We’re proud of our dedicated community school teachers; the majority of which come from the local community in which they teach and act as role models to those they serve. To achieve and maintain our standards, all Bridge teachers must pass our rigorous selection process and complete training at their local Bridge Teacher Training Institute—regardless of qualification(s) or previous teaching experience.

The Bridge Teacher Training programme produces great teachers through a combination of intensive induction training at our training institute and then a carefully designed programme of ongoing support. We believe that simply gaining a qualification is not enough for teachers to continue to grow, develop and evolve. We know that great teachers equal great classrooms and that it’s essential to empower and support teachers on an ongoing basis.

We actively recruit for our community schools in three main ways:

1. We partner with government agencies, such as the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) in Kenya;
2. We partner with local teacher training colleges; and,
3. We engage in targeted community outreach.

Before a teaching applicant can attend one of our Training Institutes they must first pass through a rigorous screening process. These are the basic benchmarks for all applicants—most are required have a government certification, the remainder must achieve above a certain grade at secondary school, depending on the country. Typically, there are minimum requirements set by host country governments that dictate how many government certified teachers must be teaching. We adhere to—and where practical, exceed—government regulations in every country where we work.

Following an application, before an applicant enters the Training Institute, they must go through the following stages:

• Competency exam;
• A face-to-face interview;
• Lesson demonstrations; and,
• Reference checks.

After this screening process, successful applicants must then pass further tests during their training, including practical performance assessments and a final written examination.

All successful applicants receive weeks of training. It helps prepare teachers for:

• Interactive lessons;
• Conducting one-to-one instruction;
• Providing feedback to pupils;
• Deploying effective classroom management techniques,
• Using the teacher guides.

The Training Institute is run by local teachers and academics with years of experience in the classroom, who are experts in pedagogy a.k.a. the ‘science of teaching’. After completing their course, teachers will benefit from ongoing professional development and continued support from their school leader and leadership and development coach which further develops and refines their teaching abilities.

Many teachers move around schools throughout their career, including public schools. Our teachers will benefit from the years of practice and ongoing professional development received at Bridge.