Teacher training in Ethiopia: SPACE I – EARTH’S SPHERES workshop

This report is by Barbara Cavalazzi of the University of Bologna.

The SPACE I – EARTH’S SPHERES workshop was held in Mekelle on 17th-18th November 2018, organised by Europlanet 2020 RI. It was attended by 46 science teachers from schools in the Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia, with the aims of developing their teaching skills, in addition to providing an opportunity to meet scientists and other teachers to share ideas and experiences on planetary sciences education.

The five trainers were from the University of Mekelle (Tsehaye Gebrelibanos, Henok Shiferaw, Hagos Weldegebriel), University of Bologna (Barbara Cavalazzi) and the Open University (Karen Olsson-Francis) and local organisational support was provided by the Institute of Climate and Society (Kelali A. Tekle and Solomon Hishe). Over the course of the training, topics discussed included the interactions of the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and cosmospheres. The idea of using the local school system (especially in rural areas) to develop an educational programme promoting awareness of the local environment in harmony with the needs of the local communities.

The attendees were very enthusiastic about this opportunity and reported  that the workshop was well-delivered and eye-opening. Despite the fact that some of the lectures were in topics previously unknown to them, they found the teaching to be very accessible and rewarding. They congraulated the trainers and emphasised that they would very much like this opportunity to be continued into the future with further workshops (e.g. SPACE II).