STIR Education
Over the last decade, substantial progress has been made across the developing world in improving access to education. Yet such improvements in access and resources have not been matched with an equivalent increase in education quality and outcomes. In India, where STIR launched its pilot in 2012, 60% of second year children are unable to read a simple paragraph, and 70% cannot perform simple mathematical tasks such as long division. In Uganda, 90% of grade 3 children are unable to read and understand an English story text of grade 2 level difficulty; 70% of grade 3 children are unable to solve numerical written division sums of grade 2 level difficulty.STIR Education is based on the belief that the most effective method of change is to build on what the best teachers and schools are already doing and we have created a search and selection mechanism to identify the best ‘micro-innovations’ in primary and secondary education. We are now working to catalyse a community of creative teachers to take STIR micro-innovations to scale and to support teachers to continue develop their own innovative practice.
Our vision is of a network of teachers and principals who are committed to improving the quality of education at their schools by:
a) sharing their innovative practice with STIR and each other;
b) implementing the micro-innovations identified by STIR;
c) supporting each other with the implementation, adaptation and improvement of the micro-innovations;
d) developing as professionals and leading a move towards education ‘quality consciousness’ across the system.
Having completed a successful pilot project in India (with the support of ARK, the British Council and DFID), STIR is now looking to test the STIR model in a second geography and is planning to launch an East Africa pilot programme in Uganda and then to roll out the model across East Africa. To lead this pilot and to establish STIR’s presence in East Africa, STIR is now looking to hire an East Africa Programme Director.
Job title: STIR Education East Africa Programme Director
Employment type: Full time
Country: Uganda
City / Location: Kampala
Job category: NGO/Nonprofit Charitable Organizations
The East Africa Programme Director will have excellent skills in partnership building and management; be a self-starter with a keen eye for opportunities; be excited by the chance to take the lead on all aspects of establishing an organisation in a new region – from identifying office space to creating relationships with government ministers; and will be able to build relationships with a wide range of people from teachers and school leaders to funders. The ideal candidate will have the skills to provide a lot of hands-on support to our partner organisations in running teachers’ networks combined with the strategic and relationship building skills to establish STIR in East Africa.
As STIR East Africa Programme Director, you will have three key initial priorities:
1. To establish STIR’s presence in East Africa (starting in Uganda) by building partnerships with schools, partner organisations and government;
2. To manage relationships and support STIR partner organisations participating in the pilot programme – this will require a lot of ‘hands-on’ time working with partners in schools;
3. To adapt the STIR model for the local context and monitor the implementation of the pilot programme in preparation for a wider roll-out in 2015.
Required Skills & Experience
The ideal candidate will have at least 7 years’ experience (with at least 2 years in grassroots education), a good knowledge of the East African context, clear leadership skills and good ‘start-up’ experience.
- Experience building and maintaining relationships with multiple partners from the government, NGO and private sectors
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in order to hone STIR’s key messages for the East African context
- Experience of managing and supporting colleagues based ‘in the field’
- An ability to influence people without direct authority
- Experience of developing people to become excellent people managers themselves
- Experience of overseeing multiple projects simultaneously
- Experience managing change, supporting others to do so and an ability to help people solve problems and overcome challenges
- Knowledge of the factors that will enable change in the Ugandan (and other East African) education systems, clear understanding of the challenges that Ugandan teachers and schools face and personal, hands-on experience in leading change in such a context
- Experience in managing the collection of data
- Demonstrated ability to provide useful feedback to team members
- Experience in building a team and ensuring team members are able to learn from each other
- Sensitive to the different level of support people need and able to provide the necessary support
Personal Qualities
- Strong commitment to excellent education for all and a belief in teachers and school leaders as innovators with the capacity to lead change in the system
- Positivity and optimism such that you can motivate others during challenging times
- Self-starter with very strong leadership skills
- Flexibility and a willingness to adapt (in order to ensure the STIR model fits the East African context)
- Demonstrated maturity
- Humility as you work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences and confident in wide variety of social settings
Responsibilities
1. Set up STIR’s office and operations in Uganda and subsequently in Kenya
working in partnership with STIR after the pilot
2. Build new relationships with additional partner organisations in order to create a network of ‘scale-up partners’ to take STIR micro-innovations to scale
3. Build relationships with partner organisations throughout the region in preparation for regional expansion
4. Build relationships with funders interested in the region
5. Monitor the implementation of the pilot programme by partners and take action needed to adapt STIR for the Ugandan context
6. Manage and support in the field an initial group of 5 STIR ‘Education Leaders’ (people from partner organisations trained by STIR to lead innovation searches and teacher networks)
7 Create opportunities for Education Leaders to learn from and share approaches to leading networks with each other
8 Ensure all Monitoring and Evaluation data required from Education Leaders is gathered and shared with STIR in a timely manner
9. Develop a knowledge base to support the effective running of future teachers’ networks in Uganda and the region
10. Liaise with partner organisations about the effectiveness of their Education Leaders and provide additional support to individual Education Leaders as is necessary
Contact/How to apply:
- In a cover letter please share with us why you are interested in becoming a STIR East Africa Programme Director and why your experience makes you a suitable candidate
- Please also send a copy of your CV and details for two referees to jobs@stireducation.org
- For more information about STIR and our mission please visit www.stireducation.org
closing date Wed 18th December 2013
