UNITET UK – UNITET Teacher Training Project – Nigeria

Overview
UK-Nigeria Teacher Training Project (UNITET) is a result of a successful bid by Havering College of Further & Higher Education UK and Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Lagos under the Education Partnerships in Africa (EPA) to develop jointly a curriculum for a 6 month short term course in Teacher Training for post 16 year olds.

Aims and Objectives
The course, which was piloted and later delivered at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education was aimed to increase the employability of teachers and students alike in Nigeria for a customised work-based learning delivery in schools and other educational organisations. It constituted a module of a newly developed post 16 teacher training qualification in Nigeria and was a module/unit of a Professional Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) in the UK. By achieving this, the project intended to address skills gaps in innovative teaching practices in Nigeria, increase the portfolio of courses currently offered by Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education and offer progression routes to a PGCE qualification in the UK.

The course was created as an opportunity for UK staff to reflect on the curriculum delivered at Havering College and address skills trends required by UK students while working in a diverse classroom environment and/or skills required for global application.

Project Duration
The project was finalised in Feb 2011. The total duration was 18 months. The post project activities feature Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education running the course on their own and giving the opportunity to students to find employment or progress to a PGCE at Havering College.

Course Duration and Activities
The 6 months’ course, Advance Professional Certificate in Innovative Teaching, (APCIT ) covers lectures, teaching practice and assessment. The course was delivered at the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education main campus at Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos. Lectures/course works were run on campus for 4 months, followed by a Teaching Practice which took 6 weeks, then 2-week exams to round the programme.

As part of the project an interactive Smart Board was installed in a well-equipped resource centre, which created a state-of-the-art ICT teaching facilities in AOCOED ICT Centre. Teaching Practice for the pilot project was assessed by the Trainers from Havering College, UK over a three-day assessment programme, which lead to an award of the certificate (Advance Professional Certificate in Innovative Teaching).


Project Teams
UK Project Team
Mrs Julie Old – trainer/facilitator
Mr Paul Demetriou – trainer/facilitator
Mrs Zena Mitchell – moderator
Miss Mariana Strijp – Project Manager
Mrs Tina Mgbachi - Project Co-ordinator

Nigeria Project Team
Nigeria Project Team
Mr Hakeem Ajose-Adeogun - Provost
Mr Francis Jegede – Project Coordinator
Mr L. A. Layowola - Quality Control Manager
Mrs N. O. Adedina - Manager of Teachers
Mr Ezekiel Bolaji - Secretary
Mr Peter Ujomu - Nigeria Project Advisor
Mrs Tina Mgbachi - Project Co-ordinator

Outcomes
At the end of the project staff at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Lagos, Nigeria achieved Advance Professional Certificate in Innovative Teaching, (APCIT) and experienced the course as students. Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education will be able to train further students, existing staff and members of the public wishing to embark on a teaching career under the banner of the Certificate, bettering the prospects of the trainees to find suitable employment or continue their studies in the UK.

Dissemination
Dissemination was in February 2011 with a series of TV, radio and local media interviews, publications and editorials both in Nigeria and the UK.

Distance Learning
For the pilot programme, the course started with a five-day intensive workshop by the UK trainers in Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Lagos, Nigeria and completed online over a period of 16 weeks. However, after the pilot scheme, students can choose to run the programme partly online with at least one on-campus contact in the last Saturday of the month. So, lectures, assignments, assessments and other interactions and conferencing are done online. Distance Learning for APCIT will be made possible with Havering College online support and well-equipped resource centres and the state-of-the-art ICT facilities in AOCOED ICT Centre.