous passages, we deliberately belabored the importance of the role of principals in instructional leadership. Without recounting our reasons, it is vital to restate that one primary role is providing instructional leadership. What are the functions of instructional leaders, and what attributes are helpful? Perhaps the most practical and strategic approach to answering these questions is to match personalities to the tasks associated with instructional leaders. Great managers - in this instance, principals - examine the capabilities of personnel to accomplish the job of instructional leaders.

The expectations are that an instructional leader will ultimately possess the maximum collection of capabilities to facilitate their success. Of the many roles instructional leaders have, four stand out as paramount: fostering collaboration, effective modeling of instruction, resource provider, and teacher advocate. Examining these four tasks shows the need for separate sets of skills and attributes.

1) FOSTERING INSTRUCTIONAL COLLABORATION Instructional collaboration is the most effective strategy for stimulating successful schools. It is inarguable that for schools to succeed, teachers must work cooperatively to see through the institutional game plan for success.

Bringing the team on board requires instructional leaders - the principal or other line personnel - to foster collaboration among teachers and groups. Accomplishing such a feat demands that leaders possess a set of peculiar attributes. Facilitators must have strong interpersonal and intrapersonal skills(O’Leary et al., 2012).

When working with individuals and groups, instructional leaders must think strategically while consistently maintaining an awareness of individual and group dynamics and using that information to manage the support process.

2) MODELING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION Rendering oneself as an effective instructional modeler necessitates that such instructional leaders possess pedagogic knowledge and can avail a variety of instructional techniques and strategies geared at enhancing instruction and improving learning. To achieve this task (Laghari et al., 2021) contend that instructional leaders must necessarily be one with tremendous experience, working with colleagues beyond the content and pedagogy, according to the psycho-social nature of the classroom environment. Passing on the instructional

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skills of planning, structuring, delivering, reflecting, and managing all aspects of the cycle requires one with a rich history of the practice, knowledge currency, and experience to guide others along that path of instructional excellence (Viesca et al., 2022). Modeling is essentially a key component of mentoring.

3) RESOURCE PROVIDER Not surprisingly, experience naturally enables instructional leaders with the capacity to seamlessly draw on their practice over the years to direct teachers to resources otherwise not readily accessible. Instructional mentors or leaders value their position of seniority. McKenna et al.

(2018) suggest that apart from the essential duties of instructional mentors, they are more than willing to share knowledge and significantly enhance practitioners' prospects for more significant collections of tools for effectiveness. It goes without saying, therefore, that Instructional leaders must be resourceful and strategic in matching mentees to them to the sources (Thompson, 2019).

4) TEACHER ADVOCATE Finally, and by no means the least of instructional leaders’ responsibilities. In their seminal research about the role of instructional leaders, Hussain Ch et al. (2018) point to teacher mentors leading the charge to campaign for improved conditions and explain instructional challenges to school leadership for cooperative remedies. As advocates, instructional leaders empathize with teachers and are willing to pursue their interests fearlessly. Mentee teachers see instructional leaders as authentic and more than willing to trust their instructional counsel. Mentee belief and trust in the interaction with instructional leaders have been found to directly impact mentees' commitment to their institutions. Comstock and Margolis (2021) are in the best position to evaluate teachers under supervision.

CONCLUSION Instructional leaders are a critical factor in the equation of school success. Schools that have significantly improved instructional delivery and learning outcomes have relied on instructional leaders—their invaluable determination to manifest institutional aspirations through close relations with teachers. Instructional leaders must be one with author bequeath by experience - as in lead teachers - and authority - as in principals. Educational leaders are obliged by duty to match personalities to the tasks demanded of instructional mentors to ensure that the correct picks are made, and the desired results are realized.

CULTIVATING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS FOR SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES

RESOURCES Abdulwahab, A. A. (2021). The roles of school principals and head teachers in mitigating potential learning loss in the online setting: calls for change. International Journal of Educational Management, 35(7), 1525–1537.

Alsaleh, A. (2019). Investigating instructional leadership in Kuwait’s educational reform context: school leaders' perspectives. School Leadership & Management, 39(1), 96–120.

Browning, P. (2014). Why trust the head? Key practices for transformational school leaders to build a purposeful relationship of trust. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 17(4), 388– 409.

Comstock, M., & Margolis, J. (2021). “Tearing Down the Wall”: Making Sense of Teacher Leaders as Instructional Coaches and Evaluators.

Journal of School Leadership, 31(4), 297–317.

Gordon, M. F., & Hart, H. (2022). How strong principals succeed: improving student achievement in high-poverty urban schools. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 60(3), 288–302.

Gümüş, S., Şükrü, B. M., & Pietsch, M. (2022). School leadership and achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status: a search for socially just instructional leadership. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 60(4), 419–438.

Hancott, D. (2017). Leadership Is What?: The Importance of Vision, Integrity, and Developing Others. Lulu Press, Inc. Hansen, B., & Lárusdóttir, S. H. (2015). Instructional Leadership in Compulsory Schools in Iceland and the Role of School Principals.

Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 59(5), 583–603.

Hussain Ch, Ahmad, & Batool. (2018). Head Teacher as an Instructional Leader in School. Bulletin of Education and Research. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1209683.pdf Laghari, A., Kakepoto, I., & Arshad, F. (2021). Microteaching: An Effective Stratagem for Novice Teachers of English Language. In Global Educational Studies Review: Vol. VI (Issue IV, pp. 163–173). https://doi.org/10.31703/gesr.2021(vi-iv).17 McKenna, M. K., Pugno, P. A., & Frist, W. H. (2018). Learning From Leaders: Relationships, Mentors, and Teamwork. In Physicians as Leaders (pp. 271–276). https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315378244-23 O’Leary, R., Choi, Y., & Gerard, C. M. (2012). The skill set of the successful collaborator. Public Administration Review, 72(s1), S70– S83.

Shaked, H. (2019). Perceptual inhibitors of instructional leadership in Israeli principals. School Leadership & Management, 39(5), 519–536.

Thessin, R. A. (2021). Engaging in joint work with principals: How principal supervisors’ joint facilitation of teams contributes to principals’ practice development. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 1– 23.

Thompson, C. (2019). The Magic of Mentoring: Developing Others and Yourself. Routledge.

Viesca, K. M., Teemant, A., Alisaari, J., Ennser-Kananen, J., Flynn, N., Hammer, S., Perumal, R., & Routarinne, S. (2022). Quality content teaching for multilingual students: An international examination of excellence in instructional practices in four countries. Teaching and Teacher Education, 113, 103649.

White, L. (2021). Practicing Effective Instructional Leadership as a School Principal. BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1304403

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E.L. AFRICA | SEPTEMBER 2022

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QUALITY ASSURANCE TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS: A LOOK AT SIERRA LEONE MRS. FRANCES NANA KAMARA IS THE DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL QUALITY ASSURANCE AND MANAGEMENT RESOURCES AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL IN SIERRA-LEONE. SHE IS ALSO THE RESOURCES DIRECTORATE OF THE MINISTRY OF BASIC AND SENIOR SECONDARY EDUCATION. PREVIOUSLY, MRS. KAMARA WAS THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION FOR 11 YEARS BUT HAS BEEN IN HER CURRENT POSITION FOR ONE YEAR. EDUCATION SECTOR PARTNERS MONTHLY MEETING 2022 IN NORTHWEST REGION - PORT LOKO DISTRICT

JOINT MONITORING OF NATIONAL PRIMARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION (NPSE) 2022 IN NORTHWEST REGION - KAMBIA DISTRICT

TRAINING OF GRM COMMITTEE MEMBERS ON GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM AT WARD/CHIEFDOM LEVEL 2022 IN NORTHWEST REGION KAMBIA DISTRICT

DISTRIBUTION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS 2022 IN NORTHWEST REGION KARENE DISTRICT 17

E.L. AFRICA | SEPTEMBER 2022

JOINT MONITORING OF SCHOOLS VISITATION 2022 IN NORTHWEST REGION - KARENE DISTRICT

QUALITY ASSURANCE & THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF SIERRA LEONE

T

he philosophy or paradigm of Quality Assurance (QA) as a form of total quality management is derived from industrial and commercial practices.

Current trends demand that we in education adopt this philosophy to ensure we improve the quality, efficiency and delivery of our programmes and services. This is obligatory as the issues of access, equity, relevance, and quality generally have underpinned efforts of the Ministry of Education in the quest to provide appropriate teaching and learning opportunities for learners. The current curriculum provision and the objectives of the Strategic Plan (2006 -2011) attest to this. Consequently, the Ministry amongst other things is obliged to strike a balance between national demands and international expectations with regards to schooling. To get along, the Ministry proposed a Quality Assurance Directorate to handle all the challenges associated; to ensure an improvement in the whole process of education in the country.

