Miske Witt & Associates

Bosnia's 21st Century Literacy Learning Outcomes Enter the Classroom

In 2012-2013 the Agency (for Education) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in partnership with UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina and Miske Witt & Associates, developed Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Literacy for early childhood education through secondary school. Save the Children BiH recognized that SLOs are only as powerful as their implementation, and contracted with MWAI to provide training on implementing the SLOs in the classrooms of Zenica-Doboj Canton.

In 2013, MWAI consultants Dr. Jan Westrick, Dr. Nancy Clair, and Mrs. Tammy Westrick worked with teachers and teacher trainers to prepare them for the three-year pilot training initiative focused on building capacity in teachers for translating the SLOs into classroom practices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through four interactive week-long workshops in BiH, workshop participants learned about the importance of the SLOs for building an education system that meets the demands of the 21st century. Workshops addressed theoretical background on early and adolescent literacy as well as concrete strategies for engaging students in activities that support the SLOs. Throughout the workshop series, participants both experienced lessons from the student perspective and practiced facilitating the workshop sessions for future trainings.

In December 2013, trainers prepared materials for their own trainings based on the extensive materials MWAI experts had shared with them. In January 2014 they have begun to conduct workshops for all 1,200 teachers of literacy throughout the Zenica-Doboj Canton. As they begin this endeavor to shape literacy instruction throughout BiH, the trainers acclaimed the preparation and support MWAI consultants had provided. Their strong commitment to enacting the SLOs will impact the work of teachers throughout the canton, as well as in neighboring cantons, and, it is hoped, eventually throughout the country.

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