Yes, TFFT-Tanzania has had a very busy first quarter of the year! The world of Full Circle has been no different. We have had a very exciting start to the year as well.

At the end of May, we finished the training of 26 teachers and Ward Education Coordinators in life skills education and participatory learning. The training was 4 days and served as the introduction to the curriculum pilot that Full Circle is running in 10 schools this year!

Day one of the training was all about life skills and the differences between teaching skills and teaching knowledge. Day two, we covered the Experiential Learning Cycle and discussed how this is applicable in their classrooms and teaching life skills. We also went step-by-step through the Full Circle curriculum for the Personality Development and Sports subject that we are piloting.

Days 3 and 4 were the best! After covering a lot of topics and using activities to teach the teachers, it was their turn to teach us. Breaking into groups, the teachers prepared grade-level appropriate lessons to teach the whole group life skills. The teachers then gave pertinent feedback to the groups to help them improve their lessons. Participants came from private and government, English- and Kiwahili-medium schools and ranged in experience from a few months to nearly 30 years! This activity was a great way to see how teachers are teaching and for them to learn from each other, discuss issues, and share ideas.

Some of the things that we heard from teachers during and after the training were:

“After I finish this course, I will be more creative in my classroom!”

“When I finish this training, I will develop different ideas with my students and myself—starting small businesses, changing my teaching strategies and so on.”

“I am very happy attending this training this week. I started being a WEC (Ward Education Coordinator) in 2002, before [Personality Development and Sports Class] was introduced. We never get refresher courses, even when new curricula is introduced. It was better when I was a teacher in school because I can take the [Personality Development and Sports Class] book and read it but there is only one in the school. So if I, now being a [Ward Education Coordinator], take the book, what will the teachers use? That is why attending this training has been very helpful to me.”

In addition to the training, we finally printed and bound the final versions of the English and Kiswahili curriculum! I have to give a big thanks to my colleagues for helping with this. One of the reasons I love TFFT is the sense of family—having your boss, Ken and co-worker, Melissa give up their Saturday to help copy and bind books in the office is a pretty awesome thing 😉