InternationalNew school buildings jump-start educational potential in COAF cluster villages
Published: Saturday October 18, 2008
Start of new academic year at Lernagog School.
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Students romp through the brightly lit hallways of the Lernagog School, while teachers stroll more leisurely. Artwork covers the freshly painted walls, lit by the many windows designed to direct light into the building. In one classroom, several young boys listen eagerly to their teacher as he points to the drawing of a large cow on the chalkboard. In another, about twenty students perform an anti-smoking play for a packed house of villagers and students.
You would think it was the school year, rather than summer break.
"I used to rush home from work," admits Tsovinar Davtyan, a middle school teacher who is now contemplating starting an after-school journalism club.
But that's what happens when you renovate one of the dankest, darkest, most crumbling buildings in a village that itself is struggling - a building so deteriorated, with its plethora of broken windows and moldy, water-damaged interiors, many contended it should be torn down to the foundation.
All of a sudden, everyone wants to be here.
This isn't anecdotal. Absentee rates at the Lernagog School have dropped dramatically since the new school was opened a year ago, as have the number of children who had to retake national tests required for them to pass on to the next grade. That's also true of the other four schools the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) has rebuilt in Lernagog, Karakert, Dalarik and Shenik, using all local builders to renovate and furnish the schools.
Now, the work of improving the educational opportunities and training can begin in earnest. As the education program enters its key development phase, COAF is working with the Ministry of Education and Science and Armavir regional authorities to improve the education and performance of public schools in its cluster villages, including Lernagog, Shenik, Dalarik, Karakert, Miasnikian, and Argina.
A key to that plan is creating a network between the schools in the six villages, training all the administrators and teachers, creating a comprehensive curriculum shared by all the schools, and increasing educational opportunities for gifted students. In 2008-2009, the three schools - Karakert, Dalarik, and Lernagog, will work in close cooperation, though schools in the three other villages will also be involved in the trainings. Those latter three will be phased in to full cooperation by 2009-2010, learning from the experience shared by educators who've already worked together for a year.
"Unfortunately, teachers usually work in isolation," explains Serob Khachatryan, the head of COAF's Education Program and himself a teacher. "But research shows that communication with colleagues and cooperative work are among the most effective ways for improving the quality of teaching."
School personnel will be involved in both theoretical and on-the-job trainings, observe lessons conducted by other teachers, hear lectures by guest speakers, participate in seminars, conferences and research and most importantly, will be encouraged to constantly share experiences and best practices.
This sharing is a break in tradition amongst Armenian teachers, explains Khachatryan, and is key to breaking down the barriers that keep teachers apart.
"Our teachers do not have enough opportunities to share methodology and this reality impacts negatively on improving education," he continues. "It has a negative impact on teachers who are doing a good job, but they don't have an opportunity to talk about it. It impacts negatively the teachers who need to learn from others who are successful."
He refers to the old expression: "If each of us has one apple and we exchange it, each of us again will have one apple. But if each of us has one idea and we share them, as a result, each of us will have more than one idea."
As always, COAF will link with existing programs whenever possible which should have the greatest impact on students. That includes bringing prominent writers, educators, actors and athletes to visit and speak at schools, as well as cooperating with Junior Achievement to set up extracurricular clubs and student councils, and helping students apply to colleges and participate in different educational competitions.
One way to help teachers improve their abilities is to treat their experience with respect and not throw out all their practices, sometimes sharing and cooperation will do very nicely, say local educators.
"When COAF started the educational programs we were skeptical," admits Lernagog Principal Koryun Makaryan, a veteran educator in Lernagog. "But now we are sure that it will succeed, because COAF considers us an equal partner and works in a cooperative way with us, not discarding our current practices, but trying to improve upon them."
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