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Training of Trainers Program in Economic Education
for South Africa
2009-2010
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
PROGRAM CONDUCTED
BY:
Council for Economic Education
122 East 42nd Street, Suite 2600
New York,
NY 10168
FUNDED BY:
U. S. Department of Education and
carried out in coordination with
the U.S. Department of State
Application deadline: May 29,
2009
Notification
of application status: September 8, 2009
Download:
TRAINING OF TRAINERS PROGRAM 2009-2010
ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
The Council for Economic Education (formerly the National Council for Economic Education) envisions a world in which people are empowered through economic and financial literacy to make informed and responsible choices throughout their lives as consumers, savers, investors, workers, citizens, and participants in our global economy.
The mission of the Council for Economic Education is two-fold: To advocate for better and greater school-based economic and personal finance education at the K-12 level; and to educate young people in the United States and around the world, primarily through well-prepared teachers, so they may become empowered with economic and financial literacy.
The Council for Economic Education offers comprehensive, best-in-class K-12 economic and personal finance education programs, including the basics of entrepreneurship, consisting of teaching resources across the curriculum, professional development for teachers, and nationally-normed assessment instruments. Each year, the Council’s programs reach more than 150,000 K-12 teachers and over 15 million students in the United States and in more than 30 other countries. These programs are delivered through a diversified system: directly from the Council, through a network of affiliated state Councils and university-based Centers for Economic Education, and through other partner organizations.
The Cooperative Education Exchange Program
The Cooperative Education Exchange Program (CEEP) supports reform in economic and civic education and is funded through the U.S. Department of Education and carried out in coordination with the U.S. Department of State. Through the CEEP, the Council for Economic Education helps international partners promote economic literacy through teacher training, materials development and translation, conferences, study tours, and organizational development.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Council for Economic Education seeks outstanding educators from provincial departments of education and other governmental education agencies, higher education, institutions involved in teacher training, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to apply for the 2009-2010 Training of Trainers program. Only candidates who demonstrate in their applications the individual commitment and institutional support to offer training programs in economic education for school teachers after completing this series of seminars will be accepted.
Through this program, a series of four one-week seminars will be conducted between November 2009 and May 2010. This series is offered only for participants from South Africa and will be conducted in English. Continued funding of this program is subject to U.S. Congressional appropriations.
The Council for Economic Education will pay all program-related expenses, including accommodations (double room occupancy), meals (during the seminars), travel (economy class transportation), and instructional materials and supplies.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Training of Trainers program are to prepare trainers to:
- Train school teachers in basic economics content;
- Become experts in using a variety of instructional techniques and to develop a sound working knowledge of their pedagogical underpinnings;
- Demonstrate to teachers how to convey basic economics content through a variety of instructional techniques;
- Address common teaching problems, including content errors that those with limited training in economics are likely to make; and
- Become knowledgeable about a substantial collection of instructional materials related to economic education for different curriculum contexts and grade levels.
CONTENT
The Training of Trainers program consists of four one-week seminars, together which focus on strengthening participants' knowledge of both economic content and pedagogy.
- Seminar 1:
- Fundamental concepts (scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, voluntary exchange, types of economic systems, and an introduction to supply and demand and price determination);
- Seminar 2:
- Microeconomic concepts (review of supply and demand, price determination, shifts in supply and demand, production and costs, competition and market structure, factor markets, market failures, the economic role of government, public choice);
- Seminar 3:
- Macroeconomic concepts (contrasting micro supply and demand with aggregate supply and aggregate demand, national income determination, inflation, unemployment, economic growth, monetary and fiscal policies, measurement issues, competing schools of macroeconomic thought); and
- Seminar 4:
- International concepts (comparative advantage and international trade, free trade vs. protectionism, supply and demand in foreign exchange markets, balance of trade and balance of payments, international comparisons of economic growth and productivity, the convergence hypothesis).
Pedagogy is a significant component of the Training of Trainers program. Participants will be introduced to a variety of pedagogical techniques, prepare a written self-reflection on their own teaching, receive feedback from other participants, and strengthen their ability to use different pedagogical methods.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The Council for Economic Education Training of Trainers program is open to individuals:
- Who are, or will be, in a position to train pre-university level school teachers to teach economics (individuals may include teacher trainers, learning facilitators, curriculum specialists, and professors of economics or education);
- Who are employed by teacher training institutes, government education agencies, universities, or other institutions of higher education, NGOs, or in rare cases, schools;
- Who demonstrate either past work experience as a teacher trainer or strong future potential to work as a teacher trainer in the area of economic education; and
- Who have solid knowledge of basic economics, acquired through formal or independent study.
Each applicant will be expected to:
- Offer evidence of personal commitment and institutional support to ensure that he/she will deliver teacher training programs for school (pre-university) economics teachers upon completion of the program in cooperation with the Council for Economic Education partner organizations, or relevant institutions or agencies. Applicants must describe in detail how they will provide these training opportunities for teachers in their countries.
- Possess experience in conducting teacher training for economics teachers, developing instructional materials, using testing and evaluation methods, and/or working with national, provincial/state, or local educational administrators to implement economic education or teacher training programs.
- Enter the program with knowledge of basic economic concepts
(such as opportunity cost, scarcity, supply and demand, and so on). Program
content is similar to that which is taught in principles of microeconomics/macroeconomics
courses at the university level. Individuals with little or no background
in economics are likely to have difficulty completing the program. (See
sample content questions at
http://www.councilforeconed.org/public_info/SAMPLE_MICRO- ).MACRO_QUESTIONS_English.doc - Commit to attend and fully participate in the complete series of four seven-day training seminars and to complete additional assignments between seminars. Continued participation in the program is contingent upon attendance at all four seminars and completion of all assignments.
- Provide a completed recommendation form from a representative of a ministry/department of education, center or council for economic education, or other institution or organization connected with teacher professional development and/or economic education in South Africa. These recommendations should address the individual’s qualifications for this program and should indicate institutional support that will enable the applicant to offer training programs and materials for teachers after the Training of Trainers program is completed. Each recommendation should summarize an individual applicant’s qualifications.
- Possess fluency in English, the working language of the training for participants from South Africa.
The Council for Economic Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national and ethnic origin, or disability.
PROGRAM RESULTS
As a result of skills developed through participation in this program, alumni of the Training of Trainers program are now training teachers in their home countries to teach economics to students. From 1995 through 2008, 1,244 trainers from 38 countries have taught 262,500 teachers, who in turn have reached an estimated 19.2 million students.
Program alumni have demonstrated statistically significant, meaningful gains in their knowledge of both macroeconomic and microeconomic content. All groups have entered the program with generally favorable attitudes toward market economics, and several groups have made important positive attitude changes as a result of the program. All groups have identified self-perceived gains in teaching skills. Major strengths of the program, as identified by the participants themselves, include the demonstration of pedagogic methods, the Council for Economic Education faculty, and the spirit of cooperation between faculty and participants.
APPLICATIONS MAY BE SUBMITTED BY:
FAX: 212-768-7894
EMAIL: satrainers09-10@
Do not submit THIS Program overview WITH your Application
Download:
TRAINING OF TRAINERS PROGRAM 2009-2010