Published 2021-07-26

We are looking for an experienced person who has prior experience of having worked in state led scale up models while having a perspective on the content thematics (coding/ computational skills/ STEM and life and career skills) of the program.

Quest Alliance has been working in the secondary schools for the past few years. In 2020, we rolled out a program to build 21st century skills and STEM mindsets among adolescent girls (grade 8 and 9) from government schools in Odisha. The program has been adapted recently by the Govt. as a state led model and scaled to 258 schools across 30 districts of the state. It is further expected to be scaled to 4,000 schools in phases. Currently the programme is shifting towards a teacher led model of operations with scope of building systems and processes in schools, districts and state level.

The Education Specialist will be part of the state team with a mission to build a State Led Model in the state of Odisha by leading the areas of technical assistance to the state, knowledge management and strategic representation and partnership with the Govt. The Education Specialist will lead design and capacity building programmes for teachers, leadership training for head teachers and officials at districts and state level. The role will also lead efforts to develop content for delivery with students and ensure the implementation of curriculum plans for the year. The role has scope to review the state curriculum, find areas of integration of the curriculum developed by Quest.

The role of the Education Specialist is going to be critical in supporting the overall content development, review and the capacity building strategy for different stakeholders.

Role Description

Capacity Building of Facilitators, Teachers and Govt. Stakeholders

Holding the vision of building a state led mode, plan and execute the capacity building model for Odisha as a state.

Organise and facilitate training/workshops for the facilitators who are in charge of mentoring and demonstrating the programme for the teachers to be able to implement it.

Lead the state content task force by ensuring development and adherence of the state curriculum implementation plan.

Organise and facilitate trainings/workshops for the teachers for them to be able to delivery session on the areas of self, gender, career and computational thinking

Develop an educational leadership model for different stakeholders – state, district, schools – blended learning approach.

Developing a strategy for building a pool of master trainers in the state education department who will take the program approach forward. Facilitate their capacity building process.

Facilitate scaling up the 21st century teacher capacity building course and installing it within the teacher capacity building plan of the state of Odisha.

Build a strategy for e-tutors which is led by both Quest and the state education department of Odisha

Build and facilitate tech-enabled support systems for teachers – chatbots, online courses etc.

Build the processes of collecting feedback and use data to understand content and capacity need

Content Design and Iteration

The program is looking to work with grades VIII to X. The key thematic areas are: life skills, gender, digital literacy, coding (basic and advanced levels), career development.

Lead the process of content review and development process for the teacher led model of implementation

Doing content research and identifying other organizations we can partner with

Coordinating the content development process by organising the different workshops with the teachers and facilitators

Map the existing curriculum developed by QUEST Alliance with National Education Policy and support in developing plan for curriculum integration in the new SCF for Odisha

Work closely with the SCERT and DIET Officials at state and district level in review and existing curriculum and identifying areas of integration. Also work to align the state’s teacher capacity building plan with the plan of Quest.

Working closely with the content task force and the team of facilitators to ensure clarity on the content transaction

Develop a content repository and keep updating it Work with the teachers to be able to develop content and build them into a repository for common use and sharing in the ecosystem

Ensure quality in content translation and design

Building the state supported Teacher Led Model

Support building the state supported teacher led model for the state of Odisha by building a capacity building and content integration strategy which is institutionalized in the system.

Provide technical input to partner facilitators and CRPs on instructional design, STEM content, and pedagogy support

Design flow for school based events or virtual events – career days, hackathons, parent teacher meets, teacher orientations, role model interactions and learning days.

Make virtual visits to students learning calls, PTMs and events to understand the delivery of the sessions.

Hand Holding the district facilitators in being able to demonstrate the curriculum to the teachers and ensuring its implementation

Once field operations starts, make visit to schools and community to get feedback on the content and give feedback on its delivery

Required skills and Experience:
Minimum 5-7 years of work experience, in implementing blended learning content for school related projects

Hands-on experience with working on coding/ computational skills/ STEM and life and career skills for school students

Prior experience in content development and implementation

Prior experience of having worked in state led scale up models while having a perspective on the content thematics (coding/ computational skills/ STEM and life and career skills) of the program

Prior experience of facilitating training and workshops for the govt. Teachers and officials at district/state level

Willingness to learn and influence prevalent practices in education ecosystem

Deep understanding of the National Education Policy and State Curriculum Framework

Relevant education qualifications for handling pedagogy, STEM, and life skills content

Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills in English and Odia (preferred)

Excellent IT skills

Willingness to travel extensively

Ability to train, build capacity of, and manage relationships with partner NGOs

Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with other teams

Contact

Interested candidates are requested to apply for the role by filling up the application form given here.

Women candidates are encouraged to apply.

Due to the enormity of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.