Technical Consultant for English Literacy, USAID Esho Shikhi Activity

JOB DESCRIPTION

Technical Consultant for English Literacy

October 2024

PROGRAM: USAID’s Esho Shikhi Activity

POSITION TITLE: Technical Consultant for English Literacy

POSITION STATUS: Short-Term Consultant

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Dhaka, Bangladesh 

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: November 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025

LEVEL OF EFFORT: TBD 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

Winrock International is implementing USAID’s Esho Shikhi Activity in Bangladesh. The activity aims to increase learning opportunities, enhance teaching quality and teaching learning materials to improve quality education in selected subjects, strengthen the capacity of field-level mentors to deliver quality education, and improve school communities’ ability to mitigate and manage the effects of shocks and stressors on education access and quality.

In partnership with the Government of Bangladesh’s Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Esho Shikhi works with marginalized and vulnerable communities to address the needs of schools to improve the learning outcomes of children in select subject areas in grades 1-5, with a special focus on grades 1-2. Esho Shikhi engages parents and communities to increase learning opportunities for their children outside of the classroom and helps communities mitigate hardships including disasters and/or pandemics to maintain continuous access and quality of education for their children.

Beginning in November 2024, Esho Shikhi will work with DPE, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), and NAPE, MoPME on developing an English language literacy program for Grade 1 and 2 teachers. Winrock International is seeking an expert to lead the technical collaboration with the GoB to design and develop teaching and learning materials and teacher training program for English literacy.

The Technical Consultant for English literacy is expected to work with the Senior Technical Consultant for English Literacy and various Esho Shikhi teams on the following program activities:

• Reviewing the curriculum, training materials, teachers guide, classroom instructional materials to identify the gaps in existing training materials and the classroom instructional materials.

• Development of Master Trainers training and teachers training modules jointly with DPE, NCTB and NAPE.

• Support the facilitation of training for national Core Trainers and Master Trainers jointly with DPE.

• Support the development and adaptation of supplementary reading materials in English.

• Support the development of audio video materials for the selective sessions for teachers training.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Technical Consultant for English Literacy will support the Senior Technical Consultant for English Literacy in the process for the development of training modules and instructional materials. The Technical Consultant for English Literacy will contribute to the mentorship of the Esho Shikhi project team and government counterparts in program activities. This consultancy will be based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Specific Responsibilities include: 

• Work with the Senior Technical Consultant for English Literacy and various Esho Shikhi teams, consultants, technical experts of NCTB, DPE and NAPE and the other government counterparts on the design of the training program. Training materials must be finalized by June 2025.

• Contribute to the development of classroom instructional materials.

• Train, mentor, and support training and materials development teams.

• Ensure that there is a high level of engagement and collaboration among the government and development teams.

• Document the development process that includes the technical procedures followed in each sub-process along with the tools and resources used in the development process.

Required Qualifications and Experience: 

• Master’s Degree in Elementary Education, Education, Language Arts, Curriculum Design, or related field.

• At least 8 years of professional experience in education, including a combination of teaching experience and at least 5 years of experience in designing and dissemination of teacher training, materials development for reading, and/or experience in language arts/literacy teaching.

• Experience in developing and publishing high quality supplementary reading materials

• English fluency required, proficiency in Bangla a plus.

Required Experience, Knowledge and Skills: 

• Demonstrated ability to work with diverse, distributed teams performing under tight deadlines.

• Demonstrated ability to plan activities in detail and to work under tight deadlines on simultaneous tasks.

• Demonstrated ability to coordinate all aspects of training and materials development process, quality assurance, and process reporting. 

• Demonstrated computer literacy including proficiency in Microsoft applications (especially Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint) and familiarity with cloud-based computing. 

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, with limited supervision.

• Excellent self-management skills and highly organized and responsive with excellent follow-through on assigned tasks. 

• Demonstrated ability to respond to unexpected changes and to handle stress in a professional manner.  

• Excellent attention to detail, record-keeping and document management skills.

• Demonstrated sensitivity to gender and social inclusion, including working with people from diverse backgrounds.

• Demonstrated ability to function as part of a team.

Winrock is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and value diversity and inclusiveness. Winrock recruits, employs, trains, promotes and compensates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law.

At Winrock we have a clear mission: Empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through unwavering dedication to accountability, equity, innovation, integrity and transformation.

Winrock knows that its success comes from the hard work and steadfast dedication of its diverse workforce. Winrock remains committed to maintaining diversity, inclusion and equity across the entire organization.