Head of Education - EduSpots Ghana

EduSpots is a UK and Ghanaian registered NGO which connects, trains and equips local volunteers to drive sustainable community-led change through education centres named ‘Spots’. Together, we are creating a movement of community-based educators. 

Since 2016, through working with over 200 local volunteers, we have supported nearly 50 communities in creating community-led education centres named ‘Spots’, with an aim to move them towards our ‘Dream Spot Model’.  Our Ghanaian team creates collaborative and innovative learning opportunities through our Ignite and Community Leadership in Development Programme alongside training to lead our EduLit & EduSTEM clubs, alongside locally designed education projects. 

We won the Tes International Award in 2018 for the best UK international education project and in 2021 our Founder was a Finalist in The Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize, supported by UNESCO. Do visit www.eduspots.org for further information.

About this role

This is a new role designed to focus on advancing the quality of educational outcomes across our diverse range of education programmes, underpinned by a strong understanding of our collaborative training and development approach. 

The post holder will have a high level of experience of education in both a classroom and community context and have the exceptional creativity and pedagogical skills required to make independent improvements to educational resources and programmes more widely, ultimately enabling our volunteers to have the skills, confidence and understanding to drive sustainable and transformative change in their communities. 

The post-holder may themselves also deliver sessions in an online form or at our residential Academies and regional training meet-ups; however, most of the impact will be created remotely through online collaboration and resource design and improvement. The post holder may also take on the entire literacy delivery element of the role, dependent on experience of literacy development specifically. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Reviewing and improving all the educational resources and strategies involved in our Community Leadership in Education programme (see here) which engages our most committed volunteers in a mix of 5-day Academy training, ongoing mentoring, group coaching, community action plans and impact reporting. 
• Support the development of the trial of our new Ignite Programme, which is for all volunteers, with a particular focus on child protection training. 
• To oversee our literacy development work, helping to increase engagement and quality of educational outcomes of our EduLit clubs and wider literacy engagement. 
• To oversee advances to our STEM and sustainability education, ensuring that monthly challenges engage our communities, and our 10-day ‘STEM for a Sustainable Future’ camps offer an impactful educational experience, working with volunteers to achieve this. 
• Creating a process for locally-led education programmes and projects, offering mentoring to community volunteers. 
• Exploring ways to make our educational offering as inclusive as possible, working with volunteers to improve their own capacity, and adjusting their sessions to enable all learners to engage with our programmes and clubs. 
• To oversee a team running our four online courses in global development, social entrepreneurship, social leadership and postcolonial thinking. 
• To support the creation of a new EduSpots Ambassadors Network, and supporting the creation of partnerships with schools and universities across the world. 
• To create handbooks, resources & Powerpoints to meet organisational needs as requested. 
• To provide regular information on our education programmes for our social media feeds, website and newsletters. 
• Contributing to the development and appraisal of our education-focused staff team members, which includes four programme coordinators. Depending on experience, there may be line management of some team members. 

Other

• To carry out all other duties as reasonably required under the job role, supporting the wider work of the organisation. 
• To act at all times in line with the expectations of staff as set out in the Staff & Volunteers Handbook, and other relevant policies and procedures.

Required Skills or Experience

• 5-7 years experience in education, with experience in both a classroom and a community context. 
• Significant experience in education resource and programme design.  
• An exceptional training facilitator, with the ability to model outstanding pedagogy and inspire volunteers and staff members. 
• Experience of working with community volunteers to drive educational change. 
• Experience in managing or mentoring staff members 
• An ability to use design software and Powerpoint to make attractive and impactful educational resources, which understand the needs of learners. 
• Experience of developing and maintaining effective working relationships and strategic partnerships.
• Strong IT knowledge and experience

Personal Qualities & Skills

• Outstanding pedagogical skills, with the ability to analyse programmes and resources and make improvements creatively and independently to enhance the impact upon learners. 
• A team player with a belief in the value of collaborative approaches to learning. 
• Self-motivated, proactive and able to work to maintain a high standard of performance with minimum supervision.
• Ability to manage and/or mentor other staff members leading to improvements in educational outcomes and strengthening their capacity. 
•  Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to create positive working relationships and motivate staff, volunteers and a range of stakeholders at all levels.
•  Exemplary written and verbal communication skills.
•  A high level of attention to detail.
•  Ability to work under pressure, prioritise and meet deadlines.
•  Ability to respond to feedback effectively, always looking for improvements. 
•  Flexible with the ability to react to change and be adaptable.
•  Ability to create and foster a culture of respect, honesty and commitment to our values and organisational aims.
•  A strong personal affinity with EduSpots’ mission, vision and values with a genuine passion for educational equity and community-led development. 

Highly desirable 

• Experience of working in a multicultural team
• Masters qualification in a related field
• Volunteer experience