Academy for Educational Development

Challenge

Over a 12-year period, the Academy for Educational Development, with funding from the U.S Agency for International Development, assisted the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia in a national program to overhaul its basic-education system. Its focus would be on leadership development, curriculum transformation and teacher re-training.

The program was called Basic Education Strategic Overhaul (BESO). BESO sought to infuse the pedagogical approach with a curriculum based on the principles of active learning. This included a comprehensive program of re-training through the regional teacher-training institutes and involved the development of leaders at all levels of the educational system capable of spearheading such a massive national undertaking.

Solution

Through a series of three- and four-day retreats and summits, the IPI consultant worked with the BESO management and technical teams using an Appreciative Inquiry approach to planning and change. The interventions focused on leadership-skills development for the BESO management team and positive approaches to strategy planning and team building.

Results

The BESO team highly rated each intervention and has incorporated Appreciative Inquiry practices into its management meetings both internally and with the Ministry of Education.

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