The transformation process is contingent on several significant factors including curricula, pedagogical, policy, administrative and organizational. The interplay of these factors propelled the requisite conditions for developing and sustaining an effective and enduring mechanism for quality assurance in the educational system. Thus, there is a need for a Quality Assurance Directorate at the Ministry of Education to effectively support the operations of education in the country.

Quality Assurance can simply be explained as a system to support performance according to set standards. It implies a systematic way of establishing and maintaining quality improvement activities as an integral and sustainable part of operation.

In the education and health systems, consideration is given to all activities that contribute to the design, assessment, monitoring of standards agreed upon by all stakeholders and improving quality of service delivery, for eventual client satisfaction. In most cases, managers and supervisors tend to limit the standards to professional or technical aspects, but in social services, client focused

or “customer service” standards are very important determinants of utilization of the services. This is taken into consideration in education.

Considering that the concept of quality in education is not easily defined, it is appropriate to consider the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) which asserts among its guiding principles that supervision is the key to quality education going along with well-defined expectations. The implication here is that quality education should involve responsible and committed supervisors as well as effective committee members whose concerns should always be professional and intellectual. This approach is thorny but a very necessary transformation for an improvement in education and development.

Therefore, the School Quality Assurance, Management and Resources Directorate is the directorate that supports the other directorates and units in implementing the Free Quality School Education Program. This directorate is currently headed by an Acting Director who is stationed at the headquarters of the ministry, and there are sixteen (16) Deputy Directors who are in charge at district level.

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL QUALITY ASSURANCE, MANAGEMENT, AND RESOURCES DIRECTORATE Systematic monitoring and evaluation of the curricular especially teaching and learning, not forgetting cocurricular activities.

Collection, analysis, and interpretation of data collected for monitoring and evaluation activities to make objective decisions for improved education service delivery.

Implementation of necessary remedial action to improve teachers’ pedagogical practices and students’ learning outcomes.

Feedback to all stakeholders affected by the education programmes geared towards the achievement of stated curricular objectives.

Monitor learning achievements in educational institutions below the tertiary level.

Training of quality assurance and standards officers in the modern trends of quality assurance and school improvement Development and review of instruments that will reflect trends in the modern thinking in Education Quality Assurance, through training and retraining programs.

WORK ETHICS AND CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SCHOOL QUALITY ASSURANCE OFFICERS (SQAOS) As part of the quality assurance process, all quality assurance and standards officers must uphold the highest professional standards so that those in schools are treated fairly and gain the maximum benefit from the external evaluation (supportive supervision).

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QUALITY ASSURANCE TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS: A LOOK AT SIERRA LEONE

This code of conduct underpins the external evaluation (supportive supervision) process and secures its integrity.

Quality Assurance and Standards Officers must carry out their supportive supervision work without fear or favors and must not expect preferential treatment.

Further they should not ask or accept any form of gratification in the course of their assignment.

They should be punctual and time conscious.

They should evaluate objectively.

They should have no connection with the school which would undermine the objectivity and honest report of the Quality Assurance Directorate.

They should carry out work with integrity and treat those evaluated or met with courtesy and sensitivity.

They should try to minimize stress among those they supervise.

They should maintain purposeful and productive dialogue among those evaluated and the general public.

They should respect the confidentiality of information, particularly about individuals and their work.

They should have a good knowledge of relevant education and quality standards.

They should be good team players, co-operate to ensure quality standards.

They should be appropriately dressed.

They should be keen observers and good listeners.

They should be tolerant, patient and resourceful at all times.

They should be impartial in their judgments.

MEASURES PUT IN PLACE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN SCHOOLS The directorate focuses on quality of work that impacts the learner from the input stage through processes to the output stage. The quality officers provide supportive monitoring and supervision in schools to ensure the right curriculum is being implemented, teaching and learning materials are being properly used.

The Directorate also collaborates with the Teaching Service Commission to assist with the facilitation of educational programmes to build the capacity of teachers.

Because communities and Local Governance structures including non-governmental organizations are key in the effective and efficient implementation of the Free Quality School Education Program, the

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directorate establishes and maintains vital links with these structures to ensure synergy/ collaboration in education service delivery. At district level, officers of this directorate organize education sector meetings with local stakeholders and development partners to discuss vital issues hinging on the education sector.

The development of policies is very significant to the operations of the school system and the Director is part of the technical team that recommends the formulation of new policies, interprets existing ones and ensures the implementation of everything relating to the various facets of education. The presence of the directorate is felt in every district within the country which makes it very strategic and can provide support to the other directorates in the implementation of their activities.

IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE As a Ministry, a lot of strategies have been put in place to ensure that quality is assured in the schools; few among these strategies are: Deputy Director provide leadership at district level by ensuring that every SQAO visits at least eight Schools per week to monitor the followings: Teachers and pupils’ attendance (b) Teaching and learning (c) Supervise the implementation of government Policies (example, Radical Inclusion, Comprehensive safety/Safeguarding practices in Schools).

To assess the physical environment of schools and advise based on the Ministry’s policy on school and classroom environment.

To supervise the use of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools.

To supervise the use of classroom as well as administrative records.

To monitor the use of teaching and learning materials Sensitize and mobilize community stakeholders on the importance of education.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS SINCE TAKING OFFICE Monitoring of education activities especially the school management system was a very difficult task before the introduction of the FQSE, this is because there was not enough manpower to monitor and supervise schools across the country. With the introduction of the FQSE, the government through the ministry has accomplished the following: Recruited hundred and sixty-eight officers, they are put

QUALITY ASSURANCE TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS: A LOOK AT SIERRA LEONE

in clusters and assigned to chiefdoms and schools to monitor and supervise these schools and thus, there is now an increase in supervision and monitoring tasks since the recruitment of these personnel. The officers are mandated to visit each school at least twice each term and this has greatly helped in the service delivery.

Continuous professional development training to give support to the principals and headmasters in ensuring an effective school management system.

Our staff have been fully involved in monitoring the public examinations and this has helped in giving credence to the examinations. We have been able through our monitoring structures to reduce examination malpractices in examination centers across the country.

Over the years, the Directorate has been able to ensure the systematic quality management and evaluation of schools, through monitoring and supervision of educational inputs and outputs, and it has helped the appropriate educational development and ensured the credibility and integrity of the education system.

Development of easy and cost-effective channels of communication from District to Head Quarters (example, the setting up of WhatsApp group that is purely for the dissemination of information from HQ to District level and vice versa). This has helped a lot especially for Deputy Directors that have problems accessing their mails on a regular basis.

The aforementioned medium is sometimes used (Through conference calls) to discuss and plan important issues that pertain to education.

Support education partners in the accomplishment of their programs through monitoring and supervision.

Provide a nationwide weekly update on educational activities during Senior Management meeting.

Recruited of over 160 Inspector of Schools, this nomenclature was later changed in September 2021 to School Quality assurance officers (SQAOs).

Restructuring of major departments in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, for example the transformation of the Inspectorate Division to Quality Assurance, management, and Resources in other to match up with the new policies of the Ministry which includes: free Education, Quality teaching and learning, Comprehensive safety and radical inclusion.

Capacity building/Training of SQAOs on their roles and responsibilities, classroom observation strategies,

teaching methods, bike riding etc.

Designing of a new curriculum for JSS and SSS to match up with emerging world trends on education and development.

Confirmation and Promotion of senior staff of the SQAMR unit from Senior Inspectors/Assistant Directors to the rank of Deputy Directors.

Continuous professional development training to give support to the principals and headmasters in ensuring an effective school management system.

CHALLENGES Although the directorate has made several achievements over the years, there are however several challenges that the directorate still faces such as: Inadequate personnel to effectively monitor and supervise all schools across the country. There is a need to increase the number of officers so the volume of work on the present officers will reduce and they will be able to spend more time on monitoring schools.

The problem of mobility: Some District Deputy Directors do not have vehicles to conduct regular monitoring of Schools and field staff (SQAOs) in their Districts. This has the potential to affect the quality of the work of the SQAOs in those affected Districts.

Delay in providing logistical support to District Education offices from local and central Governments.

This can also impact negatively on the performance of these districts on education especially when some of these interventions have timelines to be accomplished.

The introduction of the Free Quality School Education Program (FQSE) led to a mass increase in the enrolment in schools and this has created a situation where schools do not have classes to accommodate all the children and some of the classes are overcrowded.

Some of the schools are located in very difficult terrains and hard to reach areas. It is sometimes difficult for the officers to visit these schools, and some even get involved in accidents with motorbikes whenever they are taking these routes.

Although government and development partners are investing so much in the FQSE implementation, there are still funding gaps and this acts as hindrance for the directorate to carry out effective monitoring.

There is still the challenge of awareness raising of the program as several parents do not understand what is entailed in the implementation process of the FQSE. There is a need to operationalize Monitoring and Evaluation in the entire process.

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REASONS FOR TEACHER BURNOUT IN AFRICA AND HOW TO MITIGATE IT BY: DOREEN ENONE EBUDE EPIE'NGOME Doreen Enone Ebude Epie'ngome is a high school History teacher. She is married to Epie Ngome with four children.

