We are delighted to announce that we have a new, highly experienced, volunteer starting with the CET.
Tom King, an international education and development specialist with expertise in programme design, monitoring and evaluation, has also recently completed a full-time MA in Educational Planning, Economics, and International Development at UCL. Over the years, he has successfully led international education projects, securing funding and expanding access to marginalised learners across multiple regions. He has an interest in seeking opportunities in international education policy, programme management, and development.
Tom tells us:
‘After working at the RSC, I went to Ghana, where I was a Community Development Intern. I went into local schools in the village and worked to support teachers, both as a teaching assistant in their classroom, but also through running sessions on different pedagogical approaches. So, for example, I ran a book club aiming to increase literacy outcomes. Via this, we introduced ideas about differentiation and active pedagogical approaches. Then, I’d reflect with the teachers about what they thought had worked and how they might include strategies in their own lessons.
The textbooks that are there to support the teachers in Ghana have strategies embedded in them, such as questioning, but there isn’t the connective tissue to enable the teachers to use the approach – perhaps I could bridge the gap between textbook and bringing it to life in the classroom. So, in the book club, I would model using the Ghanaian textbook, so it was following their curriculum needs and what I was delivering was in consultation with the teacher. Then, it would be about how to implement it further and reflect.
They were really excellent teachers, doing magnificent work with very tight resource constraints. What I thought they needed was the ability to reflect and talk about their day-to-day experiences, which would enable them to meet some of the challenges they faced both within the classroom and their resource constraints.
Thinking of volunteering at the CET, I feel that it’s one piece of the jigsaw that enables that support and it’s facilitative, so it’s helping people to complete their practice, rather than it being prescriptive.’
Tom’s role will be to support our Teach2030 community, specifically the ambassadors. Our Teach2030 Ambassadors are pivotal in elevating the voices of our teachers, helping us to support one of our core pillars. Meanwhile, they also lead and create specific, context driven content through workshops and blogs. Tom will be providing one-to-one support to inspire and enable them to initiate and lead change in their own communities, with the ambition of encouraging them to host larger scale events to build and forge stronger Teach2030 communities – a strategy that will expand Teach2030 on a local level. For Tom,
‘Networks are important and I like the idea of communicating across borders. I want to make a difference. I like making contact and discussing what individuals are up to in their own communities. I like facilitating and encouraging people’s ideas. Teaching or education is a continually learning process, so I’m intrigued to learn from others and what their processes are.’
We are thrilled to have his expertise on board and we look forward to seeing the impact of his work on our community.
