Teaching and Learning in Fragile Contexts (TLFC) is a project that has been designed to support inclusive, high-quality, and gender-responsive (GR) education for primary students in Liberia and Sierra Leone and to link research in fragile contexts, across sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on Liberia and Sierra Leone, to improve learning outcomes in those contexts. The project will increase the use of active learning and GR quality teaching strategies among pre-service teachers alongside schools and in-service teachers who host student teachers in demonstration schools and during their practicum. The means of building this capacity is through the training and coaching of Teacher Educators within Teacher Training Institutes (colleges, universities and Polytechnique). Further, the project will increase the understanding and effectiveness of education decision-makers in the two countries in applying these same strategies in their policies and processes while promoting gender equality, especially for girls and other vulnerable populations. The project additionally supports applied research on quality teaching and culturally relevant reading materials and then facilitates access and use of this evidence by decision-makers to improve literacy and learning outcomes for children in African refugee and IDP contexts (including Sierra Leone and Liberia), with a focus on gender equality (GE) and inclusion.
The project is designed and implemented by CODE, with local partners WE-CARE Foundation (WCF) in Liberia and The Association of Language and Literacy Educators (TALLE) in Sierra Leone. Together all three partners support quality, equitable primary education, ensuring systemic and sustainable change, by focusing on three main areas: 1) supporting improved training for pre-service teachers (student teachers); 2) connecting with decision makers (typically Ministry of Education officials) to ensure understanding of best practices especially related to gender-responsive teaching strategies; and 3) growing the evidence-base of research around literacy and education in fragile refugee and IDP settings.
CODE (formerly the Canadian Organization for Development through Education), since 1959, has been working towards its vision of a literate world, growing into Canada’s leading international development agency focused on education and literacy. CODE has been active in Sierra Leone and Liberia since 2011, focusing on childhood literacy and supporting the creation of locally produced, culturally meaningful books for children. www.code.ngo
WE-CARE Foundation is a non-profit educational organization that has been helping to enhance literacy in Liberia since 1994. WE-CARE promotes a culture of reading, love of books, and quality education for all Liberians.
TALLE-RSL is a Sierra Leonean NGO of Language Arts Educators that supports effective teaching and learning of Language Arts to boost quality-learning outcomes among children. TALLE-RSL works with education stakeholders to promote appropriate student-friendly methods and materials in teaching children the skills that help them think, read, and communicate meaningfully and well.
TALLE-RSL will implement the TLFC project in Sierra Leone and work with four Teacher Training Institutions (TTI) or colleges, including EBKUST, Njala, Freetown Polytechnic, and Eastern Polytechnic. The project will impact 40 primary schools across various districts such as BO, Port Loko, Kenema, Western Rural, Moyamba, and Kambia.