She is also an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, in the Beach congregation, in Limbe Cameroon. Her passion is teaching, music and sports.

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REASONS FOR TEACHER BURNOUT IN AFRICA AND HOW TO MITIGATE IT

B

urn out is a state of emotional, physical, and mental stress or exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Modern psychology describes it as “a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment." It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place. People experiencing burnout become despondent and often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situation because of unrelenting stress. It is a gradual process that creeps up on you over time. Burnout reduces productivity and leaves you increasingly hopeless, cynical, resentful and eventually makes you feel you have nothing more to give or contribute to. The negative effects of burnout are far-reaching. It spills over to every aspect of your life, including your home, work and social life. The focus of this article is on work – teachers (in education) and our area of concentration is Africa. Does burnout affect the teaching profession, particularly teachers in Africa? If so, what factors are responsible for this and how can they be mitigated or dealt with?

Teaching is a rewarding yet demanding career. With long hours, a heavy workload and the disheartening experiences that they experience, it’s easy for teachers to fall prey to burnout. Teachers are usually high achievers or perfectionists who like to work hard and are always looking for ways to improve but there is always a danger of being overworked and not taking care of their own mental and physical health needs.

The World Health Organization describes burnout as an occupational phenomenon characterized by three main attributes: exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy. When teachers experience burnout, they can feel depleted of energy and too exhausted to continue with their work. They begin to feel mentally detached from their jobs making their feelings about their profession negative and cynical.

Teacher burnout can also lead to feelings of incompetence or ineffectiveness. Some of the causes of teacher burnout include: 1) Lack of funds: many schools lack sufficient funds for the purchase of updated didactic materials such as textbooks and teaching aids, technological equipment and staff. Teachers have to make do with what is available and at times because of insufficient staff, the few teachers are overloaded. Overtime, this burden can leave teachers

feeling hopeless and ill-equipped to address achievement gaps and meet students’ needs.

2) High emotional demands: in addition to educating students, teachers must care for students’ emotional needs which can be emotionally demanding. If a work environment lacks the support needed to fulfill this responsibility, then teachers will surely feel overwhelmed. Working closely with students on a daily basis, teachers frequently notice students who have had or are experiencing traumatic experiences and have to help them so that it does not affect their performance in school. A teacher also acts like a parent in the class who has to attend to the student’s psychological needs. Teachers can equally experience secondary trauma when they help students going through difficult times. At times, the school administrators with learning and behavioral challenges to teachers who lack the necessary training to meet their needs.

3) Challenging teaching situations: educators face increasingly difficult teaching situations that can lead to burnout. One of such challenging situations is the Covid-19 pandemic where many school systems were forced to close down and teachers working from home (E or distance learning) and populated schools especially in Africa had to adopt the two-shift system (morning and afternoon), to respect the barrier measures against Covid-19 such as social distancing. Some teachers had to teach in both the first and second shifts. This contributed a great deal to the burnout of teachers.

4) Poor working conditions: especially in remote areas where there is barely the existence of classrooms, students/pupils learning in uncompleted buildings or under trees. Overcrowded classrooms too are a big problem because class control becomes difficult and the teacher has to deal with noise pollution and rowdiness all the time.

In a typical African situation, you could find 80-100 students in a classroom. In such a situation, effective teaching and follow-up of students cannot be done. This situation increases the stress level of the teacher and may eventually lead to burnout.

5) Students’ inappropriate behavior towards the teacher in the classroom or school such as insolence, fighting, rudeness and indiscipline.

6) Overload of teaching workload and extra non-teaching hours like co-curricular activities. This is mostly seen in areas that have very few teachers and so the few that are available are overloaded with many periods per week.

7) Non-payment of teachers’ salaries, incentives or allowances: lack of motivation.

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REASONS FOR TEACHER BURNOUT IN AFRICA AND HOW TO MITIGATE IT

8) Poor working relations between teachers and administrators – wicked and vindictive bosses.

9) Lack of recognition or reward for good work.

10) Working in a chaotic, conflict or high-pressure environment. In areas where insecurity is rife, like civil wars. Many teachers are not able to work properly because they fear for their lives.

11) Too many family and social demands – you are unable to meet up.

12) Lifestyle and personality traits: what you do in your downtime and how you look at the world can play a big role in causing overwhelming stress at work or home demands.

13) Because of poverty or low income, some teachers who are not able to meet up with family demands are forced to do other jobs or teach in more than one school.

This causes them to tire out and may lead to burnout.

HOW THEN CAN BURNOUT BE PREVENTED, MITIGATED OR SOLVED AMONG TEACHERS? Education leaders or school administrators shouldensure the school is equipped with materials for the teachers to use such as provision of a good library, technological materials such as computer labs or multimedia centers for research and provision of didactic materials, and a comfortable working environment (good classrooms and staffroom).

Education leaders need to provide teachers with the tools to endure the weight of emotional demands of their role. For example, they can offer training sessions that give formal instruction on developing skills such as accurate emotional recognition, understanding of the causes and effective regulation of emotions. In some African countries that have experienced wars or violence, the teachers should be trained on how to cope with and help students with trauma from war-torn or conflict areas. Also, the school should make provision for a counseling unit or department to take care of students with psychological problems and special needs.

Administrators should ensure that they appreciate the efforts put in by teachers by motivating them with incentives, allowances and rewards of excellence. The governments should ensure that government teachers’ dues are paid immediately when they leave the training schools and are posted to the field to work and subsequently pay their salaries regularly.

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Giving teachers more autonomy can improve job satisfaction and retention. Teachers should be involved in goals setting and more control over the curricula they select and the content they teach.

School administrators should have a cordial working relationship with their teachers. They should be flexible and commit to deep engagement with teachers about the issues preventing them from achieving their teaching goals and feeling rewarded.

Build teachers’ coping skills: Education leaders can help teachers manage their stress with the right support and guidance, teachers can avoid the hopelessness and emotional drain that often leads to teacher burnout. Some teachers enter the field full of anticipation and hope. When confronted by some of the harsh realities of teaching, they can easily fall into despair. However, with the right coping mechanisms, teachers can adjust the responses that fuel negative feelings.

Administrators should be able to give a listening ear to teachers’ problems especially teachers experiencing symptoms that may lead to burn out. This awareness can allow them to intervene while there is still time to make a difference.

Proprietors of schools like the government and individuals should ensure that they provide the necessary infrastructure and equipment/tools necessary for an effective teaching process. A good and conducive environment for teaching. All the stipulated dues or allowances for teachers should be paid and teachers recognized through meritorious awards. This will boost the teacher’s morale to work.

Above all, the teacher should take care of his /her well being to reduce or cope with stress by doing the following: Reach out to others; your friends, family and coworkers. Limit contact with negative people. Social contact is nature’s antidote to stress and is one of the fastest ways to calm your nervous system and relieve stress.

Reframe the way you look at work. Trying to find some value in your work and changing your attitude towards it can help you regain a sense of purpose and control.

Reevaluate your priorities- set boundaries, don’t overextend yourself. Take a daily break from technology (phones, computers, social media etc); set aside time for relaxation and exercises like yoga, meditation, deep breathing. Give yourself time to rest, relax and heal.

REASONS FOR TEACHER BURNOUT IN AFRICA AND HOW TO MITIGATE IT Make exercise a priority. Exercises such as walking, running, swimming, dancing, martial arts are powerful antidotes to stress and burnout. It will sharpen your focus, increase energy and relax both the mind and body.

Support your moods and energy levels with a healthy diet. Minimize sugar and refined carbohydrates. Instead go for foods that can boost your moods. Avoid nicotine and caffeine.

Drink alcohol in moderation.

A SHOUT OUT TO AN E.L. AFRICA MAGAZINE BOARD MEMBER DR. ANGELA AGBOLI-ESEDEBE

Dealing with or mitigating burnout in teachers it is the responsibility of both the teacher and the school administrator/proprietor or government as the case may be. These groups of people have to work hand in hand to ensure that teachers don’t get to the level of burnout. To pre-empt or deal with burnout successfully, the teacher has to recognize the warning signs of burnout; undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress and lastly build resilience to stress by taking care of the physical and emotional health.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A COLUMN IN E.L. AFRICA MAGAZINE? SEND AN EMAIL TO ELAFRICAMAGAZINE@GMAIL.COM

African Community Service Awards (ACSA) honors the unique contributions of individuals and organizations to humanitarian aid within the African communities.

This year, Dr. Angela Agboli-Esedebe, was honored for her contributions to her Ogwashiukwu community in the DMV area – Washington D.C, Maryland, and Northern Virginia.

