British Council – ‘Certificate in Online English Teaching’ (COELT) Programme

British Council - ‘Certificate in Online English Teaching’ (COELT) Programme

Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 - 2022

Countries

South Africa

Lead M&E Consultant(s)

Simon Borg

Project Overview

COELT ‘Certificate in Online English Teaching’ seeks to improve the digital literacy and online pedagogical skills (especially using WhatsApp and video conferencing) of 5,000 teachers of English in Basic Education classrooms across South Africa. M&E Consultant Simon Borg led a team with two local consultants in the evaluation of Phase 2 of the project. This Phase involved six weeks of Master Trainer preparation, a further six weeks cascade stage where Master Trainers delivered the course to teachers with the support of a tutor, and subsequent stages of independent delivery by Master Trainers. The programme had an online professional learning community which was also be the focus of M&E work. An online Key Digital Skills course to develop teachers’ basic digital literacies, and delivered via videoconferencing in real time, was also part of the programme.

Approaches & Outputs

The M&E team reviewed the programme’s Theory of Change, created an M&E framework in which indicators for each stage were defined, and defined and implemented remote data collection tools with key stakeholders for each stage of Phase 2 of the programme. Exit interviews were conducted with Master Trainers who completed Stage 1, and the establishment and progress of the PLC were also reviewed. Additional interviews with Master Trainers were conducted at the end of Stage 2 in December 2021, along with exit surveys for teachers. A final M&E report was delivered in March 2022.

Impact On

5,000 teachers of English as a First Additional Language working for the Department of Basic Education in South Africa.

Challenges

The programme was set up so that teachers could continue English education with basic education pupils when schools were closed during the COVID–19 lockdown. Schools in South Africa, though, are now largely open and there is no immediate need for teachers to be using the skills they are acquiring on the course. It will thus be challenging to evaluate the impact of COELT on teachers’ pedagogical practices.

British Council – ‘Certificate in Online English Teaching’ (COELT) Programme