Root Fellowship – Change in educational approach

31 October? Some might think of Halloween as the most important event on that date. But instead of dressing up as ghosts or witches, everybody who came to Root House / Terra Caffé in Kacyiru this last Wednesday of October prefered to take part in a serious discussion.

Not without reason, we had chosen the topic “Change in educational approach – Is interactive learning the future?”. Rwanda’s current policy aims at such a transformation of the education system. However, there are different challenges schools and of course especially teachers and students are facing at the moment which will have to be taken in order to implement new methods and a new educational approach.

First, we discussed about the meaning of “interactive learning” and about how it is connected to the idea of “student-centered learning” which many partici-pants in the discussion appreciated. But then, all of us considered the facts – just as 70 students who are in Rwandan public schools often taught by only one teacher at the same time – which obviously complicate the wishes to personalise and from a certain perspective even to upgrade education in Rwanda.

Finally, we concluded that education needs a lot of investment, especially of time and pedagogics – not to mention the need to increase the reputation of the profession of being a teacher in Rwanda. Thanks to everyone who was there, it was an enriching conversation including many inspiring ideas!