E.L. AFRICA | SEPTEMBER 2022

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USING WALKTHROUGHS TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING BY: DR. ADA OMILE

A

s schools are reopening this September and things are normalizing since the Pandemic, school leaders search for effective and practical ways to make a difference in students' learning. Research has posited that there are four ways to improve student learning at scale. The first is to increase the level of knowledge and skill that the teacher brings to the instructional process, the second is to increase the level and complexity of the content that students are asked to learn, the third is to change the role of the student in the instructional process, and the fourth is to use walkthroughs to ensure that the quality of instruction in the building is consistent.

The focus for walkthroughs is building a strong culture of instructional practice.

Walkthroughs are the nonscheduled short visit to the classrooms by the school administrative teams.

Walkthroughs may also be referred to as learning walks or instructional rounds. The school administrative teams conduct 10-15 minute non evaluative walkthroughs in the classrooms to gather data and understand the current instructional practices at their schools or visiting another school. Multiple researchers have described walkthroughs as effective ways for instructional leaders (commonly principals, but also various other roles like assistant principals and teacher coaches) to play an active role in generating focused, qualitative data to inform school-wide improvement efforts (Bole & Farizo, 2013; Starrett, 2015).

Walkthroughs are also used to monitor the implementation of instructional shifts or a new school improvement programs/plan- which are the “look-fors”.

They are snapshots that school administrators use to provide individual teachers feedback about how they are doing in the classrooms.

These frequent ten-minute visits focused on specific “look-fors” can give principals valuable information about what is working or not working in their schools.

These brief non-evaluative observations give the administrative team opportunities to see the first three items listed above. The administrative team have the opportunity to look at students’ work, observe a lesson or

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talk with students. Walkthroughs are informal, nonevaluative measures for collecting valuable information that “can paint a picture to inform improvement efforts” David (2007).

The team looks for instructional alignment or outliers that impact effectiveness and student learning and give nonthreatening, non-evaluative descriptive feedback to teachers.

The use of walkthroughs has shown to be effective in improving teaching and learning and has become an increasing popular strategy used by school districts. During these classroom visits, the administrative teams gather information and debrief the teacher afterward. The purpose is to identify areas of strength to build on as well as areas of growth. The data and understanding generated by walkthroughs are directed towards continuous school improvements including helping the school leadership team craft professional development for teachers that is more purposeful and impacts their teaching skills.

According to Rouleau and Corner (2020), there are different varieties of walkthrough, each suited to a different purpose as part of your overall school-improvement strategy. The variations among them can be subtle. Match the walkthrough to what you’re trying to accomplish, and you’ll have a powerful addition to your data collection plan to inform progress. A mismatch, on the other hand, can mean squandered time and effort, and a missed opportunity to build staff cohesion.

Walkthroughs increase the visibility of the principal in the building. research on effective principal leadership identified visibility as one of 21 key responsibilities with a statistically significant correlation to student achievement (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). During the pandemic, school districts in the developed countries were using walkthroughs to monitor teaching and learning in the virtual environment.

BEST PRACTICES FOR WALKTHROUGHS To implement this, Principals should first have a meeting with staff to establish clear expectations on the purpose, process, priorities, and information-sharing for the walkthroughs.

USING WALKTHROUGHS TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Define the scope and area of focus especially from the school improvement plan, making sure these are explicitly shared with the administrative team and teachers before the walkthroughs start.

Principals may choose to group the classroom visits by grade level, subject, area of focus, etc. or choose to simply gather a random sampling from the building.

It is best to keep the specific times and locations of walkthroughs unannounced so that your presence doesn’t prevent you from observing a typical instructional routine in the classroom.

The information gathered from the visits will help the team determine patterns that either support or work against the schools’ current instructional focus, from that, the school will develop the next step in their growth process.

KEY ELEMENTS CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROCESS ARE: Making walkthroughs routine. Many of the walkthrough protocols involve an average of four of these short visits in a classroom per year.

Identifying the focus of the observations. Effective walkthroughs have a purpose. Target a specific thing that you are looking for. For example, one week you might be looking to learn if the objective of the lesson is clear to the students? The following week you might seek to know if the instructional strategy the teachers are using is an appropriate strategy to use with the lesson or you might be looking for the use/application of instructional technology in the classrooms.

Reflect after the walkthrough. Give teachers feedback on the walk-throughs. Create clarifying questions for the teacher, it should be relevant, real-time data on their instruction, it should be specific to observed behaviors, focused, and descriptive of the level of performance observed.

Finally, the administrative team should have specific indicators they are looking for as they walk through content classrooms or grade levels, they could formulate templates for easy use during the walk. These indicators could be color coded without naming the teacher to be able to collect actionable data for the school. With the growing popularity of walkthroughs among school principals, protocols, checklists, and new software products has given them a handy source of “look fors”

while managing to maintain the walkthrough’s emphasis on informality and individualization (Garza et al., 2016).

Classroom walks and feedback should be used as an essential part of a school improvement plan process.

REFERENCES: Bole, P. T., & Farizo, K. P. (2013). Using learning walks to improve collaboration and charter school performance (A University/P–12 school partnership): Year one. The New Educator, 9(4), 328–345.

David, J. L. (2007). What research says about classroom walkthroughs (informative assessment). Educational Leadership.

Garza, R., Ovando, M., & O’Doherty, A. (2016). Aspiring school leaders’ perceptions of the walkthrough observations. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation.

Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. ASCD. Rouleau, K., & Corner, T. (2020). Classroom walkthroughs: Where data-gathering and relationship building meet for school improvement. McREL International.

Dr. Ada Omile is the CEO and co-Founder of Education Leadership Consultant Group and Educational Leader Africa magazine. Our organization partners with schools, districts, and ministries of education as they navigate change and implement practices and structures to reduce variability and increase student achievement. Through consulting, coaching, and facilitation of professional learning, we offer services, strategies, and technical assistance to support change efforts.

Ada earned administrative credentials at the George Washington University, in Washington DC and she holds an Ed.D. in School Leadership from Argosy University Washington DC. She has been in Education and Leadership for nearly three decades.

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INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS IN EDUCATION BY: ELIZABETH A. CITY, RICHARD F. ELMORE, SARAH E. FIARMAN, AND LEE TEITEL

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THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE n its simplest terms, the instructional core is composed of the teacher and the student in the presence of content. It is the relationship between the teacher, the student, and the content – not the qualities of any one of them by themselves – that determines the nature of instructional practice, and each corner of the instructional core has its own particular role and resources to bring to the instructional process. Simply stated, the instructional task is the actual work that students are asked to do in the process of instruction – not what teachers think they are asking students to do, or what the official curriculum says that the students are asked to do, but what they are actually asked to do.

FIRST PRINCIPLE: INCREASES IN STUDENT LEARNING OCCUR ONLY AS A CONSEQUENCE OF IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LEVEL OF CONTENT, TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL, AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT. There are only three ways to improve student learning at scale. The first is to increase the level of knowledge and skill that the teacher brings to the instructional process.

The second is to increase the level and complexity of the content that students are asked to learn. And the third is to change the role of the student in the instructional process. That’s it. If you are not doing one of these three things, you are not improving instruction and learning.

When educators think about “changing” instruction, they typically focus not on the instructional core, but on various structures and processes that surround the core. They might choose, for example, to group students in a particular way because of a theory about how grouping will affect the relationship of the student and the teacher in the presence of content. But it is not the grouping practice that produces student learning. Rather, it is the change in the knowledge and skill that the teachers bring to the practice, the type of content to which students gain access, and the role that students play in their own learning that determine what students will know and be able to do. If changes in grouping practices don’t alter the core, then the likelihood they will affect student learning is remote.

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SECOND PRINCIPLE: IF YOU CHANGE ANY SINGLE ELEMENT OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE, YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE OTHER TWO TO AFFECT STUDENT LEARNING. If your improvement strategy begins with a curriculum solution … then you have to invest in the new knowledge and skill required of teachers to teach that curriculum if you expect it to contribute to new student learning. A failure to address teachers’ knowledge and skill as part of a curriculum-based improvement strategy typically produces low-level teaching of high-level content, a situation we see with considerable frequency in American classrooms.

If you raise the level of content and the knowledge and skill of teachers without changing the role of the student in the instructional process, you get another common situation in the American classrooms: Teachers are doing all, or most, of the work, exercising considerable flair and control in the classroom, and students are sitting passively, watching the teacher perform.

We frequently hear educators talk about how well the lessons went, without reference to what students were actually doing and the visible evidence of what students actually knew as a consequence of the teaching. Mostly, the lesson has “gone well” when it has gone according to plan, without any specific reference to what students do or don’t know as a consequence of the teaching.

We tend to focus more on what the teacher is doing in front of the classroom than we do on the work that is actually on top of the student’s desk.

For any real improvement in student learning, one must ask: How will this affect teachers’ knowledge and skills?

How will this affect the level of content in classrooms?

How will this affect the role of the student in the instructional process?

How will this affect the relationship between the teacher, the student, and content?

