One of LearnLink’s primary roles has been the development of a teacher training resource manual that compares and contrasts traditional with multi-grade classroom interac-tion, passive with interactive learning strategies, and teacher-centered with child-centered approaches. The manual also identifies characteristics of the multi-grade classroom and serves as a resource tool for imple-menting the learning corner approach to classroom organization.

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Bitatakalam Englisi?
While English is now a required subject in grades 4 and 5 in Egyptian schools, most small school teachers have little or no English or foreign language teaching skills. IRI was specifically developed to meet this type of need, and LearnLink’s feasibility study confirmed that it could be used effectively in the Egypt context to deliver quality ESL instruction.

IRI is an innovative teaching process that builds on USAID’s long experi-ence with radio instruction, spanning nearly a dozen countries and over a million students. Though IRI uses radio as a medium for education, unique characteristics differentiate it from most other instructional radio. For example, IRI promotes extensive interaction between learners and radio teachers, calling for a variety of responses from students at regular intervals. It also provides highly systematized instruction to ensure quality, with practice divided into short segments and distributed over time, and responses immediately reinforced. Print materials distributed to participating schools help to supplement lessons. This process corresponds to the interactive small school approach.