Have you ever wondered what Dignitas’ school partnerships look like in action, and what that partnership means to our School Leaders?  We’ll be introducing you to some of our Alumni over the next few days so that you can find out more!

Teacher Eunice has been working at Destiny School since May 2018 and started training with Dignitas a few months later. She mainly teaches literacy, science, and art. It is easy to imagine Eunice as a teacher. She is firm yet compassionate and makes sure to understand the person she is talking to before giving a thoughtful response.

“The training at Dignitas has improved my interaction with the children”

Eunice explains how she has learned a different methodology of teaching compared to how she was taught in school herself. Dignitas partners with community schools in marginalised areas to empower educators to transform their schools. Teacher coaching focuses on practical applications of skills to ensure that they are implemented in the classroom.

The key takeaway that Eunice implemented was group work, which makes the children enjoy learning more. She recalls that when she was at school, her teachers were focused only on results – a narrative that she has changed in her own classroom.

“My training with Dignitas taught me to identify and involve the learners who need to catch up. Now I give different tasks according to different abilities. It has really improved my mean score!”

A Dignitas baseline study in February 2020 found that only 12% of teachers incorporate group work and tasks that increase student talk time.

Eunice’s colleague, Teacher Alvin, has also benefited from the methodologies that he has been trained in to capture the attention of children with different abilities.

“I teach from Grade 1 all the way to Grade 8. If we let them learn using their different abilities then they all feel like they are in one basket. They really enjoy learning.”

Alvin has been teaching mathematics and Kiswahili at Destiny School for 5 years, 3 of which he has been partnered with Dignitas. Teacher Alvin clearly has a good sense of humour and fantastic relationship with his students, who crowd around him to show him they work and play with him as he walks through the school.

He believes that the Dignitas coaching programme has benefited both him and his students personally and professionally. “When they do something wrong, they will tell you that ‘Oh I have broken rule number 4’. They know when they have broken the rule and the consequences that that will cause,” thanks to the implementation of behaviour management techniques introduced by Dignitas.

Dignitas is privileged to have partnered with Teachers Eunice and Alvin and the team at Destiny.  The impact of partnership is clear – improved learning and well-being outcomes for the children in the school.  It is in partnership with these teachers, that Dignitas is able to realise our vision that all schools will become vibrant places for children to thrive and succeed!