THIRD PRINCIPLE: IF YOU CAN’T SEE IT IN THE CORE, IT’S NOT THERE. The third principle is, in general, a good rule for the design of large-scale improvement strategies. It doesn't

INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS IN EDUCATION

matter how much money you’ve spent. Nor does it even really matter whether everyone thinks it’s a fantastic idea (since many people like best the changes that are the least disruptive). And, above all, it doesn’t matter whether everyone else is doing it. What matters is whether you can see it in the core. If you can’t, it’s not there.

The instructional core also helps us predict what we would expect to see happening to student learning over time. Here the central idea is the academic task. As an example, one of our superintendents’ networks was visiting a school in a network member’s district. This particularly thoughtful and active host superintendent had managed to make quite a lot happen instructionally in his district in a relatively short period. In our visit, we broke into groups of three or four and did a series of rotations through classrooms, with two groups seeing each of four classrooms at a given grade level for a period of time. We then observed the team meeting of the teachers in the grade level whose classrooms we had observed.

So, essentially, we saw the instruction in each classroom and then we saw the teachers talking about the instruction in their team meeting. Because the district and the school had worked hard on curriculum alignment, the teachers were able to talk about a common lesson sequence they were teaching and about the work that students were producing in that sequence, according to a common assessment that all the teachers were using. This is a rather sophisticated system.

In the team meeting, a problem emerged. The student work was obviously quite variable from classroom to classroom. In one classroom in particular, there were a number of students whose assessment results suggested that they apparently did not understand the content. The team leader asked the teachers what they thought explained the differences among the classrooms. Each teacher offered an explanation. The explanations had mainly to do with the teachers’ interpretations of the students’ skill levels at the beginning of the unit. That is, the teachers felt that students who were struggling with the content had weak prior learning. So, the discussion quickly shifted to what kind of remedial strategies one might use to bring those students up to the desired level.

What the teachers didn’t know – because they had never observed each other teaching – was that the actual work that we observed students doing, within a nominally common curriculum framework, was quite different in each of the four classrooms. And the level of the student work that was presented at the 3 grade-level meeting was quite close to the actual work that students were being

asked to do in each classroom. In other words, the variability in student performance was a result of the teaching that was going on and the actual tasks that students were asked to do, not, as the teachers hypothesized, a result of the students’ prior knowledge.

This was yet more evidence for a simple, but powerful lesson – hold onto your hats – teaching causes learning. In the absence of direct evidence on what her colleagues were doing, the team leader, whose students produced the most consistently high-level work, was projecting her own practice onto the practice of the other teachers on the team. This led her to suggest that the variability couldn’t be the result of differences in teaching, since “we’re all teaching the same thing.” In fact, they weren’t.

What was different in the four classrooms was what exactly the students were being asked to do and the degree to which the teacher engages students in the work by scaffolding their learning up to the complexity of the task. The curriculum was the same; the tasks were different.

In one classroom, the teacher took twenty minutes of the fifty-five minute period explaining the task and directing students through a detailed procedural drill on what to do. The instructions were so complex that most students (and observers) couldn’t repeat them when the children were released to do work on their own. In another classroom, the teacher focused very little time on setting up the task, passed out the materials, and asked students to work individually on the task and to consult other students in their group if they got stuck. In yet another classroom, the teacher passed out the task, assigned roles to students at tables, and then circulated through the room answering individual students’ questions.

In the team leader’s classroom, the teacher spent less than five minutes reminding the students of how the task they were about to do was connected to the previous day’s work, asked the students what they had learned from that work, and then spent about five minutes walking students through a discussion of a model task that was similar to the one they were being asked to do. She then put students in groups, assigned roles, and circulated through the room. When we asked students in the first three classrooms what they were working on, none of them could reliably describe the task. When we asked students in the fourth classroom, they could reliably tell us what they were expected to do and tell us how it was connected to what they had done earlier.

It is important to add here that students in all four classrooms were “engaged,” by conventional definitions –

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that is, they were attentive, nondisruptive, and compliant.

If you were doing a windshield survey of classroom climate in this school, with the typical supervisory checklist, you would see, without exception, classrooms that were quiet and orderly and in which the teachers had done everything that the external environment expected of them.

The “Do Now” was in the upper left-hand corner of the whiteboard; the specific objective of the day was prominently displayed, referenced to the appropriate state standard: the “Students Will Be Able to Do” was adjacent to the standard. If you stayed at the surfacelevel characteristics of the classroom, you would predict that students were all getting access to the same work.

But in reality, students were engaged in very different levels of work in different classrooms around a common curriculum unit. In the classroom where students were explicitly drawing on prior knowledge about how to address the task and where they had experience working individually and in groups, not surprisingly, they were relatively competent at doing what the teacher expected them to do, and they did it at a relatively high level. The teacher was free to work with individual students who were struggling with the task. Not surprisingly, things were different when the teacher was the main source of information on the task and the teacher’s practice at setting up the task was disconnected from the students’ understanding of it. Students were confused about the task and variable in their engagement with it.

In our experience, the latter situation is much more common than the former in American schools. One of our favorite questions to ask students during an observation is “What’s going on here?” The most frequent response is, “I don’t know,” or “Ask the teacher – she knows.”

FOURTH PRINCIPLE: THE TASK PREDICTS PERFORMANCE What predicts performance is what students are actually doing. The single biggest observation discipline we have to teach people in our networks is to look on top of the students’ desks rather than at the teacher in front of the room.

Accountability drives the task system in the classroom.

As a result, students are especially sensitive to cues that signal accountability or define how tasks are to be accomplished. In addition, students tend to take seriously only that work for which they are held accountable.

But to do what they are expected to do, they must know not only what they are expected to do but also, how they are expected to do it, and what knowledge and skill they

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need to learn how. When we put teachers and students in situations where the task is vague and unspecified, but the expectations for performance are specific and high, we are expecting them to do the right thing without knowing the right thing to do.

FIFTH PRINCIPLE: THE REAL ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM IS IN THE TASKS THAT STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO DO People tend to be much more specific about what they expect by way of student performance than they are about what in classrooms would lead to the performance they desire. Trying to move performance in a system with a weak instructional culture is like pushing on a string. It doesn’t do any good to know that there is an instructional core and that the tasks that students are asked to do within that core actually drive student learning, if the core itself differs from one classroom to another and if people aren’t used to thinking about instruction as a collective practice.

In most instances, principals, lead teachers, and systemlevel administrators are trying to improve the performance of their schools without knowing what the actual practice would have to look like to get the results they want at the classroom and school level.

SIXTH PRINCIPLE: WE LEARN TO DO THE WORK BY DOING THE WORK, NOT BY TELLING OTHER PEOPLE TO DO THE WORK, NOT BY HAVING DONE THE WORK AT SOME TIME IN THE PAST, AND NOT BY HIRING EXPERTS WHO CAN ACT AS PROXIES FOR OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HOW TO DO THE WORK The genius of the medical rounds model is that the profession reproduces its practice and the surrounding culture through direct, face-to-face interactions around the work. The education sector, which is no less knowledge-intensive than medicine at its core, has no such culture building practice. Education is essentially an occupation trying to be a profession without a professional practice.

SEVENTH PRINCIPLE: DESCRIPTION BEFORE ANALYSIS, ANALYSIS BEFORE PREDICTION, PREDICTION BEFORE EVALUATION. You build a common culture of instruction by focusing on the language that people use to describe what they see and by essentially forcing people to develop a common language over time. In the absence of such a language, what you mean by some key term – student engagement, for example – might be completely different

INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS IN EDUCATION

from what your colleague means by it, and you end up agreeing to disagree because it’s too hard to figure out how to negotiate your differences.

Analysis is getting people to work at grouping what they see into mutually agreed-upon categories and to start to make some judgments about how the categories are related to each other. Prediction is learning to use the evidence of observation and the analysis to make casual arguments about what kind of student learning we would expect to see as a consequence of the instruction we have observed.

The escalating demands of teaching practice are such that the knowledge and skill required to do the work is beyond the experience and practical knowledge of the people charged with supervision.

Our most common advice to principals entering teacher grade-level meetings is, “Turn off your walkie-talkie, sit down, be quiet, and listen for at least ten minutes. Then, the first words out of your mouth should be a question to which you do not know the answer.”

When people ask us, “What more can we do at the system level to foster improvement in schools and classrooms?” Our answer is, “Don’t broaden the work with new initiatives; deepen the work with greater focus on building a strong culture of instructional practice.” They need a more powerful, coherent culture of instructional practice.

The schools that are failing to respond to the best ideas about school improvement essentially have no capacity to mount a coherent response to the external pressure, because they have no common instructional culture to start with. These are organizations for the private practice of teaching. The schools that are staying the same typically have figured out how to meet the requirements of the system without changing the default culture. The schools that are getting better typically have managed to create, by their own devices, a more powerful instructional culture within their walls.

