CHALKBOARD GUIDES

Reaching every child affected by conflict or crisis with foundational learning.

What are Chalkboard Guides?

Chalkboard Guides help children in emergency contexts achieve foundational literacy and numeracy by supporting teachers to adopt evidence-backed teaching strategies. They are one page per lesson, structured teaching guides, that contains everything teachers need to teach their lessons – from administrative details, to how, where, and what to put on the board, and what to do in the lesson.

Chalkboard Guides use a unique approach to accelerate learning by leveraging the ubiquity of the chalkboard. They consider that the board is to teachers, what a scalpel is to surgeons, and is a structured solution to support improvements in teaching and learning in classrooms in conflict and crisis settings.

Chalkboard Guides offer a simple, scalable, and sustainable solution that is strong enough to support teachers in conflict areas. It draws upon evidence from cognitive and behavioral sciences to reduce the amount of training and coaching needed, whilst delivering effective support and relief for teachers in conflict and crisis settings.

Figure 1: Numeracy Guide

The ‘Problem’ to be Solved

Children in emergency contexts are most at risk of not achieving foundational learning within three years of schooling. Teachers contend with intensified challenges accessing training and resources, and with regular school closures due to insecurity, children have less time to learn. It is imperative that children achieve foundational learning quickly to keep them in school.

The aim is for children in emergency settings to have sustained access to quality foundational learning. Teachers using Chalkboard Guides to lighten their workload, whilst improving their teaching in tangible ways will support this aim. Chalkboard Guides have the power to deliver foundational learning, fast, for the most marginalized children in the world.

What is the science behind Chalkboard Guides?

Chalkboard Guides are inspired by Bansho, an art of board-writing, from Japan and allow teachers to realize the powerful pedagogical potential of the chalkboard and assist them to assure explicit teaching; effective explanations and examples and efficient layout that aids acceleration and individualisation of learning. 

Chalkboard Guides (CBGs) takes the concept of leverage observations and apply it across classrooms and schools.  Chalkboard Guides harness 12 out of 14 effective behavior change mechanisms for teachers (Sims et al, 2021).


Specifically:

  1. Manage cognitive load by identifying two or three powerful tweaks spread throughout a typical lesson (especially important in conflict zones due to PTSD also affecting cognitive load)

  2. Study existing planning formats to glean lesson structure and headings, then use these as the basis to create CBG structure so it is recognisable and easy to understand for teachers. These make CBGs recognisable and easy to understand for teachers, to further manage cognitive load, as well as teachers’ historic investment in professional training and experience being reflected and valued.

  3. Follows the ‘I do, We do, You do’ approach: modeling, rehearsal and feedback are key components.

  4. Support behavior change in each lesson:

    • Teachers are provided with concise, specific instructions for the teaching and learning activities, as well as a model chalkboard showing teachers the content and layout to be followed on the board.

    • Symbols provide prompts/cues regarding different parts of the lesson.

  5. Support behavior change over time:

    • Lessons follow a predictable sequence, as does the board layout, providing teachers with context-specific repetition (the board providing context), which supports habit formation.

    • Teachers also revisit prior learning on a near-daily basis.

  6. Act as an observation + feedback / coaching tool:

    • Guides contain a one-page quality-assurance checklist + observation and feedback framework that can be used by headteachers observing lessons, in peer observations or for self-monitoring. These incorporate specific praise, specific single goal-setting and action-planning that manage cognitive load.

    • Guides support micro modeling and practice sessions to ensure focused observations, targeted support and professional development for teachers.

How Does It Work?
Step-by-step instructions to Chalkboard Guides

  1. Teachers co-design Chalkboard Guides:
    Teachers feed into Chalkboard Guide design, which takes into account lesson planning formats, language and standard teaching activities in each context. This is so that the guides feel familiar to teachers when they receive them, aiding adoption.

  2. Chalkboard Guides are produced by a local team:
    A team of teachers, data-entry operators and quality assurance leads work together to produce guides that are aligned with the national curriculum and teaching style/language.

  3. Teachers are trained to use Chalkboard Guides:
    Teachers receive a 4-hour, practice-based introductory session where they watch a demonstration of how to use the guides before every teacher has a chance to practice for themselves.

  4. Teachers use guides as lesson plans to improve their teaching:
    The guides are designed to feel familiar to teachers, making them easy to use. They provide everything teachers need, incorporating powerful tweaks to instructional strategies in conjunction with board content and layout so teachers can make the most of this ubiquitous instructional tool in the form of a lesson plan. Chalkboard Guides strengthen teaching throughout the lesson, whilst easing teachers' administrative workload so teachers can focus on teaching.

  5. Student engagement deepens:
    As teaching improves throughout the lesson, the quality of student engagement improves with it. Chalkboard Guide lessons are designed to optimize the processing of new material from working memory to long-term memory.

  6. Impact:
    As students in conflict settings receive quality teaching over time, they achieve foundational literacy and numeracy skills within the first three years of school. They are more likely to stay in school and their learning will flourish as their strong foundations become a springboard to the rest of the curriculum.
    Teachers notice a difference in workload, instructional behavior, and students' learning behavior within two weeks of using the guides. They can identify significant changes they have adopted to teaching practice such as: using the board to provide visual aids for students to refer to throughout the lesson and following the ‘I do - We do - You do’ teaching method to frame explanations & check understanding.

Countries Where the Innovation is Currently in Use

Languages for Current Material and Training

  • French

  • English

  • Swahili

Want to know more about Chalkboard Guides?

Chalkboard Guides are in the process of evolving into something much greater through pilots, refinement and growth.  The above information is based on current 2023 concepts and implementation and you can find information about previous actions of this evolving innovation here. You can also read about how we tested and developed Chalkboard Guides here.

Watch out for news on current pilots as they conclude through the Justice Rising website.

If you wish to find out more about this innovation or get involved in a possible scaling project, funding opportunities, or collaboration initiatives please contact ee-reh.owo@justicerising.org.