Teach to Reach Initial Insights Violaine Mitchell Deputy Director, Vaccine Delivery Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation November 2, 2015

We heard you We’re all here because we’re involved in funding, developing, or delivering immunization training We’re all here because we believe immunization training could be better Here are your preliminary thoughts…

How you describe the BEST training you’ve attended:

What made the best training so good: Presenters were their BEST: Bright (they lit up the room), Engaged (the training was varied and multi-level), Sincere (the presenters genuinely cared) and had the heart of a Teacher. It acquainted me with modern technologies that ease my life in my work and help me to do more and help others. It was based on local conditions. It really brought to life how my work fit into the bigger picture. We were given clear objectives and expected outputs. It was learner- focused, participatory, and less text-heavy.

How you describe the WORST training you’ve attended:

What made the worst training so bad: It was monotonous, conducted by only one person, with one method only: PowerPoint presentations—also known as death by PowerPoint. There was very little time for dialogue or discussion with participants, who could contribute greatly from their own experiences / expertise. No practice sessions, no discussions, no fun after-training events. Materials were inadequate, it started late, the food was bad. It left the group feeling unskilled and with nothing to contribute. It had no clear objectives or outcomes.

How you’d improve the trainings you offer: By improving time management and making training more practical and relevant to the work of participants. By making trainings more interactive, within the context of low-resource settings. By allowing for more hands-on trainings. By trying to ensure ongoing support for trainees. By objectively tracking the impact on participants’ knowledge and behavior. By having a higher facilitator to participant ratio.

What prevents you from making improvements: Time is a big constraint. It’s often not possible to make the intended participants available for the optimum duration to provide a training. Because specific topics must be covered, trainings are often more content-focused than learner-focused. Year by year funding that does not enable much flexibility or long- term vision. Bottlenecks, bureaucracy, organizational culture. Lack of exposure to evidence-based innovative techniques for effecting learning. Inadequate support for needed materials.

What you hope to gain from Teach to Reach: Successful strategies for in-service training of health workers in resource-constrained settings Skills to assess training effectiveness Innovative proven techniques to drive quick learning in adults Energy and encouragement New ways to facilitate training that allow more hand- on activities Updated knowledge on the science of learning

Thank You