Weija, Oblogo Teachers Benefit From New Teaching Concept

Teachers from Oblogo and Weija in the Weija Gbawe Municipality in the Greater Accra Region, have benefited from a 'differentiated instruction concept' of teaching and learning that caters for the unique need of every learner through varied instruction model.

It was organised by Center 4 Trans Atlantic Leadership and Progressive Studies based in USA.

The knowledge acquired through the workshop is a requisite for an appropriate classroom work which provides them with multiple choices to learn the content

These instruction models are in relation to content, process, product and learning environment.

The 10-member committee group of Center 4 Trans Atlantic Leadership and Progressive Studies that led the group to Ghana was Dr Dorothy Williams accompanied by her Deputy, Dr Stella Nunga and the Executive Secretary, Bishop Dr Victoria Vitshie.

Mr Dankyi Ernest Owusu, a beneficiary of the workshop, gave a testimony saying that the new learning model was tailored to meet individual needs of learners.

According to him, they learnt that, flexible groupings should not be based on assumptions but rather, collection of data of the learners over a period of time. "Therefore, going forward, we will be guided by this principle to help harness the intended benefits behind the essence of learner groupings which are mostly done on the basis of same ability and mixed ability criteria," he said.

He said they went through the numerous 'differentiated instruction strategies' and were also exposed to the creating learning stations, the use of task cards, interviewing of students and Think-pair-share strategy.

Mr Dankyi said they also experienced the learning style study strategy which outlines how different learning groups learn better, that is, the visual learner, auditory learner and the kinesthetic learner.

"We realised that the visual learner learns well by avoiding destruction, always sits in front and uses neatly organised or typed material. For the auditory learners, they rehearse information orally, use mnemonics, rhymes, jingles and auditory repetition through tape recordings to improve memory.

"With the Kinesthetic learning; they use all senses, i.e. Sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing; use direct involvement; physical manipulations; imagery and 'hands on' activities to improve motivation, interest and memory", he added.

Mr Dankyi said the new methodology was inspiring and highly educative, and expressed the hope that it would go a long way to establish a relationship that would put the learners at the greatest advantage.

The leader of the group, Dr Dorothy Williams, said she was overwhelmed by the maximum cooperation they received from their Ghanaian counterparts and expressed the hope that it would impact positively on their children.

The Executive Secretary, Bishop Dr Victoria, said it was appropriate that her partners choose to share the experience with public schools in the remotest area to inculcate knowledge to teachers, expressed satisfaction in their work and wished they could stay longer.

The mission of Center 4 Trans Atlantic Leadership and Progressive Studies is to change the world one-step at a time for future generations.

The vision is to build a community with citizens of lifelong learners and leaders to empower students, leaders and organisations to take responsibility for their present and future learning by developing their interpersonal, technological, and academic skills.

Among the goals of Center 4 Trans Atlantic Leadership and Progressive Studies is to improve community and business engagement to evolve in academic initiatives and decision-making.

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