Within two weeks, Field of Hope trained 162 agricultural education teachers at their annual teacher training. Teachers were able to leave each day with new or more in-depth teaching skills, while also sharing some incredible local food throughout the day. The Field of Hope teacher training is structured with level one being the first year a teacher attended teacher training and level two including ones attending for the second year. With the support of Vivayic, Field of Hope creates an effective professional development opportunity for Uganda’s agricultural educators. Not only are they able to attend the training, but also leave with teacher guide’s and supplements to have agricultural education curriculum in their classroom for secondary one through three.
Our days were packed with learning activities and other opportunities to learn from each other. My time in teacher training was with the level two participants. Olivia, Joseph, Agnes, and I went over content such as creating teaching philosophies, teaching methodologies, starting an agricultural club, strategies for creating an inclusive classroom, and more. Additionally, the teachers learned from each other and created connections to other teachers throughout the country. Though I was most impressed with how these teachers took time from their short break between terms to come together and share ideas to take back to their classroom. Nobody required these teachers to come, yet they had the intrinsic motivation to take advantage of this professional development opportunity.
On the last day of teacher training, we would have the level two teachers share their teaching philosophy. The philosophies demonstrated how these teachers care for their students and expressed their value in creating an empowering learning environment for each student. Each philosophy was filled with statements such as, “I believe every student belongs in agriculture” or “I will use experiential learning to engage my learners in agriculture.” We all grew as educators within those two weeks by sharing ideas and our motivations. As a result, I am certain the impact of the Field of Hope teacher training will positively impact the lives of agricultural students in Uganda.
Meikah Dado, Fellow ’24
