THE IMPACT OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TRAINING ON IMPROVING TEACHER BEHAVIOURS AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

MALAWI SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PROJECT

Investigating the role of beliefs and behaviour in creating an inclusive school culture in Malawi.

The introduction of free primary education in Malawi has led to a rapid rise in student enrolment, in line with trends in other sub-Saharan African countries. Schools have struggled to keep up with the rise in student numbers resulting in a dip in educational quality and performance with schools facing poor distribution of teachers, large class sizes, and high rates of repetition and dropouts in lower grades. The research team are working to gain a better understanding of the school context in Malawi with a focus on school leadership.

Malawi's primary schools struggle to provide students with quality education. Enrolment in primary schools rose rapidly after the introduction of free primary education in 1994, attaining universal primary enrolment by the early 2000s. In 1994 only 1.6 million of Malawi's children were enrolled in primary school, but by 2016 the figure had reached 4.8 million. However, the education system has failed to keep pace with increased enrolments, resulting in overcrowded classrooms. Under-staffed schools have led to high dropout and repetition rates, with Malawi finishing near the bottom in regional assessments of English, Mathematics and Science competencies for Standard 6. This project aims to look at ways that these challenges, which are not unique to Malawi, can be addressed by: 1) examining the impact of school leadership training on practices and behaviours in schools and learning outcomes in a low-income context; and 2) identifying the impact of development of inclusive school cultures in achieving improved outcomes of students, in particular girls, children from very poor backgrounds, and those who have missed schooling and so are older than the rest of the students in their cohort.

The research team will first seek to understand the role of beliefs and behaviours of both teachers and students in shaping educational performance through lab-in-the-field experiments. These insights will then feed into the design of cutting-edge experimental interventions based on the growth mindset, self-efficacy, and inclusive school cultures. These activities will be embedded within the School Leadership Training programme currently under implementation across Malawi through the Malawi Education Sector Improvement Project (MESIP), a set of educational investments and reforms financed by the Global Partnership for Education and Royal Norwegian Embassy.