Developing effective pedagogy: the thinking behind the TESSA secondary science project

The Millennium Development Goals for Africa recognise the importance of improving access to education, but the quality of the education available is also under scrutiny. Securing good educational outcomes depends on effective teacher education. Educative curriculum materials can support teachers in making the crucial link between theory and practice; between what they know and believe and what they do in the classroom. This paper reports on a project that seeks to promote effective pedagogy through educative curriculum materials intended to promote teacher learning. The materials have been developed as part of the TESSA project and have been designed to support pre-service secondary science teachers in five Sub Saharan African countries. Colleagues from five partner institutions worked together to develop a structure for the materials. The structure and the thinking behind the structure are described. We will argue that small, incremental steps rooted in current practice are required to bring about embedded and sustainable change, and that mediation of the materials is crucial. Examples of how we seek to achieve this will be described as the TESSA Secondary Science materials become available for general use