Pre-service teacher education plays a crucial role in shaping the future of education. It equips new teachers with the beliefs, practices, and professional commitments necessary for effective teaching. Teachers who are well-prepared from the outset are more likely to remain in the profession and deliver quality education throughout their careers. And, at a time when countries across Africa face critical teacher shortages and a decline in the attractiveness of the profession, never has high-quality, consistent pre-service teacher training been more important.
The Challenge
There is a pressing need for teachers across the world. This challenge is pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, where schools (particularly in low-resource areas) struggle to recruit and retain qualified teachers. The result is high teacher-student ratios, high workloads and low quality of education.
In Africa, and in many countries across the world, there is a lack of emphasis on consistent, high-quality teacher training. Where pre-service training programmes do exist, they are short, and overly theoretical. Teachers come away from their training with knowledge of pedagogies, but without the confidence or skills to put these into practice.
As a result, new teachers are ill-equipped for the realities of the classroom. They lack the skills and competencies to deliver quality learner-centred and gender-transformative pedagogies. This has an impact on learners’ outcomes and participation in the classroom.
PEAS’ approach to pre-service education
PEAS is using our expertise, built up over 15 years’ of delivering teacher professional development, to pilot a pre-service programme in Zambia’s Colleges of Education. Our programme, developed in partnership with the Ministry of Education, focuses on equipping trainee teachers with learner-centred pedagogies through a practice-based teacher training approach. The approach is centred around our Top 10 Teaching Practices which were developed based on best practice across our networks and grounded in a body of evidence from cognitive science about how our brains learn.
Since December 2023, we have been working with David Livingstone College of Education and Charles Lwanga College of Education to upskill both student lecturers and student teachers. As an accredited Continuous Professional Development (CPD) provider in Zambia, PEAS supports college lecturers in delivering these practices as part of the pre-service training they deliver. This equips student teachers with the tools they need to implement learner-centred pedagogies effectively in their future classrooms.
Centring practice through micro-teaching
A key component of our program is micro-teaching. During micro-teaching, trainee teachers have the opportunity to practice what they’ve learned in controlled, supportive environments. This involves co-planning mini-lessons in small groups, delivering these lessons to peers acting as students, and receiving feedback from both peers and facilitators. The focus is on “learning by doing,” ensuring that teachers are not just learning new techniques but are also becoming comfortable applying them in real classroom settings.
This approach is supported by extensive research showing that deliberate practice, combined with coaching, reflection, and feedback, is crucial to effective teacher development. By embedding opportunities for practice at every stage, we are helping future teachers build the confidence and competence they need to deliver high-quality, learner-centred education from the moment they step into the classroom.
What’s next?
PEAS is committed to ensuring that student teachers receive the support they need during their practicum placements. We’re supporting lecturers in Colleges of Education to coach and monitor student teachers as they go to schools for their first term of school-based experience. Lecturers will observe their lessons, provide targeted feedback and guide them to reflect on and refine their practices.
The early success and positive reception of this pilot program highlight the vital role that practice-based training plays in teacher education. On this World Teachers’ Day, we’re celebrating the real and lasting impact that practical, consistent teacher training programmes can have on teachers’ quality, confidence and motivation.
Get in touch via info@peas.org.uk to learn more about our teacher development programmes, and partnerships@peas.org.uk to find out how can you support PEAS’ work.