Teacher-led learning circles are places of reflection, where teachers come together to discuss and plan how to trial different forms of formative assessment in their classrooms in the hope of ultimately identifying promising practice.
In Ghana, following three workshops held as part of the Teacher-led Learning Circles for Formative Assessment project, teachers in learning circles in Ahafo Ano, Ajumako, Bolga, Bosomtwi, Builsa and Cape Coast have come up with individual formative assessment projects.
The projects that have been put together by teachers in all corners of the country vary from focusing on empowering literacy to developing strategies for improving reading. They are all, however, united by their identification of formative assessment strategies that will be experimented with by each teacher in their classrooms. These strategies include playing a game of pick and act with students, where learners are asked to choose a piece of cardboard with written text and read the text whilst acting out the scene that is being described.
Teachers in their learning circles in Ghana have consequently reflected on whether any of these formative assessment practices have resulted in an improvement in student learning. In Cape Coast, a teacher using a variety of methods of formative assessment such as think pair share, classroom observation, peer teaching, thumbs up and thumbs down, letter and sound games and mini interviews, has identified positive changes in student learning because of using these new strategies. The teacher has excitedly reported that some learners have built such confidence putting together sounds that they quickly raise their hands to try to read or sound out a word, even if they are not completely certain that their response is correct.
With four more workshops to be held in Ghana, teachers will continue to reflect on, discuss and develop promising formative assessment practices in their schools through their learning circles until the end of December. This hopefully indicates that promising practice will continue to proliferate from teachers in circles in Cape Coast, Ahafo Ano and Bolga to facilitate student learning across Ghana and the rest of the world.
See photos from the most recent workshops in Ghana here. Want to find out more about the T3LFA project in Ghana or even learn about the work that is taking place across our six other project countries? Take a look at the Teacher-led Learning Circles for Formative Assessment page.