Pre-service Specialist job at Mott MacDonald, November 2022

Job Description

The Pre – service Specialist will work under the guidance of the technical lead for teaching and learning and with the MoEST, TIE, PORALG, output 2 specialists, and short-term consultants to:

Build strong relationships with Teacher Training Colleges and the Director Basic Education Teacher Training Section, MOEST
Support the use of data to plan targeted evidence-based interventions that improve teacher training in the Colleges.
Ensure that activities are planned and implemented with the knowledge, support and participation of Key government education Institutions
Coordinate the activities related to pre-service including development and implementation of the workplan and reporting on progress and QA of materials
Lead the implementation of interventions in the Teacher Training Colleges
Support teacher training colleges to develop learning teams, collect and disseminate learning stories which show good practice
Bridge pre service and in-service practices to ensure shared learning in the delivery of quality, inclusive and safety of learning for boys and girls
Work with teacher training colleges to implement tutor’s CPD programmes
Support the development, production and dissemination of resources and materials 
Support the design and implementation of field testing to monitor and evaluate interventions
Support the dissemination of results of any testing
Preparation of monthly and quarterly reports
Ensure linkages with other outputs in the project eg: inclusion, evaluation headteachers etc.
Make contacts with other organisations/projects working in the same sphere in order to understand lessons learnt and consider potential for replicability
Work with MEL team to assess and monitor the effectiveness of learning teams for further improvement
Write progress reports and support the development of workplans as required

Candidate Specification

Skills

A practical understanding of effective practice in teacher training
Ability to work with Government officers
Ability to prioritise and work under pressure.
Ability to work in a collaborative team setting.
Proficient in using MS packages, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Strong organisational skills, reliability, and adherence to ethical standards
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Fluency in written and spoken English, Kiswahili preferred.

Experience

Significant years of working experience in a teacher training setting
Experience teaching in Primary
Experience in working with Government Institutions
Experience of working in large projects

Knowledge

Up to date knowledge of teaching and learning methods in Primary school
Knowledge of effective teacher training approaches and methodology

Qualification

Master/ Postgraduate in Education

Job Profile

The UK aid funded Shule Bora programme aims to improve the quality of pre-primary and primary schools in Tanzania. There are four main outcomes: improving learning outcomes for all children, improving transition rates to secondary schools for girls, ensuring children are safe in and around schools, and helping children with disabilities access quality education.

The programme will:

Work with Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) and the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) to test, adapt and implement at scale quality, gender-transformative, disability-inclusive and safe to learn education approaches in 9 regions, generating learning and evidence on how to achieve these outcomes affordably and at scale.
Support GoT with the timely and effective implementation of the PforR mechanism through technical assistance and capacity building, with a strong focus on data verification, financial management and risk management. Support lesson learning processes from PforR so that these can be embedded into government processes and shared with development partners and other key stakeholders. Ensure that lessons and best practices from (1) are used to inform PfR mechanism.
Manage and coordinate programme activities, with a strong focus on (i) ensuring a high-quality programme, financial and risk management oversight, (ii) working with an independent Learning and Evidence (L&E) provider on establishing regular, rigorous and community-driven monitoring and evaluation activities, and (iii) developing and implementing a strategy for effective communication of Shule Bora objectives, results, and lessons learned to a range of target audiences.

Teacher Training in Tanzania
Two ministries manage the education system in Tanzania- the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology ( MoEST) and the President’s Office-Regional Administration and Local Government ( PO-RALG) . MoEST is responsible, among other things, for training and producing qualified teachers and other educational experts. It is also responsible for overseeing teachers’ professional, moral and ethical standards. In addition to providing pre-primary, primary and secondary education, PO-RALG employs, deploys and remunerates teachers who teach in schools (MoEST, 2019).

MoEST manages teacher education and professional development through the Teacher education department under the Office of the Commissioner for Education. The ministry also relies on agencies such as the Tanzania Institute of Education and the National Examination Council of Tanzania. The former designs and develops the teacher education curriculum for the Certificate in Teacher Education and Diploma in Teacher Education, and the latter set and administer the Certificate in Teacher Education Examination and Diploma in Teacher Education Examination.

Although various initiatives to improve the education of pre-service teachers have been implemented in the past ten years, teacher education in Tanzania still faces myriads of challenges that constrain the quality of its graduates. Some of the most common barriers to successful pre-service teacher education, as reported in the recent literature include

Low entry standards for trainee teachers
The pre-dominance of lecture-based, expository pedagogical approaches by teacher educators
A large gap between theory and practice
Disconnect between pre-service teacher education curriculum content and the classroom teaching realities in most schools in Tanzania.
Teacher educators lack expertise and experience in primary and secondary teaching
Absence of courses addressing key cross-cutting issues facing the contemporary teacher education
Lack of in-service training, poor remuneration, uncertain promotion and poor working conditions for teacher educators limits their capacity and motivation to champion reflective and innovative instructional and assessment practices.

Other Information

Equality, diversity and inclusion
We put equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they have the opportunity to contribute.

Agile working
At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team and personal commitments. We embrace agility, flexibility and trust.

More about Mott MacDonald
We’re a global engineering, management and development consultancy.
Our purpose is to improve society by considering social outcomes in everything we do, relentlessly focusing on excellence and digital innovation, transforming our clients’ businesses, our communities and employee opportunities.
A fundamental part of this is respecting each person’s differences and striving to meet their needs.
Our values: progress, respect, integrity, drive, excellence

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