Joining the Fight against Lead Pollution in Zambia

Blog by Dr. Joseph Isaac — technical advisor for EDC’s International Development Division.

Dr. Isaac leads the Inspiring Climate Action Now (ICAN) primary science project. ICAN works with the Ministries of Education and Environment in Mali, Antigua & Barbuda, and Zambia to train teachers to more effectively deliver science education and information about climate, science, and climate change to primary school students and their communities. ICAN empowers teachers to identify and react to pressing local environmental issues, including lead poisoning. After the training, teachers implement their lessons during a six-week period of their school year.

In this question and answer session, Dr. Isaac discusses lead pollution in Zambia and ICAN’s efforts in addressing this issue.

Q. What causes lead poisoning and pollution?

Dr. Isaac: In the United States, lead poisoning mainly involves pipes and paint. Before people knew the dangers of lead, most of our water and sewage pipes were made of lead. Another source of lead that can cause harmful health effects is household and industrial paint.

However, in Zambia, one of the pilot countries for ICAN, lead contamination comes from an entirely different source. Zambia has extensive mining operations, and the industrial complex surrounding mining is causing a significant amount of lead to leach into the ground, contaminating the groundwater and community wells.

One important example in Zambia is the town of Kabwe, a historic hub for lead mining. As a result of 90 years of operation, thousands of Zambians living and working in Kabwe have suffered from lead poisoning, with 95% of children in Kabwe having high lead levels. In 2021, the World Bank reported that 2,500 children participating in a World Bank project in Kabwe had lead levels so high they required immediate treatment. The amount of lead in the soil still remains high even though the mine closed down 30 years ago.

Q. How is lead poisoning linked to education? How does it affect children’s learning?

Dr. Isaac: A lot of research has been done over the last 50 years about how dangerous lead can be to the human body. Lead poisoning and lead exposure can cause severe developmental delays and affect children’s nervous systems, especially in young children or children exposed to lead before birth. These developmental delays then have adverse downstream effects on children’s educational achievement. Children with lead poisoning have a harder time paying attention, which also affects their learning. In some cases, lead poisoning may impair children’s speech and hearing or cause seizures. You might not see these long-term detrimental effects immediately, but there’s a definite connection between lower student performance and lead exposure.

Q. How are the teachers you’ve worked with in Zambia addressing this problem?

Dr. Isaac: Through the ICAN pilot, teachers are developing climate science lessons, including lessons on pollution and how students can get their families and communities involved in preventive efforts—for example, conducting a community information session about the dangers of lead poisoning and providing ideas and examples for avoiding lead exposure. During our ICAN training in Zambia, teacher teams particularly wanted to include lead poisoning in their lessons. They explained how mining operations affect the water table and well water. They were seeing the effects and wanted to respond, and now they are working to educate people further.

Q. How do teachers across ICAN pilot countries increase awareness and foster community engagement around these environmental issues?

Dr. Isaac: ICAN is a unique program that gives teachers the power to develop their own lessons. Climate science issues in Zambia are different from the issues in Mali and from the issues in Antigua and Barbuda. However, at the same time, they’re loosely related under this giant umbrella of environmental science, climate science, and climate change. ICAN teachers will inevitably produce a variety of lessons that will cater to the specific needs of their community and ecosystems, and they will also be able to share and learn from teachers in similar communities and those with different challenges to build a network of learning and action.

In Mali, teachers are already implementing the lessons they developed, and most lessons include a community engagement component. For example, a teacher may ask students to create a poster and put it up in a community center to inform others about lead in the water, or they may bring the issue to their parents to share lead management information at the next church service.

They can decide what issues are important to cover and how. The teachers are using grassroots ground-level efforts to increase knowledge and promote action in the community’s interests.

Q. How do you want to see the ICAN project grow in the future?

Dr. Isaac: We’ll use the data from our three pilots to help us adapt and expand ICAN and reach out to even more countries. I would love for us to be in 5 to 10 countries in five years—and expanding not only in countries but also in grade levels. Right now, we’re specifically looking at grade levels 2 and 5. I would like to move that up to 7 or 8 as well so that we’re expanding outward and upward.

