Announcement

Humanities Lesson Plan Training Guides Teachers and Students

Training will reach more than 13,200 middle and upper school teachers by September 2009.

Jalalabad, Afghanistan  | Saturday, August 15, 2009

Photo: USAID/BESST

Humanities teachers work together to develop lesson plans.

Proper lesson plan development is key to ensuring that students gain a firm grasp of the subjects they are learning, and can build on that knowledge in the future.  In late June, USAID began trainings to help secondary school educators develop and implement lesson plans covering humanities classes for grades seven through nine.  Ultimately reaching more than 13,200 middle and upper school teachers by the end of September 2009, USAID is now working with teachers in groups of 20 throughout 11 provinces.  By the end of the 12-day training, each teacher will have prepared 17 lesson plans, as well as discussed some of the fundamental challenges specific to teaching the following humanities subjects: Dari language, Pashto language, English language, history, geography, and Islamic studies.

One female teacher in Jalalabad realized how valuable the experience was on the third day of this training.  She said, “I was like a blind person, trailing the students behind me without knowing where I was going.  Now, I will know how to produce lesson plans and specific learning objectives; these will guide me—and I will know where I am leading my students.”