1 hour
This section utilizes the IDRC Scaling Playbook, which you can find in the Resources section of this course.
Open the Scaling Playbook. Read Section 1 (pages 2-5) on scaling science and the four guiding principles of scaling impact. As you read about these concepts, keep your TPD context in mind.
After you read, click to compare your ideas with some of ours.
Working at scale has a distinctive research and development aspect, and a parallel moral aspect. Scientific evidence can demonstrate whether a TPD programme that is mediated by ICT, or an innovation in TPD that utilizes ICTs, is scalable, so that
it will reach more teachers. But the experiences and values of the teachers (and the students, families and communities) who are impacted by the TPD programme will inform whether it SHOULD be scaled.
An ICT-mediated TPD programme may work very well at a local level. This doesn’t mean that implementing it nation-wide will multiply the benefits. Likewise, if an ICT-mediated TPD programme is ineffective at a local level, you can not automatically
assume that it can not be successful on a larger scale. No single model will be appropriate or effective for all teachers.
Working at scale therefore requires flexibility, and adaptable models. It requires a strong understanding of the diverse contexts in which teachers operate and an understanding of the people in those contexts who are initiators, enablers, competitors,
and those who will be impacted. Adaptable models can respond to these different ‘actors’ and contexts, so that TPD is equitable. This is why the ‘design at scale and adapt locally’ approach is key to TPD@Scale: a vision for large-scale, ICT-mediated
TPD is first necessary, in order to create a model that can be adapted locally, in different contexts and in partnerships with teachers and other stakeholders.
Dynamic evaluation will inform a large-scale model so that local TPD needs and contexts are acknowledged and addressed. ‘Dynamic evaluation’ asks how, why, under what conditions the TPD benefit or impact was achieved, and how these benefits or impacts
might change over time and in different places. Dynamic evaluation requires both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Now answer these questions. If you are working in a group, discuss the questions together. You can use your Personal Blog to record your ideas.
- Think of a successful TPD programme that integrates ICT, or a TPD innovation or intervention that has utilized ICTs, in your context. What role did ICT play in this programme?
If there isn’t such a programme that you can think of, can you think of a TPD programme which could be scaled using ICTs? How would an ICT add equity, quality, or efficiency to this programme?
Then consider:
- Is there a justification for scaling this TPD programme?
- What would be the optimal scale for this TPD programme, and why would it be optimal?
- Who are some of the initiators, enablers, and competitors?
- Who are some of the affected or impacted teachers – what are their contexts and needs?
- How would you adapt the model to address the needs of specific groups of teachers? What would make this adaptation be sustainable?
- How would you evaluate the impact of scaling the ICT-mediated TPD programme, as it is being implemented, using quantitative and qualitative data collection methods?
Click to see a discussion.
Working at scale requires, first, a large-scale model that can be adapted. Working at scale then requires justification, coordination with a range of different ‘actors’, and dynamic evaluation to monitor how effective the TPD is as it is implemented.
Responding to what teachers need (in terms of their students and/or communities, languages, learning activities, resources, and ICTs) ensures that TPD programmes will be equitable and achieve optimal scale.
You will return to the Scaling Playbook in Course 4, with further activities to plan for TPD@Scale.
Congratulations, you have completed Course 3. You have undertaken an interpersonal needs analysis of TPD in your context, including the potential for ICTs. You began to consider the information that you already have, and what additional information you
need to complete this analysis. You explored principles for scaling impact in your TPD context.
In Course 4, you will use your analysis to begin to take steps to implement TPD@Scale in your context. Take the quiz when you are ready. Good luck!
Quiz