ICAN is a perfect entry point into citizen science. It’s designed to involve community members and respond to the issues they are seeing. In this way, science is not limited to people in lab coats in university labs or governmental buildings. Their everyday decisions and life actions are scientifically rooted. Especially when it comes to their livelihoods and how communities respond to the environmental issues that are becoming more and more pressing in their lives, this process starts teachers, students, and communities on the road to developing preventive, therapeutic, or mitigation measures. When you start by educating young people, a lot can be accomplished.

Read EDC’s original blog post here.

Day of the African Child and the AU’s Year of Education: Prioritizing Foundational Learning for a Brighter Future

Written by Kirstin Buchanan (Luminos Fund)

Last month, BEC and its members celebrated the Day of the African Child – a time to celebrate the rich culture, traditions, and diversity of the continent and its people. As a member of the African diaspora raised in the Caribbean, this day is an opportunity for me to celebrate the strong cultural identity and common heritage that intricately connect us and an important reminder that together, we can lay the foundations for a brighter future.

This year, the African Union declared 2024 the “Year of Education,” calling on governments to accelerate progress toward achieving regional and global education targets.

With nearly 90% of 10-year-olds in Sub-Saharan Africa unable to read and understand a simple text, this declaration brings renewed hope for unlocking Africa’s immense potential, emphasizing the critical role of education. For the Luminos Fund, it underscores the importance of our education mission: to ensure all children have equal access to joyful, foundational learning.

In The Gambia, Luminos student Ebrima practices his handwriting during class. Learning to write is a critical part of foundational literacy. (Photo: Lena Nian for the Luminos Fund)

A Day of Celebration and Reflection

The Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the OAU (Organisation of African Unity). It honors those who participated in the Soweto Uprising in 1976 on that day and raises awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children.

Education is a crucial piece of the puzzle on Africa’s path to continued prosperity. The Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25), adopted by African Union (AU) heads of state and government, provides the framework for transforming education systems and equipping Africa’s youth to become agents of change for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The theme for the AU’s Year of Education, “Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century,” is a timely reaffirmation of these commitments. Multiple years of compounding crises, from pandemics to climate change, have reversed much of the continent’s progress in education and underscored the urgency for building more equitable education systems that are resilient to future crises.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, one in five primary-school-aged children are still out of school. Even beyond access, one in four children does not complete primary school, and most children enrolled in school are not learning. At most, only one in five children achieves the minimum proficiency level in reading upon completing primary education (UNESCO).

Prioritizing foundational learning for all children is one of the most important tools for addressing the learning crisis. With strong foundations in literacy and numeracy, children and youth are empowered to access a world of knowledge and ideas that will enable them to build higher-order skills and unlock pathways to improved livelihoods. For the most marginalized children, the ability to read, write, and do math builds belief in their own potential, resulting in the confidence and motivation to succeed in future learning environments.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Luminos is helping out-of-school children get a second chance at education. I fondly remember one of my first experiences entering a Luminos classroom in Ethiopia – students’ faces lit up with joy as they practiced counting play ‘money’ through a song, sung to the tune of a local nursery rhyme. Throughout the room, an array of colorful artwork, including numbers and the letters of the alphabet, bring life to the otherwise barren thatch and bamboo walls. By focusing on joyful, foundational learning, we provide children with a safe and inclusive environment where they can feel comfortable and enjoy the learning process. This, in turn, helps develop a love of learning in students that continues well beyond their time in the Luminos program. Indeed, this was the experience of Luminos alumna, Degnesh, who is now proudly enrolled in grade 4 at her local government school. After many years out of school, Degnesh enrolled in the Luminos catch-up program in 2021. There, she built foundational reading, writing, and math skills, as well as her love for learning. “When I entered the Luminos classroom, I could not identify letters,” says Degnesh. “Now I’m reading at home and at school. The program made me love education.”

Luminos alumna, Degnesh, says, “I was sad to leave [the Luminos program], but at the same time, I was very proud of myself. Now I have the attitude that I can achieve anything I want.” (Photo: Michael Stulman/Luminos Fund)

Beyond the individual impacts, strong foundational learning systems serve as the cornerstone for building flourishing societies by promoting productive citizenship, sustainable development, gender equality, improved health, social cohesion, and stability. In the words of the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, “Investing in education is the greatest investment we can make in our common future, in peace, and sustainable development, and particularly in gender equality.”

