Rutindo

THE PROBLEM

Many fear mathematics! In rural Sub Sahara Africa, mathematics is traditionally viewed as a “hard, difficult and elitist” subject. Some complex concepts and theories, mean that slow learners or the disadvantaged (many times the disabled, girls, and children in poverty or war-torn areas) struggle to understand the subject. Some groups are further challenged: girls for instance are at times distracted from concentration by home chores, family obligations, health issues etc. Several rural communities think that the subject is for boys mainly (a). Over the years, the resultant poor numeracy skills have become a greater barrier to economic and social-well being.

Yet mathematics is useful in everyday life: from walking, cooking to shopping and playing. It is the language for logic, an engine for innovation, the foundation for problem-solving and critical thinking skills, a cornerstone for any career:  more so given the fact that the today’s jobs are varnishing, while tomorrow’s jobs are yet not known. The cognitive, innovative and entrepreneurial skills gained from mathematics, prepare children for the unknown industry shift that is coming with technological transformation. Mathematics is a foundation for STEM subjects, which in turn yields significant returns for an economy.

In 2006 it was reported that "Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the world’s highest increase in total primary school enrollment" with more than 23 million children entering the classroom for the first time. The PISA - Global studies, a survey by OECD across 34 countries in 2012, showed that 59% of 15 - 16 year olds fear math class (b). In Sub Sahara Africa, most of learners perform far below the international average: 31% of Grade 6 students are classified as innumerate.

In Uganda for example, 38.8% of grade 6 students are classified as innumerate, and the results of 2018 teachers exams show that also teachers, find mathematics the most difficult of subjects (d).

“Numeracy skills are … poor - only 2 percent of students in Uganda could solve a simple, age-appropriate mathematics problem by the end of P4. According to the last national assessment of progress in education (NAPE) administered in 2014,… less than half of the P6 pupils have acquired most of the competencies in Numeracy and English Literacy specified in the P6 curriculum…

Teachers suffer from lack of basic subject knowledge and pedagogical skills, e.g. only 21 percent of grade 4 math teachers could compare fractions and 25 percent could assess students’ abilities.”(e).  In rural and disadvantaged areas, teaching mathematics is further compromised by poor physical conditions in schools and inadequate teaching and learning materials, shortage of well-qualified and trained teachers (a). There has also been a recent influx of 1.2million refugees, many of whom are children of school-going age.

OUR INNOVATION

We have developed an innovative mathematics teaching approach that uses learning aids drawn from the local culture to explain and simplify concepts to children. We have also developed a database tool to track the learning and progression in the class. 

Even if they are not going to school, children in rural Sub-Sahara Africa make, know and use cultural artifacts from the environment or at home. Many of these cultural artifacts are intrinsically very mathematical. Examples of crafts and trades include:- Hair Braiding, Making Mats, Weaving Baskets, Knitting Table clothes, Making Toys (dolls and balls), Cultural dance etc. The homes in disadvantaged areas all have a bit of culture surrounding them. Our Intervention asks the parents and students to bring these artifacts to class. These are then used by the teacher to explain mathematics. In the process the community is propagating both culture and mathematics.  This approach is LOWCOST and SUSTAINABLE.

We we began, over 2 years ago, we complete the first pilot year of our project. We have trained 30 teachers who are teaching 1042 children in North West Uganda:  Pakanyi area, Masindi district. These children from mainly peasant families which earn less than 1 dollars a day, usually from farming. Most children are between the ages of 3 to 16. Girls account for 40%.

We focus on children because they are the future of our economy. Unfortunately, our current workforce is unprepared for the realities of the future. We are releasing graduates for jobs that will no longer existing in the next 10 years. Many do not even make it through school: a 2017 UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (b), notes that in almost half of countries surveyed, less than one in two youth complete secondary school. Furthermore “between 51% to 63% of the graduates (from East Africa’s Universities) were found to be ‘half-baked’, ‘unfit for jobs ‘ and ‘lacking job market skills’. The worst records were in Uganda (63%) and Tanzania (61%).” (c)

 We believe that giving children a firm foundation in fundamentals like mathematics, better equips them for the uncertainties ahead.