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ATTRACTING PASSIONATE TEACHERS BY: PETER OKWARE HOW CAN WE ATTRACT PASSION AND TIIM TEACHERS TO THE TEACHING PROFESSION? I KNOW THE WORD "TIIM" PIQUED YOUR ATTENTION. PLEASE READ UNTILL THE END TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS.

E

veryone today is quick to tell teachers that they are the pillars of the nation. Not only that but that they are doing a noble job but it's unfortunate that the same people making such pleasantries shy away from sending their children to the said noble profession! Gone are the days when the entire community embraced and respected teachers.

There was a time I was instructing 5–7-year-olds in a session and casually asked them what they wanted to be when they grow up. I was taken aback when none out of the 35 pupils present in the classroom mentioned the teaching profession. On finding out why, they claimed that teachers are poor, lack cars and neither do they own houses. It's absurd that we can no longer even inspire the people we consider to be minors. Are the teachers to be blamed or aspects of the profession? How do we expect an institution that has become a laughingstock or the last resort profession to transform lives?

The narrative above leads us to ask these salient questions.

How can we redeem the lost glory of the teaching profession and how best can we attract and retain the best brains to this once noble profession? How can we develop passionate and TIIM teachers? Well, I agree teaching is a calling, but it should also be a profession that is supportive of teachers to live decent lives as they groom upright citizens. “Easy come, easy go", goes the saying. Anything that comes with ease is never respected or held in high regard. If we are intentional about making the teaching profession valuable, let's set and maintain the standards we want as a prerequisite for one to become a teacher.

For starters, the entry grades for one to join this institution should be set and observed because it should be a magnet for the best brains of the nation, and one must pay the price attached to it. Attaching an attractive salary and benefits to the teaching profession compared to other professions will cause a beeline to this noble institution! Like they adore and celebrate musicians and celebrities, societies should celebrate teachers too.

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PETER OKWARE times we don't even understand what the musicians sing or what some of the celebrities stand for. It's disheartening that these people are given platforms on media houses, print media, magazines, they get huge endorsements from big companies and yet the "pillars" of the nation struggle to raise the next generation wallow in misery and are sidelined. What a shame!

The African nation especially in Uganda is failing to digest the fact that teachers are like pilots. Just like the airlines give strict guidelines to pilots, pay them handsomely and ensure that they bask in good working conditions having it at the back of their minds that they are responsible for so many lives on board, in the sense that any slight mistake could lead to disaster and loss of lives instantly, it's the same way the world should look at teachers as they hold the lives of the next generation.

They may not crash the airplane, but they're capable of either building or destroying an entire generation gradually through teaching them for the mere sake of passing examinations but not preparing them to make informed choices after school.

ATTRACTING PASSIONATE TEACHERS It’s the reason we have very many educated people today who are not learned and all they learnt was to just get documents! It's ironic that such people even fail to use that information to make informed choices in life since the teachers didn't show them how to use that knowledge to improve their lives. They are told to study hard to get lucrative jobs, but is the main objective of studying simply getting a good job?

Transformed teachers, Informed teachers, Inspired teachers and Motivated teachers (TIIM) are the teachers we need and it's therefore our joint responsibility as a community to advocate and do all we can to raise such teachers in our respective countries. This is because our children spend 65%-70% of their productive time in a year with those teachers and if they are not Transformed it simply means they will deform your children. A teacher who is not informed misinforms learners and if he or she isn't inspired, they cannot be a source of inspiration.

It's the reason most graduates today are deficient when it comes to inspiration and being creative. Their degrees and master's degrees are by chance and ceremonial as they are caught up in this tangled web. Do look at how much you spend on school fees and where your children go to school and ask yourself, “are my children being taught by TIIM teachers?

Peter Okware is a teacher trainer and a teacher by profession. He has taught for 11 years, he earned a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, and lectured as junior lecturer for 1 year. He is a Mandela Washington Alumnus 2021 from the University of Georgia USA, Alumni Enrichment Institute Fellow 2022 from Georgia State University USA, He is the 2022 New Vision Uganda Winner Top 40 under 40 under Young Influential leaders. He was the 2014 Runners Up in the individual health category.

Director Rising Star Preparatory School, Teachers In Need-TIN, Teachers TV Africa and TIN-Teachers Development Centre Kampala Uganda.

Petereokwarejc@gmail.com +256774426366

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PRINCIPALLY

SPEAKING

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PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

PROMOTING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS BY: DR. THOKOLOSI JOHN TSHABALALA

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INTRODUCTION n my 25 years as a school principal, I have seen many schools evolve from underperforming to becoming beacons of hope and excellence in their communities.

Coming from the townships of the Vaal, in Sebokeng and Evaton, I have been deployed to work mostly with schools where there were ‘issues’ of leadership which negatively affected learner performance. I have worked at Khutlo-Tharo Secondary school, Sizanani Comprehensive, Prestigious Aureate High, Evaton Primary, and LetsemaIlima Primary school. I must say that being an Instructional leader fostered a new culture of success and achievement in these schools.

Hallinger and Murphy’s (1985) model of Instructional leadership proposes three key dimensions, which are; (1) Defining the school’s mission, (2) Managing the instruction program, and (3) Promoting a school climate conducive for learning. As a Science teacher with passion for teaching, I ensured that my focus in every school that I have been to, was to engender a strong culture of teaching, followed by serious learning. I emphasise on the teachers to prepare and teach lessons that are success oriented. This means teachers have to make sure that every minute of a teaching period is spent productively, and learners on the other hand have to take their learning seriously. Once this is achieved, issues such as learner absenteeism, bunking of periods and late coming are reduced and eventually eliminated because everyone realises the importance of time on task. Teachers on the other hand cannot afford to miss a teaching period because they would not like to have a backlog. Departmental Heads are key in monitoring this by monitoring the teachers in their various departments.

DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP While we emphasise the principal as the Instructional leader, we need to acknowledge that there are other leaders within the school whose role cannot be undermined. Various scholars acknowledge that organisational leadership, particularly in big and complex organisations like schools, is not dependent and also not performed by a single individual. Rather, such leadership functions are distributed amongst other members of the organisation (Lee et al., 2012; Spillane et al., 2001; 2004).

On the other hand, Spillane et al. (2004) highlight two

DR. THOKOLOSI JOHN TSHABALALA vital aspects of school leadership which are; that the school leaders are mainly responsible for the quality of teaching taking place in their schools, and that leadership is not only vested on formal leaders, but instead, on activities of both formal and informal leaders (Lee et al., 2012), as well as the interactions between leaders, followers, and the environments in which they perform their leadership tasks and functions (Stoll & Fink,1996).

ASSESSMENT When a strong culture of teaching and learning is entrenched, it becomes critical to assess what has been taught. This happens in a controlled way in the form of weekly and standardised monthly tests. Results of the monthly tests are thoroughly analysed and expanded opportunities are provided to those who did not do so well.

SA-Sams’ dashboard is very helpful in the analysis of learner marks. This resonates well with the United States Department of Education’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which made it compulsory for schools to use data in order to support their decisions. We ensure that the SMT does not leave anything to chance. We follow up and monitor at all times.

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PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING PROMOTING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS VISIBILITY As a principal and an astute Instructional leader, I spend more time in the school, and I ensure that I am visible to all staff members, in the corridors. I spend my time talking to teachers and coaching them here and there, while at the same time motivating them to press harder. I walk around the school and visit identified classrooms which according to assessments experience problems in certain areas. It is during these visits that I engage with learners on matters of interest and the challenges they encounter in their learning. I have found that the closer a principal gets to the learners, the harder they work, because they do not want to be invited to the principal’s office. I strictly monitor the implementation of the teaching and assessment plans from all departments. The learner results analysis dictate matters of priority to me, where I engage with parents of those who are struggling and together we seek solutions to help their children. I have found this very helpful because parents realise that I am supportive to them and their children instead of always complaining.

Several scholars agree that school effectiveness is contingent on the principals’ focus on classroom instruction (Blasé & Blasé, 2000; Hallinger & Heck, 1998).

I must admit that school success strategies are mostly contextual, and I argue from a point of a stable and conducive climate, where there is a strong, clear and progressive mission statement to excel in all fronts. I argue that being a school principal does not make one an instructional leader, but in order to achieve success with learner outcomes it is imperative for the principal to become one. I say this because many principals are often found meddling in actions and activities that do not promote learner achievement, while on the other hand expect to achieve good results in their schools. According to Louis et al., (2010), there are two types of actions that principals have to engage with in order to improve teaching and learning, the first being the creation of a culture of professional growth and development and learner learning. The second is Instructional action, which is mainly about the actions taken in order to achieve the set goals. As alluded here before, proper planning is crucial, followed by strict and consistent monitoring and reporting.

