Thursday, October 9, 2014

TEACHERS TRAINING WORKSHOP REPORT





Participants posing with their Certificates with MND's  Education Officer, Mrs. Adolphina Luvongit (Left front row), and  MAKATA's project coordinator Mr. Wenceslaus Magun (back second right hand).


MARINE ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION TRAINING FOR TEACHERS IN Madang, Papua New Guinea
 
Report prepared by Adolphina Luvongit and Wenceslaus Magun for MAKATA Incorporated,


September 2014
  
Acknowledgements


We thank The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for its funding support to Mas Kagin Tapani Inc. (MAKATA), which enabled us to conduct the first Marine Environment Education Training for 23 primary and elementary school teachers in Madang, Papua New Guinea (PNG). This workshop would not have eventuated without the partnership agreement between MAKATA and Mahonia Na Dari (MND). We therefore thank MND for its understanding and for accepting our request to run this training.  We extend our gratitude and appreciation to MND’s Education Officer, Mrs Adolphina Luvongit who demonstrated intelligence, experience, knowledge and proficiency in successfully delivering a week-long training to our teachers.


We are also very grateful to Mr. Bruno Tulemanil, the catholic education secretary for the Madang Archdiocese, who welcomed our request and took ownership of this training. We commend his reliable staff, namely Fr. Francis Yass, and Mrs. Leovinna Kalom, who assisted MAKATA’s Community Facilitator, Mr. Simon Warr, in collecting names of teachers for this training and assisted in mobilizing them to attend this workshop.

We also thank the faithful, loyal and hardworking St. Theresa Sisters at Alexishafen for allowing us to run the training at their Conference Centre. We will not forget their generosity and hospitality in looking after us, providing all the necessary support we needed including our daily meals up to a feast at the graduation day.
Last but not the least we take this time to thank the Kananam resource owners for the use of their boats and for allowing us to carry out our research at their mangrove, sea grass, sea weed, and coral reef sites. 
Finally, we thank God for His continued grace and blessings to us all!



Table of Contents
Annex III. Evaluation Samples .................................................................................................... 20
Annex IV. Test Sample……….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….21
Annex V. Certificate Sample…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….22

  

1.     Introduction

Mas Kagin Tapani (MAKATA) Inc. a local Community Based Organisation has been taking a very active role in turtle conservation efforts in Madang Province, PNG. MAKATA has mobilized funds to carry out awareness and basic tagging and monitoring training to the local communities over the last 7 years. MAKATA was established by Mr Wenceslaus Magun and his former board members and volunteers to sustain the Sea Turtle Restoration and Protection (STRP) project. The STRP project in Madang  was initiated by Mr. Magun in mid 2006 whilst working for a US based NGO, called Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) as their Western Pacific Campaigner.
Through this initiative over 200 locals have been trained and equipped with turtle tags and tag applicators.  In 2008, MAKATA helped Karkum village established its Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) using the Conservation Deed (CD) process. MAKATA has also helped Kimadi and Magubem clans launched their protected area using their customary practice in 2013.
In 2014, we extended our work to Mur village, in Rai Coast District, Madang, where we are about to help them complete their Conservation Resource Management Plan.  We have also conducted baseline studies for Yamai, Lalok, Male and Bom-Sagar communities in Rai Coast District. Community leaders from these communities have formally written to MAKATA seeking support to help them establish their resource management plans.  These requests can only be fulfilled if we secure major and long-term funding.
MAKATA’s work has been documented in a report titled: “Madang Sustainable Development Reports: Ridges-to-Reefs Gap and Priority Analysis.”  This Report was launched on 24 February 2014 by TNC, the Madang Provincial Government and other stakeholders.
MAKATA endeavors to work in partnership with relevant institutions and stakeholders whose core business also meets our vision and mission.  MND and the schools in Madang make good partners towards fulfilling this goal.
This particular workshop is the first of its kind for teachers in Madang on marine environment education.  The training requires that a follow-up of the activities to ensure that interest is generated in marine environment education with the teachers in Madang is sustained.
The workshop was organised by the MAKATA Inc. and hosted by the Catholic Education Division in Madang at the St. Theresa’s Sisters Conference  at Alexishafen, Madang. The workshop ran from September 22nd  to 26th  September,  2014.
The target audience of the workshop was teachers from coastal communities within MAKATA’s turtle conservation sites and neighboring communities.  There were 23 participants at this course. For a full list of workshop participants including their names and contact details, refer to participants list on Annex II.