A Critical Inflection Point

Addressing the learning crisis has long been an expressed priority for African governments. Many governments have endorsed the Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning, a global initiative launched at the 2022 United Nation’s Transforming Education Summit (TES), signaling their commitment to ensure foundational learning for all children and advance progress toward SDG 4 targets. The AU’s declaration of 2024 as the Year of Education presents an opportune, yet critical moment for governments to further build on these commitments and prioritize foundational learning in national policy agendas.  

African governments and ministries of education can chart a path to a brighter future for generations to come by investing in strengthening education systems. While this takes many forms, evidence-based strategies include prioritizing implementation of structured pedagogies and instructional methods, ongoing teaching development and coaching, and robust monitoring and evaluation.

In addition to strong political leadership, substantial collaboration will be required.

SDG 4: Quality Education

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Targets:

     4.1 Free primary and secondary education

     4.2 Equal access to quality pre-primary education

  4.3 Equal access to affordable technical, vocational and higher education

   4.4 Increase the number of people with relevant skills for financial success

     4.5 Eliminate all discrimination in education

     4.6 Universal literacy and numeracy

     4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship

     4.8 Build and upgrade inclusive and safe schools

     4.9 Expand higher education scholarships for developing countries

     4a Increase the supply of qualified teachers in developing countries

Education leaders and experts from Ethiopia, Ghana, and The Gambia during an inter-ministerial exchange facilitated by Luminos in Ethiopia. (Photo: Mekbib Tadesse for the Luminos Fund) 

Through my experience at Luminos, I have learned that there is power in unity – no one country can solve the learning crisis alone. This notion of strength in unity was the impetus for a recent inter-ministerial exchange facilitated by Luminos, which convened a range of education leaders and experts from Ethiopia, Ghana, and The Gambia for a series of discussions on advancing foundational learning in Sub-Saharan Africa. This power in unity is also the very pillar on which the African Union was formed.

In honor of this day, let us celebrate the unity and collaboration that has paved the way for the continent’s progress to date. Let us also unite in our commitment to work together to unlock the light of learning in every child through joyful, foundational learning, so they may bring to fruition the AU’s aspirations to transform Africa into the global powerhouse of the future.

The Mandela Effect and Coaching in International Education

By Simon King and Ilham Nasser (Creative Associates)

How do these two concepts connect? Let’s describe them both and then search for a connection.

The Mandela Effect

The Mandela Effect occurs when many people believe that something occurred when, in fact, it did not. The term’s origins are from 2009, when many people seemingly recalled that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s. In fact, Mandela died on Dec. 5, 2013. I’m still not quite sure how so many people believed this of the future President of South Africa, but there you go.

The external coaching model, the standard approach to teacher support and professional development in sub-Saharan Africa, involves sending an external coach to observe teachers and provide constructive feedback. This process, often spanning an entire day, includes the coach’s visit to a remote rural school, observing the teacher’s methods and subsequent feedback. The coach’s observations are then documented for potential further analysis and improvement.

It is safe to say that it is accepted through practice and opinion in international education that coaching “works.” For example, on many organization’s websites (including our own!), it is mentioned that external coaching is supported through literature and documentation. Many frameworks, reports and “how-to” guides support best practices for external coaching.

Truthfully, limited evidence connects coaching to student learning outcomes. It seems that belief in the effectiveness of external coaching in education might well be an excellent example of the Mandela Effect. The majority believe this to be true, but there is a lack of evidence to support this idea. How did this come about? 

What led to the development of the coaching model?

It is hard to follow the breadcrumbs to find the origin of the cascade coaching model. One source we spoke to said the motivation behind external coaches traveling out to schools was that it was easy to administer, provided measurable results and the implementor retained control of teacher professional development.

In most countries, coaching is not the preferred approach to teacher support.

Also, hey, it’s coaching! It’s great. Right?

The cascading coaching model is unusual outside of international development education. While training for new education programs is frequently cascaded down to teachers in many countries, the external coaching model is far less prevalent. It is more normalized in countries with heavy donors and NGO support.

So, what does literature say about coaching and teacher change?

Evidence suggests that a coaching model is not ideal for teacher change. For example, Thomas Guskey stated that what does not work is “. . . logic, reason and philosophical arguments,” which is the very essence of the external coaching model. He says that education researchers and policymakers frequently use this approach due to a flawed understanding of how effective change occurs in individuals, which almost always starts as an emotional journey.

Choose coaching or accountability, but you cannot have both.