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THOKOLOSI JOHN TSHABALALA - Is currently the Co-ordinator of the Teaching Schools and Lecturer at the University of Free State, South Africa. Prior to that, he was the principal of Khutlo-Tharo Secondary school in Zone 3, Sebokeng in the Vaal. While he was the principal, the matric results of the school improved from 29% to 90%, and thus getting Provincial and National Awards for Most improved and Consistency in matric performance improvement. He was deployed to SizananiThusanang Comprehensive school, a gang and drug infested environment, including a collapsed culture of teaching and learning. He changed the school for the better. In 2005, he was requested to go and start a new secondary school in the suburbs of Vanderbijlpark (Prestigious Aureate High), thus becoming the first Black principal in the area. The school grew steadily until its first matric class in 2009, obtaining 85% pass.

He is known to turn-around schools for academic achievement and especially schools with sub-par leadership at the secondary and primary school levels.

REFERENCES Blase, J., Blase, J. & Phillips, D.Y. 2010. Handbook of school improvement: How high-performing principals create high-performing schools. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press Hallinger, P. & Heck, R. 1998. Exploring the principal’s contribution to school effectiveness. An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, 9(2):157-191.

Hallinger, P. & Murphy, J. 1985. Assessing the instructional leadership behaviour of principals.

Elementary Schools Journal, 86(2):217-248.

Louis, K.S., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K.L., Anderson, S.E., Michlin, M. & Mascall, B. 2010b. Learning from leadership: Investigating the links to improved student learning. New York: Wallace Foundation.

Lee, M., Hallinger, P. & Walker, A. 2012. A distributed perspective on Instructional Leadership in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(4):664-698.

Spillane, J.P., Halverson, R. & Diamond, J.B. 2001.

Investigating school leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Educational Researcher, 30(3):23-28.

Spillane, J.P. Halverson, R. & Diamond, J.B. 2004.

Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(1):3-34.

Stoll, L. & Fink, D. (1996). Changing our schools: Linking school effectiveness and school improvement. London: Open University Press.

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

MY ROLE AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER BY: JAMES JUMA OKEWA

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y name is James Juma Okewa, the Principal of Odienya Mixed Secondary School in Kisumu County, Kenya. As an instructional leader of my school I have a duty to inspire action and optimism among my staff and students. I have done this by aligning my responsibilities with the mission and the vision of the school which requires that I be an example as an administrator and an effective classroom teacher. As an administrator, I believe in empowering teachers to become leaders themselves in the instructional process and provide a model of teamwork for students to look up to.

As an effective teacher, I have advocated for effective teaching by providing support for teachers in my department. I have also endeavored to share my experience in teaching various topics with my colleagues in the department as a way of helping them become better in handling various topics that would otherwise prove difficult for a recent college graduate. Being the oldest member of the department, I have encouraged members to share the challenges they have encountered in the teaching of Mathematics and we have developed a culture of sharing the various approaches and settling on one that learners would find easier so that we employ it across all the classes.

As a teacher of Mathematics, I have endeavored to be an example in employing teaching methods that are aimed at developing and sustaining interest in the subject that has otherwise proven to be challenging to the majority of the students in the schools of my category.

To start with I have deliberately tried to make my mathematics lessons interesting to students by creating a friendly instructional environment. I emphasize the relevance of what I teach to the daily life experiences of the learners so that they appreciate what they learn in class. In my teaching experience spanning over 19 years, I have observed that learners view some of the topics they are taught as not applicable in their lives hence the negativity some of them have about the subject.

Another strategy is to reinforce good performers through a simple motivational strategy of issuing Math Championship badges to different categories of performers. First category is one star champion for learners who score between 50-59 percent, the second category is two star champion for learners who score between 60 – 69 percent and the last category is five star champion for learners who score above 70 percent, with each category

JAMES JUMA OKEWA having a privilege which improves as the score gets better. The result is that the learners are self-motivated to move from the lower category to the highest category.

The idea is to develop Champions to pull up others.

I regularly supervise the teachers’ attendance of lessons and I have also developed a simple one page monitoring tool that class secretaries use to capture what they have covered with the teacher every week in all the subjects. With this record I am able to compare with the teachers records of work covered. Where there are discrepancies I would share with the teacher with the aim of growing them in the profession.

As an instructional leader, I believe that embracing innovation and creativity makes the whole difference in the instructional process. It is all about creating a conducive atmosphere for growth to both the teachers and the students as I give guidance as the leader of the process.

Mr. James Juma Okewa earned a Bachelor of Education Science (Mathematics and Physics) from Egerton University, Kenya and a master’s in business administration (Management Information Systems) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He also completed coursework in applied Statistics at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology. In 2017, he was the finalist for the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Teacher of the Year Award (ITOYA) Nyanza Region Champion and a finalist in the National competition. He was a teacher at Maranda High School where he rose through the ranks to Head of Subject - Mathematics, Head of Mathematics Department and eventually deputy Principal before he was promoted to become the Principal of Odienya Mixed Day Secondary School in Kisumu County.

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HEADTEACHER AS INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER BY: HUDSON MWIINGA

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y name is Hudson Mwiinga, Head teacher at Gandhi Primary School of Luanshya District and Copperbelt Province of Zambia. I am also the Deputy Dean of Luanshya District Head Teachers Association of Zambia. On 21st August 2022, I celebrated my 20 years of being a Head teacher in Zambia.

Instructional leadership involves setting clear goals managing curriculum, monitoring lesson plans, allocating resources and evaluating teachers regularly to promote pupil growth and learning (CHAU 2015).

The core business of instructional leadership is enhancement of teaching, learning and knowledge. At Gandhi Primary School, members of staff meet regularly to discuss how to do and improve the teaching and learning process and ultimately help pupils learn effectively.

Regular implementation of Teacher Group Meeting (TGM) has helped our teacher improve professionally through the Continued Professional Development (CPD), which is now a law requirement by the Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ).

Through innovation and collaboration with the Hindu Society of Luanshya/BAPS as well as former Gandhi learners based in USA, UK, Australia, and Canada, we have managed to ensure that all learners have ongoing access to high quality teaching and learning through the establishment of a high-class computer laboratory with internet services to achieve curriculum outcomes. The focus being the improvement of effectiveness of instruction that should result in increased Learner achievement and improved learner results. Teacher and learner motivation of awards cannot be left without mention.

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HUDSON MWIINGA

Instructional leadership, therefore, requires the Head teacher to wear many hats. A situation where at times, the Head teacher must be an administrator, manager, diplomat, teacher, and a curriculum leader.

Finally, good comprehension of instructional skills like; effective resource use, good communication skills, serving as an instructional resource, as well as being visible and accessible, have helped me greatly in the management of administrative and academic programs in the school in order to facilitate the delivery of quality education.

SPOTLIGHT

DR. EVELYN MAMMAN

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.L. Africa’s Board Member Dr. Evelyn Mamman was appointed as the new Asst. Superintendent For Curriculum for South Brunswick, New Jersey. The South Brunswick Board of Education approved the appointment of a new Assistant Superintendent For Curriculum and Instruction for the school district. Dr. Evelyn Mamman will be taking up the role in the new academic year, she will officially join the district on October 24, 2022.

Dr. Mamman is currently Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction in Tenafly Public Schools, New Jersey. Prior to that, she worked at the New Brunswick School District.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

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he Headteachers Association of Zambia (HAZ) held their national Conference from August 16th -19th 2022.

The following topics were discussed: Education Leadership and Management Objectives of Headteachers Association of Zambia Education Management Boards Partnerships and Collaboration Mind Education Peace Education Staff Accreditation and Tracking Professional Development and Research Depoliticizing the Education System

Bottom Row (Left to Right): District Commissioner David Sheleni, Headteachers Association Dean Wallace Kanchele, Permanent Secretary- Administration Noriano Muneku, Hon Douglas Syakalima MP- Minister of Education, Teaching Service Commission Chairperson Mrs Chimuka and Permanent Secretary-Technical Services Joel Kamoko.

Top Row (Left to Right): National Executive Committee members of the Headteachers Association of Zambia: Evans Kaoma, Morgan Chaambwa, myself Kenneth Muleya, Bernadette Mulemi, Fredrick Chibuye, Deputy Dean Rabecca Mulenga and Hillia Chalibonena

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Association of Secondary School Headteachers Uganda (ASSHU) August 2022 Event

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SSHU brings together headteachers from both government and private schools in Uganda. It is an umbrella body of all headteachers in Uganda.

The major objective of the association is to Serve as a communication channel between the ministry of education and Schools in Uganda Coordinate and implement all the education policies of secondary Schools in Uganda.

Supervise and monitor the implementation of the new curriculum.

Coordinate sports activities in all secondary Schools in Uganda.

Coordinate co-curricular activities on behalf of the ministry of education and sports.

construction of a Leadership Center for all the headteachers in Uganda.

His Excellency, Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda was the guest of honor, he pledged 500m and 200m to the teachers SACCO. Other cabinet members were present including the minister for education.

The following new National Executive members will assume power on 23rd of September 2022.