1.1 Aims and objectives

Aim:       To build a grassroots constituency for conservation by raising awareness about the environment.
Objective:           To provide environmental education training to teachers.
(1)    To provide intensive training in teaching environmental studies to teachers.
(2)    To incorporate marine environmental education into the education curriculum to be taught in schools.

1.2 Expected Outcomes

Expected outcomes of the workshop are as listed below.
·         Twenty three (23) teachers to receive training per batch
·         Participants to be certified with a certificate of participation in the training
·         Teacher’s manual developed and printed together with e-copies of the manual and related documents copied for teachers and partner organisations.
·         Participants of the training workshop complete the training and are awarded training certificate.

2.     Course Contents.

The training workshop program is outlined in Annex I.

3.     Workshop outcome.


Participants began arriving on Sunday 21th September 2014. Most of the participants arrived on Monday 22nd September 2014.  Registration was done on Monday, followed by the evaluation exercise and a test. The aim of the test was to assess the knowledge level of the teachers on marine environment education.  The same test was done at the end of the workshop to compare the knowledge level attained by the participants at the end of the workshop to that prior to the workshop.  Those who turned up or called after Monday to register were turned away or refused to be enrolled. 

Day 1. MONDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER 2014


The workshop was conducted at the St. Theresa Sisters Conference Centre.  The Centre is situated about 15km northwest from Madang town.
Twenty three (23) participants attended this training, three (3) extra from the expected number. Of the total number of participants, seven (7) were females.  Many more teachers from coastal and offshore island schools expressed interest to participate in this training but could not make it due to transportation problems.  Those that expressed interest later than Monday 22nd September were turned down due to insufficient training materials available.

The arrival and registration of teachers commenced on Monday morning, and sessions commenced after lunch.

The workshop began with an opening prayer by Sister Noelyn from the St. Theresa’s Congregation who was also in charge of meals during the entire duration of the workshop. 

MAKATA’s Project Coordinator, Mr. Wenceslaus Magun then welcomed everyone for the training. He gave them a brief big picture of MAKATA after introducing himself.  This was followed by the course facilitator Mrs. Adolphina Luvongit.  The Catholic Education Secretary, Mr. Bruno Tulemanil then officially opened the workshop, encouraging teachers to take this training to heart as it was a golden opportunity that has arrived at their doorstep which cannot be missed.

Following the introductory remarks, participants were asked to introduce themselves before the sessions began.

Session 1: Environment, Conservation and Biological Diversity

After the introductory remarks, participants sat for a short entry test to assess their current knowledge of the marine environment before taking up the course.  They were also asked to fill in a graph indicating where their marine environment knowledge level is at this stage.  This systematic assessment exercise is an indicator to the facilitator and MAKATA to see how much marine information is lacking or is needed to facilitate the training.  


In this Session, the facilitator covered the topics of Environment, Conservation and Biological Diversity. It involved a lot of group discussions and sharing of knowledge and experiences.

In the evening after dinner, Mrs. Adolphina did a power point presentation of MND for the participants to understand MNDs programs in West New Britain. She also showed them MND’s documentary (awareness video).
Marine Environment Education Program (MEEP) is an education and awareness program pioneered and developed by the Mahonia Na Dari Research Institution, a Papua New Guinean National Non –Government Organization.
Mahonia Na Dari Institute is based in the Nature Center adjacent to the Walindi Plantation Resort about 15 minutes’ drive along the coastal road towards the West coast.  Hence the MEEP since its inception and introduction has been targeting school children from primary and secondary schools in Kimbe and the surroundings. Teachers have also been targeted by the program and quite a number have gone through the program. The program has also extended to other New Guinea islands provinces as funding permitted. Mahonia Na Dari focuses on marine education and awareness as its major program activity.

