The United States of America Consulate, in collaboration with two educational partners in Nigeria, has embarked on training of 100 Nigerian teachers to engage their students in different creative ways.
Jennifer Foltz, Deputy Public Affairs Officer, U.S Consulate General, Lagos, made this known on Monday at an interactive session with the teachers, currently participating in “Ibadandun Project”, a professional development workshop in Ibadan.
The one year capacity building training tagged: “Ibadandun Project” was launched in August 2021, with participants drawn from primary and secondary schools in local communities in Oyo State.
It was organised by two educational partners, Five Cowries Arts Education Initiative and One Million Teachers Initiative, with the support of U.S. Consulate General, Lagos.
Foltz said that U.S Mission in Nigeria was committed to support more educational partners geared toward building the teachers’ capacity.
She said the initiative had been fantastic, noting that the students would perform better academically, when engaged in creative ways of learning.
According to her, the one year programme will end by June and participants will go back to their respective schools to teach other teachers.
Foltz said that through this, other teachers would be introduced to creative ways of teaching students.
In separate interviews with cross section of the participants commended the U.S Consulate and the educational partners for the initiative.
One of them, Mr Timothy Ojerinde, a Mathematics and Physics teacher from Methodist Grammar School, Tollgate in Ibadan, said that the training had really helped them in creative thinking and made them to be imaginative when teaching the students.
Ojerinde said that students in his school have started concentrating more in classes since he had started making use of the creative arts to teach them.
He said that making use of creative arts to teach had enable the students to remember things quickly, unlike before when some of them struggled to remember what they had learnt.
Also, Mrs Ronke Ojo, from UMC Primary School, Ibadan, said learning in a creative way would help the pupils to participate in class, adding that it would make them to show more interest in class work.
On his parts, Olayemi Babatunde, from Baptist Primary School, Eruwa, said that teaching students through creative ways, such as painting and drawing, would assist them to be creative in their thinking and make them to be attentive in class.
Babatunde said the training had helped him to improve on his teaching job, adding that the use of creative arts in teaching students had brought to life the teaching-learning environment.
Also, Funmi Olarenwaju, from Whiz-Kids Primary School, Ibadan, promised to teach her colleagues who didn’t have the opportunity to be part of the training.
NAN reports that the training, which would be continuous, will introduce participants to fun, creative and interactive teaching methods that enhance educational outcomes such as improved numeracy, literacy and school attendance.
It will also provide the teachers a deeper understanding of new approaches of using arts to improve classroom instruction and students’ learning.