1. Brother Mugabo Augustine, Chairperson 2. Baswkananyo Deborah, 1st Vice 3. Chris Opoka 2nd Vice 4. Zuraika Nabukela, General Secretary 5. Injirabakunzi John, Ass. Secretary 6. Dima Den David, Treasure 7. Luke Emuron, Publicity Secretary 8. Sserunjogi Paul, Ass publicity Secretary

On 23-27th of August, the association held its annual general meeting where they discussed important issues concerning the education system in Uganda, including

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Anambra State, Nigeria Principals' Retreat

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he Annual Retreat for Principals of Public Schools in Anambra State is now ongoing at Madonna Renewal Centre, Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area from September 6th -9th.

This years retreat is an effort of the State Governor, Mr. Soludo to ensure that school principals key into the 21st century realities in the education sector.The Hon Commissioner for Education, Prof Ngozi Chuma Udeh, formally open the Retreat. The Executive Secretary of the Post Primary Schools Service Commission, Awka, Mrs. Ndidi Oranusi coordinated the Retreat.

The State Commissioner for Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma Udeh, representing the State Governor.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

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his week, the national conference of South African Principals Association (SAPA) is being hosted by SAPA Northern Cape in Karoo. The National event kicked off on September 8th with the minister for education's opening address.

There are eleven great speakers lined up for the conference. Topics include cutting the Diamond to reveal its true beauty - referring to students. The Diamond analogy is because the province hosting the event is known for mining diamonds. Regional conferences have been happening all along in several locations. The SAPA LIMPOPO Conference had about 117 Delegates and 14 exhibitors on July 22.

SAPA LIMPOPO President, Mr. Mashudu Ramulumo with Federation of Association of South African Schools (FEDSAS) Hennie Combrink at the July conference.

The minister of Education, Mrs. Angie Motshekga.

Members of the National Executive Committee of SAPA.

From left, National President of SAPA Mr. Grant Butler, Former President, Mr.Thembi Ndlovu, and former Deputy President Dr. George Motsoeneng at the national conference.

SAPA LIMPOPO PROVINCE Management Committee at the current conference. From left, President Mashudu, Deputy President Piaget, Treasurer Snaba, Secretary Maurees Nadband, and Deputy Secretary Gosebo.

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IN THE NEWS RWANDA

SCHOOL TEACHERS WILL GET UP TO 88% PAY RAISE STARTING THIS AUGUST

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his is part of the country’s incentives aimed at improving teachers’ livelihoods.

On August 1st, the minister for education – Mr. Valentine Uwamariya sent out the memo on the new revisions that secondary and primary school teachers will get substantial pay increases.

The memo also indicated that the Head Teachers and Deputy Head Teachers and other support staff in public schools will also get pay raises.

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IN THE NEWS NIGERIA

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n August 1st, the executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) Commission, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, eiterated the commitment of the federal government to commence operations in some of the newly constructed smart schools

by January 2023. He gave this assurance when he met with a team of Korean experts led by Prof. Dae Joon Hwang of UBION Consortium during their four weeks stay in Nigeria. The Leader of the 3 men team is Mr. Son Sungil of the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA).

They have been in Nigeria since July 3rd to sign the Memorandum of Understanding between the UBEC and KOICA. The UBEC public relations officer Mr. David Apeh, said that the objectives of the MOU are to assist Nigeria in the development of Smart Schools’ project which includes, to increase the capacity of teachers in the development of ICT content, and improve access of teachers and pupils to quality teaching and learning materials.

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UGANDA

n the financial year 2018/19, the World Bank partnered with the education ministry to construct and fully equip secondary schools in sub-counties without public secondary schools under the Uganda InterGovernmental Fiscal Transfers- (UgIFT program). Both parties finalized agreements detailing how the UgIFT construction contracts should be handled. The first phase covered 117 schools that were expected to be completed in one year.

Whereas many schools constructed in the first phase are already operational, over 17 schools in several areas have stalled. contractors at the several sites are said to have continuously demonstrated the lack of capacity to execute works awarded to them since the 2018/2019 Financial Year.

The failure to complete the construction of seed schools in the first phase is apparently affecting the smooth implementation of civil works under the second and third

phases of the program, which is expected to end in June 2024. The government expects to construct more than 142 schools in the last phases.

The program has had challenges right from the start.

Earlier mishaps were rooted in disagreements about the location of the proposed seed secondary schools. But even after the dispute over the location of the schools was resolved, the ministry of education repeatedly noted that the construction of the schools was being affected by a lack of coordinated supervision of works given the fact that it was being implemented by the ministry of education and local government ministry.

GHANA

SCHOOL SENSUS DATA

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owards the end of June and beginning of July, the Ghana Education Service was providing workshops to school personnel throughout the country on how to collect school census data.

The training was towards the end of June and beginning of July, the Ghana Education Service was providing workshops to school personnel throughout the country on how to collect school census data. The training was to enable schools to provide credible data to the Education Management Information Systems (EMIS). Every school has assigned EMIS codes. The data helps to generate unique codes or identification for each student from all schools for effective education planning and programs like the NSTA, BECE, WASSCE, and other critical school supplies. The Education directorate has provided data on schools that participated in the annual schools’ census for 2020/21.

New schools without EMIS code were directed to join the Circuit close to their locations during these training sessions.

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IN THE NEWS NIGERIA KOGI STATE GOVERNOR'S VISITS GOVERNMENT DAY SECONDARY SCHOOL IN ADANKOLO, LOKOJA ON 30TH OF JUNE 2022

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he state Governor His Excellency Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello of Kogi state, North Central Nigeria has raised the bar in Secondary Education management in Nigeria through a well thought out program in this sector and education generally.

Raising the annual budget in education to 30%, above UNESCO specification, tertiary and Secondary education has witnessed tremendous transformation across Kogi state. One of these legacy projects is the GYB Model Science Secondary School Adankolo (formally Government Day Secondary School, Adankolo) built with state-of-the-art laboratories and studios with over 600 computers for CBT and ICT, second to none in the public Secondary schools in the sub region.

In the words of His Excellency, the school is competing with others around the world to reposition the state in the provision of quality basic education for the citizens to enable it to feed the newly established Confluence University of Science and Technology, Sara Kogi State.

The inspection ceremony, conducted by the Governor before the Commissioning by His Excellency President Muhammad Buhari, GCFRN, was attended by members of the State House of Assembly, the SSG Dr. Folashade Arike, SAs, SSAs, Commissioners; Hon Commissioner of Education - Wemi Jones, – the STETSCOM Chairman Hon. (Mrs.) Cecilia Enezoza Cook, and the host - the School Principal, Ajofe (Chief)Yakubu Godwins, who is also the National Secretary ANCOPSS.

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School Principal, Chief Yakubu Godwins.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

TAKE TIME FOR SELF-CARE

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s Educators, many of us juggle different responsibilities and roles in our lives, leaving not much “me time” left in the day.

This can lead to burnout, stress and higher

risk of illness. As part of Mental Health Awareness, here are some self-care tips.

BE HAPPY WITH YOU Try not to compare yourself to others or their lifestyles.

Focus on positivity and challenge unhelpful thoughts.

DO MORE OF WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY Whether it’s cooking, reading, meditating or working out, find that activity that’s just for you and make it a priority— even if it’s just 15 minutes a day.

STICK TO A SLEEP SCHEDULE Program an alarm for bedtime and wake up time and stick to a routine. When it’s time to sleep, minimize sleep disruptors such as lights, phones and television.

EAT TO FEEL GREAT Help improve your energy and focus each day by eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and limiting caffeinated beverages.

KNOW WHEN TO SAY NO To be your best self, you have to set boundaries. That means making your health and happiness a priority, even if it means sometimes politely saying no to other requests or obligations.

DEEP BREATHING Breathe in deeply (stomach expands)…breathe out (stomach deflates). Repeat slowly at least five times.

Focus on your breathing to clear your mind of other thoughts.

PLEASANT WORDS Inhale deeply through your nose, and as you exhale say a chosen word or phrase to yourself (for example, “Peace,” “Calm,” “Relax”). Repeat 3–5 times. If your mind wanders, just gently bring your thoughts back to your breathing and the words.

TACKLE TENSION Tighten then relax one muscle group at a time. Start with your feet, then legs, thighs, abdomen, chest, back, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, jaw, and forehead. Use your breath to guide you. Breathe in—tense and hold.

Breathe out—release.

MIND OVER MATTER Take a few minutes to revisit a favorite event. Try to recall and even re-experience the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch associated with the event. Remember how you felt.

CLOSE THE DOOR Choose an end-of-day action or location to be a signal to turn off stressful thoughts. For example, select a certain landmark on the way home. Let passing it be your cue to stop thinking about work and move to other thoughts.

DE-STRESS AT THE END OF A TOUGH DAY Stress is often something we can’t avoid. It’s important to find ways to release the mental and physical tension it can cause. The following simple exercises can be used in moments of stress or as a way to de-stress at the end of the day.

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