.
1.2 What is MEEP?

MEEP is basically a marine environment education program with a fully developed curriculum and associated course materials etc. There is a theory side of the MEEP which is taught inside a lecture room setting and a practical side of it which introduces students to the marine world through snorkeling and observation of the various unique marine habitats including mangroves, sea grass and coral reefs. Students also utilized the wet laboratory by bringing specimen to further study with the aid of the microscopes. 

The MEEP covers concepts in basic marine biology, marine ecology, threats, conservation and resource management. The resource materials used are designed in accordance to the syllabus used in the PNG education curriculum.

Kimbe Bay, where Mahonia Na Dari is situated is in a very ideal setting for such program.

MEEP is conducted by Mahonia Na Dari to coastal schools and communities of West New Britain. The program was initiated in 1997, and has expanded to cater for the needs of schools outside of the province.  Intensive MEEP is offered to three (3) secondary/high school students. The participants in the program are particularly interested students who meet requirements (as set out by MEEP). They fill in an application and selection criteria are used to select student.

MEEP is run on Saturdays (so that it doesn’t clash or affect normal school activities) for 9 weeks and it ends with student participants undertaking a marine awareness of what they have learnt to accessible primary schools. The participants are presented with a certificate of participation upon completion of the program.

The program is aimed to instill conservation ethics into the young generation as we believe they can influence future decision making. This program is also tailored to suit the different level of audience. MEEP is also conducted in teachers training to primary school teachers to complement the stand alone subject, “Environmental Studies”.

The assessment at the end of Session 1 indicated that all the participants grasped and understood the presentations.

Day2. TUESDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER, 2014


Session 2: Marine Ecosystems: Mangroves, Sea Grass and Coral Reefs

On Tuesday, the facilitator, Mrs. Adolphina covered the topics of Marine Ecosystems connectivity with focus on Mangroves, Sea Grass and Coral Reefs. The participants were grouped into four (4) groups; two (2) groups were tasked to study Mangroves and two (2) groups were tasked to study Sea Grass ecosystems. It began with a trip to the selected sites for teachers to study and describe the biological diversity of the ecosystems.

Mr. Magun assisted in driving these respective groups to the mangrove and sea grass sites for their field trip research exercise.  The groups were accompanied by Mrs. Adolphina who supervised the different groups on different intervals at their respective sites.

The groups that undertook research on Mangroves visited a small hamlet of Kananam village, called Tawei.  They then split into their groups and undertook the study of mangroves with a local guide by the name of Mr. David Bai.  They were then given a lift to the back of St. Michael’s Primary School in Alexishafen with the supervision of St Michael’s Primary School Head Master, Mr. Francis Arigini to identify more mangrove species.

The two groups involved in the Sea Grass ecosystems, were driven up to the Holy Spirit Congregation Sister’s Convent beach front area to do their research.  After seeking permission from the Sister in Charge, the group split into two groups and carried out their exercise.

After the field trip, each group presented their findings to the rest of the participants.  They brought back samples of the different mangroves, algae, and sea grass species found in the different ecosystems they visited and explained to their peers what they had discovered.
 
After lunch break, Mrs. Adolphina took a session on Coral Biology with the participants. Interestingly, a lot of teachers did not know much about coral reefs.  They thought a coral was a plant and not an animal. “These made our session more interesting as they were so eager to learn and understand more about corals and reef,” stressed Mrs. Adolphina.  Mrs Adolphina gave a detailed power point presentation on corals and reef ecosystems.  She further showed them samples of corals and reefs.