Coaching is also believed to provide a mentoring relationship between a professional expert and teachers to improve their professional skills. Despite these good intentions, in many instances, it becomes an evaluative rather than a supportive and collaborative relationship. This happens when administrators are assigned as coaches, which requires them to wear two hats: evaluators and mentors. In this scenario, teachers mainly focus on teacher-centered curriculum delivery over student-centered learning. Poor learning outcomes always follow.

Follow the natural path laid out by the teachers.

So, what is the alternative?

One of the biggest challenges with coaching concerns “cascading,” which finishes with a coach-teacher conversation. This might be okay if schools had a single classroom and teacher. However, each school consists of a cluster of teachers and classrooms. When you survey teachers about who supports their instructional practice, the majority mention colleagues and head teachers. Coaches hardly get a look-in.

However, many attempts to introduce teacher collaboration in Sub-Saharan Africa have struggled. Why? Because individual teacher coaching is seen as the solution to teacher support, and if formal or informal teacher collaboration exists, it is often an add-on or bonus—never the central approach.  

The teacher’s journey of growth is personal.

Let’s return to the definition of a “coach,” like in sports. A coach has deep experience in one type of sport and the skills needed to improve in a trainee, but is this transferable to a veteran versus novice teaching relationship?

Teacher development is a personal and contextual journey of growth. This means it takes a long-term relationship between the learner and the expert to be trusting and supportive. It also means that it is socially and culturally constructed. In constructing new knowledge, adult learning is socially motivated. A teacher needs a long-term professional relationship that offers space for trial and error and a self-paced learning process. The question is, who can play that role? One model that may be cost-effective and has shown some promise is identifying a veteran teacher in the school itself who takes the role of mentoring and coaching novice teachers. They can be compensated for taking that role. Another model that has shown promise is teacher circles, which offer novice and veteran teachers a chance to grow their skills together. In these communities of practice, teachers are equal and function as a sounding board for each other. In both models, teachers are owners of their learning, and they are also partners with others.  

So, do we keep tweaking the external coaching model or try something else?

We need to consider two concepts: system strengthening and system transformation.

System strengthening would involve tweaking and improving the existing coaching model to achieve slightly better outcomes. Systems transformation is necessary when more conceptual change is needed. This process can facilitate innovative and contextualized system approaches rather than continuing to work with the system as designed.

We don’t like change

The theory of loss aversion is a cognitive bias that claims that humans are more impacted by the possibility of loss and risk than the potential of gaining. When we work with an education system, it feels far less risky to tweak what exists than to make significant changes.

Systems transformation also does not necessarily require an increase in spending. But what it does require is challenging our habits and behaviors.

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Simon King serves as Senior Manager of Evaluation and Research. Simon’s technical support for education programs is multifaceted, encompassing evaluation and learning, implementation, system strengthening, and behavioral economics.  Before working in development, Simon spent many years teaching middle and high school mathematics in many countries, including two years as a volunteer teacher for Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO) in Chipata, Zambia. After moving to the USA, Simon served as a department chair, high school director and school principal.  Simon uses his experience in the classroom and supporting teachers as the foundation for his role at Creative Associates. 

Ilham Nasser is A Senior Advisor in Creative’s Education for Development division with a focus on MENA. She has been advising on teacher training design and implementation, curriculum development, SEL and early childhood education in several of Creative’s projects. Before that, Ilham spent more than 15 years in teacher education and in-service teacher professional development, especially working with children aged 3 to 8 in social and political contexts. She worked as a classroom teacher and counselor for five years. Ilham has conducted research and published studies on teacher development, SEL in early years and education change.

The Friday Learning Lab

This series explores education programming and suggests where system “transformation” is more necessary than system “strengthening.” We’ll examine why many components of education programs (specifically Foundational Literacy and Numeracy) are often born out of habit and gut instinct rather than evidence and practice. We’ll suggest alternative pathways supported by research and practice in education and the social sciences. 

We don’t have all the answers

It’s our desire to enthusiastically encourage discourse and discussion that leads to greater collaboration and understanding of how to support students, educators and other stakeholders. But we cannot effectively support local education systems unless we have an international education sector with a culture that encourages innovation rather than just repeating habits and behaviors that have already had little impact. Join us in this conversation and be a part of the journey to critically examine education systems, our ingrained approaches and sparks of innovation with the potential to move the needle on children’s literacy.