Over the past few weeks, we conducted two sponsored workshops for Science and Math teachers in two secondary schools in Ghana. It was a great learning experience for the teachers involved as activities like CO2 balloon, electromagnetism, food chain, nerve models and magnetic filings were taught amongst others.
Practical Education Network has a mission of empowering teachers all over the world to engage their students in hands-on science projects using locally sourced materials to boost learning and comprehension. By building teachers' capacity to teach STEM-related subjects, students become more inclined towards STEM.
With this in mind, we organize workshops all year round training interested teachers on how to foster inquiry-based learning in their students. For this period, we had workshops at Osudoku Senior Technical School at Osudoku, Greater Accra and at Our Lady of Grace School (OLAG) at Mamponteng, Kumasi.
Training Workshop at Osudoku Senior Technical School
The workshop at Osudoku was carried out on the 26th of October, 2019 by Heather Beem (CEO of PEN) and Simon Dzamenu one of our master trainers. A total of 23 teachers were trained.
The workshop was sponsored by Chief Nene Ogbe Assumeng, who used to be one of our Local representatives at the Greater Accra region. It was exciting and indeed exhilarating to have Nene Ogbe Assumeng who is currently a Ga-adangbe chief , raise funds for teachers within his chieftaincy area to be trained on hands-on science practicals as he is a firm believer in the PEN model of teaching the teacher to ultimately improve STEM comprehension among students.
Training Workshop at Our Lady of Grace School
The training workshop at Our Lady of Grace School was carried out on the 31st of October, 2019 by Emmanuel Ocquaye one of our master trainers at PEN. A total of 16 teachers were trained.
The workshop was sponsored by Ashesi University which believes in the liberal arts approach to learning (basically a hands-on explorative method of learning as against a passive approach of absorption of information). Being a long-time collaborator with PEN, Ashesi periodically supports PEN activities to bolster the impact of building teacher capacity in STEM-focused areas.
The PEN model is one that encourages teachers to teach STEM with more confidence as expressed by one of the trained teachers and we welcome strategic partnerships with individuals and organizations alike who share our vision of a brighter future of STEM.
You can reach out to us on +233 55 861 3600 or at info@practicaleducationnetwork.com to sponsor a teacher-training workshop or facilitate a STEM activity in one of our impact areas.
Download our impact study report here to learn more about what we have been up to at PEN.
Author: Nancy Ewurum