Towards a new architecture for teacher professional development in South Sudan

Abstract

PurposeMobile phone adoption and diffusion in low economic development countries (LEDCs) may provide for greater information access using open educational resources to support large‐scale teacher education programmes. The purpose of this paper is to explore this.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on evaluations of the current basic services provision in South Sudan and the identified needs for improving English language teaching, this conceptual paper presents an analysis of the nature and extent of teacher training needs in South Sudan, and the capacity of the current system to deliver against those needs.FindingsThe education system in South Sudan is ranked among the lowest in the world for primary and secondary enrollment. South Sudan is faced with the almost impossible task of tripling its teacher work force, but the quantity and quality of training required cannot be delivered through existing teacher training institutes.Research limitations/implicationsThe immediate post‐conflict situation in the new nation state, transitioning from humanitarian relief to international development activities, means that hard national data are tentative and emergent.Practical implicationsThe author puts forth an argument for a radically different approach to teacher professional development capable of operating at sufficient scale to enable the government of South Sudan to meet its ambitious target of adequately educating 3.5 million students.Originality/valueThere is very little in the literature that examines the use of mobile phones to support professional learning within the educational domain, particularly in the context of LEDCs; equally, there is little in the literature that addresses how LEDC governments might meet the challenges of scale and access through appropriate models of school based teacher development (SBTD).