At the micro level, we have re-skilled teachers with tools to make them more attractive to (and more effective for) their employers – the schools. This has created economic opportunity for an under-utilised trade and generates long-term social impact. 

At a macro level, we cultivated innovation. We would showed both learners and their teachers, that mathematics is apart of everyday life. It is beautiful and relevant. It is a skill that they will need in order to progress and build a career.

During the pilot 1 in 2019, we trained teachers who in turn reached over 1042 children in 4 schools, changing attitudes to the subject.

We hope to scale up to the other 3 regions in the country, and reach 1 million children through 10,000 teachers. Focus is on primary school going children from disadvantaged homes; (rural areas, poverty stricken, warn-torn, displaced, in drought...)

By Year 4 - 5, we will have completed modularization for the service and plan to cross to selected regional countries.

Theory of Change:

Education systems are culturally embedded and, therefore, difficult to improve without understanding actions, beliefs, and attitudes related to education existing within the culture. Culture therefore plays a role in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Our intervention specifically dwells on the ways culture could benefit learners from disadvantaged parts of the world, including those in emergencies. At a societal level, culture can act as a medium of communication of mathematics, can be a glue, a transition bridge, and a liberator.

The importance of using locally available materials when teaching maths has been revealed in findings from 15 years of research into mathematics education in rural settings. At Rutindo School, a primary school in Masindi, Western Uganda, we have refined this approach by involving local teachers and learners in the process of scouting around their homes and environment to identify cultural objects, and creatively linking them to mathematical concepts. Rutindo supported teachers to translate these links into lesson plans that employ new methods of teaching primary maths concepts. (a)

We have packaged our intervention into a lesson Planning guide, a training program for teachers, and a scalable after-school mathematics session. Through these programs, the beneficiaries, (the learners) gain concrete and abstract problem solving skills and critical thinking abilities, to help understand mathematics today, while laying the foundations to make them more employable and entrepreneurial for the future.

The teaching approach uses cultural artifacts and local objects to demystify and reinforce the importance of math to disadvantaged children:

-       Change attitudes towards mathematics.

-       Support practicing teachers

-       Encourage student self learning

We are able to explain why and how our intervention is having impact. This was independently verified by MITKA program of the Australia Government through AUSAID that supported our programs. 

 Our program is particularly accessible because it is founded on locally available cultural items which are adapted for teaching aids. 

We have subsequently gone ahead to draw up training manuals on how our intervention can be replicated in other areas, so that there is genuine positive impact.

We have the following information from our past programs:

At the macro level:

• Proportion of learners mentioning mathematics as their favourite subject.

• Proportion of learners actively participating in classes ( Number of learners asking or responding to at least 1 question in class Level of engagement in the class )

• Number of primary school children in the program who continue on to secondary school and pursue STEM

• Number of primary schools that have adopted new delivery methods and steps of instruction in the New teaching methods for Primary School.

• Number of teachers who have gone through the training for the new methods.

• Number of lessons being conducted using the new learning methods.

• Inclusion and Performance ratios have been compared.

At the micro level we have the following indicators.

1. Percentage of teachers with positive attitude to mathematics

2. Percentage of teachers with positive attitudes towards delivery of mathematics using teaching aids.

3. Percentage of learners with positive attitude to mathematics

4. Percentage of learners attending mathematics, compared to numbers of those attending other subjects

5. Percentage of learners showing/reporting an improvement in their mathematics performance

 6. Percent change in average / mean performance assessment results

7. Percent of students whose performance results improved from assessment X to assessment Y to assessment Z…

The program was translated into a hard and softcopy of the lesson planning Guide available at the school and in the project office

We are continuously seeking to understand the evolution of our program, so we will capture the average scores in the pre and post test assessment for the teachers being trained study these. We will also measuring the students’ preferred culturally relevant method of instruction (a question on their exams) and the Numbers of Teachers, schools and communities that accept / embrace the new methods. 

Lets Demystify Maths: 

an innovative mathematics teaching approach that uses learning aids drawn from the local culture to explain and simplify concepts to children. 

