Thinking Schools Ethiopia which is part of Eminence Social Entrepreneurs is now collaborating with three education bureaus in three Ethiopian regions:
Addis Ababa Education Bureau (AAEB) in the capital city of Ethiopia;- the Southern Nations State Education Bureau (SNNPRS) in the south;
- and a collaboration of the Tigray Development Association (TDA) & the Tigray Education Bureau (TEB) in the north.
Upcoming and recent trainings include:
- AAEB: 16-17 June 2014 with leadership teams from AAEB schools;
- TDA & TEB: 13-14 June 2014 with leadership teams from TEB schools and experts from the TEB;
- SNNPRS: March 2014 with the SNNPRS Education Bureau Expert team. The whole state initiative is to begin with model schools in September 2014.
For further information on upcoming Thinking Schools trainings please contact Atsede Tsehayou and/or Dagim Melese at Thinking Schools Ethiopia. Go to the contact page on this website for contact information. Further information on the Thinking Schools International trainer Robert Price may be found on the Thinking Schools International website and Robert Price’s website.
Southern Nations Nationalities & Peoples State Education Bureau (SNNPSEB)
Southern Nations website in Amharic & English: www.snnprs.gov.et
…there are many different kinds of trainings… this training is practical, simple, participatory which all participants are engaged in generating ideas and in which large and extensive topics have been able to be grasped easily…
…the team spirit is also high. What you have given us is great and useful in terms of being implemented in our work, lives and home…
SNNPRS Education Experts
Thinking School Ethiopia is collaborating with the educational bureau of the SNNPRS (The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Regions). Thinking Schools Ethiopia facilitated a three day training with the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR) Education Bureau Expert Team in Yirgalem (south of Awassa). The recent training on The Growing Thinking School Inside Out approach three day training (28 Feb, 1-2 March) was conducted for the Instructional and Administrative Leadership team of the education bureau. The whole school system approach it employs explains why the leadership team initially took the training. Thetraining creates a transparent condition in which the instructional leadership team actually assumes the roles students would play. Educators employ the powerful tools and strategies of the Thinking School Approach in actual class room conditions enabling the leaders to materially witness how students would learn in a teaching for, of, and about thinking.
Addis Ababa Education Bureau (AAEB)
“This training is a pilot project [speaking with AAEB expert team], next we’ll go to schools. We will train teachers and principals. Gradually the program will be at a national level. Let alone your job or other businesses, it helps even in our day to day life [Thinking Schools approach and methods]…”
Dilamo Otore Ferenje – Head of Addis Ababa Education Bureau (AAEB)
TSE (Thinking Schools Ethiopia / International) will be facilitating training for ten+ model schools with the Addis Ababa Education Bureau government schools. The training will include leadership teams composed of the schools leaders and key teachers who will lead the schools on whole school transformational Thinking Schools design. Previously the AAEB Experts Team received learner centered leadership training that parallels the methods for educators and the classrooms with students. This systems approach has been successfully implemented in whole schools, whole countries (Malaysia project), and in many countries.
Key contacts include:
Tigray Development Association in collaboration with Tigray Education Bureau (TDA & TEB)
Tigray Development Association online: www.facebook.com/TDAINT
Thinking Maps is not found as vocabulary in the field of management, it is a new term. Maybe such vocabulary could be heard in the area of transformational leadership…
SNNPRS Education Expert
TSE will be facilitating training for whole school change with the TEB experts and leadership teams from TEB schools. TDA is facilitating the collaboration with TEB and TSE.
The Tigrai Development association(TDA) was founded in 1989 in Diaspora during the Ethiopian civil war, as an apolitical, non profit, tax exempt humanitarian organisation with chapters and support groups in Ethiopia and abroad. Today TDA has become an internationally recognized association with hundreds of thousands of members residing on the remotest areas of Tigrai and elsewhere on the globe. TDA has a vision of seeing a prosperous Ethiopia free of poverty and its mission is to be a strong development arm that supports the development efforts of the people of Tigrai. The trusty areas of intervention include: education with special emphasis on primary education, basic health services with main focus on maternal and child healthcare and targeted skill training for income generation to achieve food security for people living in drought prone areas through continual raising of resources from its members, supporters and donor organizations and with active community participation.
Thinking Schools Overview
Thinking Schools Ethiopia (TSE) has been collaborating with educators and schools in Ethiopia for the past three years using thinking skills that are student centered life long thinking skills for all students, teachers and leadership in the whole school community.
Thinking Schools Ethiopia (TSE) is a student centered approach providing thinking methods for all disciplines and grade levels in schools (K-12 + university) and as a life long learner. The approach provides a common visual language to explore, discover and learn in a collaborative environment that supports and sustains the creativity and innovation of the whole school educational community. Specifically the focus of Thinking Schools Ethiopia is using the Six Starting Points for Thinking, research based methods including:
Reflective Questioning high quality questioning and listening skills (e.g. shared inquiry, questioning for inquiry)- Thinking Skills explicit use of cognitive processes
- Visual Mapping the use of visual tools to map out ideas. (e.g. Thinking Maps).
- Collaborative Networking between us in pairs, groups, schools, and global networks that includes collaborative learning; collegial coaching
- Developing Dispositions characteristics, dispositions, and Habits of Mind are engaged
- Structuring a Thinking Environment considering how the physical space is organize and resources used
The Six Starting Points for Thinking are life long skills for use with problem solving in school, life and work. Thinking Schools International projects currently include over 500 UK schools; a whole country project in Malaysia; and additional projects in South Africa, USA, India, Thailand, and other countries. Thinking Schools International has experience in implementation on a school by school basis as well as whole country (iThink in Malaysia).
Support
The Thinking Schools Ethiopia project has received initial support from Thinking Foundation founder David Hyerle, Thinking Maps (use of Thinking Maps in Ethiopia) and Thinking Schools International trainer Robert Price. Thinking Schools Ethiopia is part of Eminence Social Entrepreneurs an Ethiopian organization based in Addis Ababa.
Key Weblinks:
Thinking Schools Accreditation model: www.thinkingfoundation.org
Thinking Schools International: www.thinkingschoolsinternational.com
Thinking Maps Inc.: www.thinkingmaps.com
Thinking Schools Ethiopia: www.thinkingschoolsethiopia.com
Eminence Social Entrepreneurs: www.eminence-se.org