Teacher learning communities have become a catalyst for teachers professional development, such that teachers are supported in building skills that are relevant and contextual to foster their students’ learning outcomes in the classroom. The concept of a teacher community, supports teachers’ agencies to adopt best practices and brainstorm innovative ways to improve their learning. Learning communities also play an important role to enhance teachers’ reflection of and adoption of relevant 21st century skills and instructional practices.

Based on this premise, Co-Creation Hub launched the Teachers’ Lounge as a community where teachers can develop relevant 21st century skills that support their growth and help foster their students’ learning outcomes. The lounge is focused on equipping teachers with the use of an inquiry-based methodology and digital labs, through a teachers’ community to promote the adoption of  effective teaching methodology in the classroom. This approach reflects re:learn’s overall goal of “building the next generation of highly innovative thinkers who will solve our most pressing problems on the continent”. The lounge is a free space for teachers (both in service and pre-service) in Nigeria to collaborate, learn and build relevant skills. The lounge provides a unique learning experience for teachers through the use of games, learning apps, co-learning sessions, and inquiry-based digital tools. The learning activities are infused to support their learning journey from activities in the lounge to their classroom and serves as a safe space for teachers to share ideas, learnings and tell their career development story.

Learning being a lifelong process must be structured to support teachers’ growth. Hence the lounge is structured on these 7 pillars, seen below:

Throughout a teacher’s journey in the lounge, these pillars serve as a framework to guide the teachers professional development and serve as indicators to evaluate the teachers learning journey.

On 7th May 2021, the Teachers’ Lounge was commissioned by Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, Commissioner of Lagos State Ministry of Education (Watch launch video Here), and for the first time, we had teachers come into the Lounge and experience the activities in the lounge, their feedback is captured below:

In one word, teachers were asked to describe their experience at the Lounge.

To register for the Teachers’ Lounge kindly click Here. To get the lounge experience as a teacher or school, kindly send an email to info@relearn.ng

Written by Temidayo Falade, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at re:learn by Co-Creation Hub