By Israel Adamu,Jos
Star Education and Leadership Initiative (SELI) on Wednesday held a one-day train-the-trainer workshop for 100 teachers in Plateau state.
Our correspondent reports that the workshop tagged ‘’incorporating play for improved educational outcomes’’ had in attendance teachers drawn from 11 nursery/primary schools in the state.
The founder of Star Education and Leadership Initiative (SELI), Esther Onyinyechi Mark-Nathaniel, who spoke to newsmen emphasised the important factors required to create an effective learning environment in the class for primary school pupils.
She said the Teachers’ Training Workshop was facilitated by SELI with funds from the Reciprocal Exchange Component of the Mandela Washington Fellowship.
” The Mandela Washington Fellowship is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX Play360.”
According to her, “SELI is working to encourage teachers to incorporate play into their classrooms for improved educational outcomes thereby encouraging learning through play’’
She said there are practical steps teachers could take to stimulate students’ interest in learning adding that teachers could apply child-friendly communication skills to build trust with students while teaching.
She further explained that the United Nations provides children with the right to play and by providing resources for capacity building for school teachers, SELI is positioned to allow children to explore their ideas holistically, thereby, encouraging learning.
Topics explored during the Teachers’ Training include Spicing Up the Classroom, play-based learning, Using Playgrounds for Education/Curriculum Development, Importance of Play, Teachers’ Role, and more.
There were practical sessions, group work, and a lot of brainstorming.
Our correspondent reports that Participants expressed gratitude at the knowledge impacted through the training.