The first months of 2023, the consortium in Guatemala has been in full swing already. Three different manuals had to be printed for our three phases that will be implemented this year. We will have about 18,000 teachers in phase 3 of the program. 32,000 teachers in phase 2 and 30,000 teachers in phase 1 – totaling to approximately 80,000 teachers in our program.
What is very interesting to see is that the program that was implemented last year in seven rural departments, almost all teachers finished the program, while in our first year with the mostly urban departments we had a large group that hadn’t finish yet. This is mostly explained by the fact that rural teachers have less access to good materials and that led to their request to add another 2000 teachers from these seven departments. They will do a fast track of phase 1 in their own time with their peers and then join in with phase 2. This shows commitment to learning from the teachers!
Impact at a nation-wide level
The new group of 30,000 teachers that will start this year has been chosen by the Ministry of Education from all the remaining departments of Guatemala, which means that officially this year the teacher training program will be in place and making an impact at a nation-wide level.
Adjustments
Based on the feedback received from teachers last year in focus groups and surveys, several adjustments were made to the manuals as well as to the process. The consortium incorporated a heavier focus on 21st century skills for the students and what this requires of teachers.
Additionally, compared to other years, this year at the start of the year all the facilitators of each of the phases are receiving a 2 hour online session explaining the manual, purpose and methodology to refresh some aspects and also introduce new items. A focus aspect for the coming months is to continue to grow our online Facebook community and ensure a higher interaction and engagement among teachers for their growth.
