Despite these challenges, evaluation tests revealed that children in experimental classes outperformed those in the control classes in all instances.
1.5 Impetus for this research
My FAPLG colleagues and I encountered a number of challenges as we sought to equip and support preschool teachers to effectively deliver the six-month mother-tongue programme. Preschool teachers are
normally chosen by the local community and the language association according to specific criteria: completion of four years of secondary education and previous experience of teaching L1 adult literacy in
their community. They undergo two weeks of initial training, facilitated by local literacy staff where possible. Teachers receive regular supervision visits from literacy staff during the school year. Language
associations run annual four-day in-service training events before the school year begins. Our experiences have shown, however, that many of those trained as preschool teachers still struggle to teach
well and that their learners do not all enjoy the success experienced by those in the class mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. These experiences have raised some important questions, which I hope to
explore in this study. What particular challenges do teachers in MTB-MLE programmes face, and how can they be better equipped to face these challenges? How can current stakeholder views and
experiences inform future planning and decisions regarding teacher education and support?
Alidou and Brock-Utne 2011:32 recognise the need for more “qualitative and quantitative studies on teaching in both national and official languages at all levels of instruction in Africa”. They encourage
further such studies in order to assess the impact of innovations involving MTB-MLE. The aim of this study is to contribute to the body of knowledge on teaching in rural, local-language contexts and to give
a voice to teachers and support staff directly involved in innovative MTB-MLE initiatives.
1.6 Research aims
The overall goal of this research was to evaluate the role of teacher training and support in FAPLG mother-tongue preschool classes in Chad. In this research I aimed to 1 identify key considerations and
challenges regarding training and supporting multilingual teachers, 2 evaluate critically teacher training and support models for MTB-MLE, 3 explore stakeholder views, practices and experiences of training
and support in the FAPLG preschool programme, and 4 suggest recommendations on teacher preparation and support in MTB-MLE contexts.
To conduct this case study of the FAPLG preschool experience I analyzed qualitative data gathered from interviews with stakeholders and classroom observations and surveyed appropriate literature and
project documentation.
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Chapter 2 Considerations and Challenges for MTB-MLE Teachers