Research into Program development

We have 2 distribution channels and impact routes available to us.
A. We train teachers in various schools with new skills, in which case our entry point would be the schools.
B. We directly reach the children through after school classes, in which case the primary stakeholders are the parents. In either case, the endorsement of the local education officials, and the national education ministry is important.

Through our program we have built strong relationships with the district education officials and the national ministry of education. While we continue with these tested and successfully models, we want to investigate if it is more impactful to fully adopt or incorporate more elements of the direct-to-learners model.

A big hurdle we faced in the beginning was the corruption and bureaucracies at the ministry of education. We will definitely face these in each new jurisdiction we attempt to enter. The fellow will help us gain a fresh perspective and understanding of the prevailing local policies and goals of the local authorities. In the case of Uganda, there is currently a drive to shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered education. When we show the ministry and education officials how our programs align with the national policy, they started to support our campaign. It is also important to win over local ‘champions’ and ‘authorisers’ in these institutions.  These are individuals in decision making positions, who can share in the vision of the program. The fellow will plan for strengthening and transforming of our networks into strong relationships that will support our interventions.

 
Research into the integration of technology

We also request for a fellow who is proficient with mobile applications development. We intend to complete the development of our mobile APP, and need the support of a programmer and developer who has developed such applications before.

We have compiled examples of how local cultural items and practices can be adapted into teaching aids; instantly making learning part of everyday steps...
These examples are now in a series of books we have written and copyrighted. However we would like to complete digitising these and creation of an online database, that teachers can draw on to inspire their lesson planning. The APP would also have features to monitor learning of students and track their performance.

The fellow would work with our advisors and programmers to review and review our development path, features and attributes.
 

Research in to Operational Efficiencies:

The school calendar in East Africa is Janaury to December with 3 academic terms in a year. This cycle of holiday, school opening, teaching, exams session and close of the term meant that we had to structure our training intervention in this cycle so as to get teachers when they are available.

 Another challenge will be the inconsistency in occurrence of the mathematics classes in rural school. At the start of our pilot, we obtained a mathematics time table, but soon discovered that some of the schools, teachers and even learners disregard the timetable and do not attend nor hold class as per the timetable. Fluctuations of learners especially in the government rural schools makes it difficult to plan for the lessons. This meant that our M&E team would show up to empty classrooms. Furthermore, absenteeism of teachers in the upper classes was prevalent in the government schools (this reiterates the question if learning could be extended to the homestead?) 

The Fellow will develop and refine our strategy to consult the the head teachers and teachers in the schools about their teaching schedule and illustrate to them the need for the intervention. We have seen improved and consistent classes by teachers who appreciate the need to improve delivery of mathematics. Even the parents realise that maths is important after attending our needs assessment sessions. When they realise the importance, there is more commitment. We also engaged and asked the District Inspector of Schools, to assist and monitoring some classes. This has made our programs apart of the district’s agenda.

The findings from the program so far, show clearly that mindsets of the teachers have been changed to a more positive reception and delivery. However the way of teaching, still lacks innovation: a good number do not initiate use alternative teaching aids, other than those learnt in the training. The fellow will support the organisation of teachers into focus groups, where they can encourage, assist and critic each other. Through these forums, teachers gain momentum to improve, and learn new ideas from each other. This has helped to nurture innovation and exploration of teaching styles and realisation of cultural aspects to use in teaching mathematics. One vivid example is a teacher called Ms. Halima, who after years of teaching in a classroom, got the courage and idea to take her students outdoors for a maths lesson … she taught measurements using outdoor elements.

Surveys
Through surveys the fellows will investigate several issues. For instance; 

we seek to further better understand several phenomena.

1) Most students aspire to prestigious professions such as doctor, lawyer, engineer, accounts etc. Many frown on the teaching profession. Because of this, we end up with teachers who resorted to the teaching profession as a third or fourth option (when all else failed). They, therefore, lack the passion and zeal to teach, let alone effectively communicate mathematics. 

One of our program objectives is to inject a passion and innovative thinking among these teachers. 

 2) Another trend is that many girls literally fear mathematics. Many think it is the preserve for boys. Breaking this gender stereotype is another task we plan to take on.