This was complemented by a documentary video titled, “BBC South Pacific Fragile Paradise” shown to the participants. This documentary was very relevant and complemented today’s session.

Day 3. WEDNESDAY 24TH  SEPTEMBER, 2014


Session 3: Marine Animals, Vertebrates and Invertebrates

On Wednesday, Mrs. Adolphina took the participants on the topics of Marine Animals, and Vertebrates in the morning and Invertebrates in the afternoon.

The participants were again divided into groups to conduct research on Marine Animals, Vertebrates and Invertebrates.  Mrs. Adolphina ensured that a lot of time was given to the participants to do their research and present in detail their findings to their peers.  

This exercise was aimed at developing the teachers’ skills and abilities to do thorough research using the MND’s research materials which Mrs. Adolphina brought with her all the way from West New Britain. 

She pointed out that through this exercise, teachers are empowered to gain skills to do research so they are able to learn more on these topics and be equipped with the knowledge of these animals.  Mrs. Adolphina said, most often teachers take for granted that they know a lot about marine animals, vertebrates and invertebrates without actually understanding them in detail.

The groups then did their presentations to their peers. The participants impressed each other and also Mrs. Adolphina and Mr. Magun on the wealth of information they gathered about the marine animals, vertebrates, and invertebrates.

In the evening after dinner Mrs. Adolphina showed them another video documentary on the “Last Blue Wilderness”. She said the aim of this video is to draw the attention of the teachers to think seriously about the impacts of climate change on islands and coastlines.  It also prepares them to take timely and appropriate measures or steps to deal with the causes and effects of climate change.

Day 4. THURSDAY 25TH   SEPTEMBER, 2014


Session 4: Marine Animals, Vertebrates and Invertebrates (Continuation from Session 3)

On Thursday morning, the participants continued with their presentations.


After lunch the participants got into two (2) boats and travelled to two (2) coral reef sites (Dulau Mal and Nabag Inam) to study the marine life. 


They were able to make good comparisons on the health status and the biological diversity of the two (2) coral reef sites. According to Mrs. Adolphina’s assessment of this field trip exercise, although most of these participants are coastal dwellers, some of them do not spend time in coral reef ecosystems as indicated by their reactions out in the reefs.


On Thursday night after deliberation on the actions to take after the training, these participants anonymously agreed to form an association called, “The Marine & Terrestrial Educators Network of Madang.”

This was one of the best successful outcomes of this training.

Day 5. FRIDAY 26TH    SEPTEMBER, 2014

 
Session 5: Workshop Evaluation and PNG’s Protected Area Policy in light of the Convention on Biological Diversity

On Friday, we began with the evaluation of the program. The participants were issued the same test paper that was given to them on the first day of this workshop, to do it again.  It was aimed at analyzing the knowledge they had on marine environment prior to attending this workshop and their level of knowledge attained after this workshop.

After the evaluation exercise, Mr. Magun the Project Coordinator for MAKATA, did a presentation on: PNG’s Protected Area Policy and how it is linked to the Convention on Biological Diversity and how practitioners implement this policy on the ground. 

This was followed by the presentation of certificates countersigned by MAKATA’s Project Coordinator Mr. Wenceslaus Magun, the Catholic Education Secretary for Madang, Mr. Bruno Tulemanil and the Education Officer for MND Mrs, Adolphina Luvongit.

According to Mrs Adolphina Luvongit, the training was conducted successfully.  She admitted though that this was the largest number of participants she has taught ever since joining MND in 2011. 

“I had more participants than usual. It was a challenge I overcame.   However, I would strongly recommend an assistant in facilitating trainings to large group of participants in the future,” she emphasized.

1.     Workshop evaluation.

 

The Marine Environment Education Program (MEEP) has enriched and boosted the participants about the knowledge of the marine environment. The training empowered them with wealth of knowledge, and practical session about marine organisms they most often overlooked as teachers. It strengthened them to educate and empower the children and the community to appreciate their marine environment.
Results obtained from the tests and related systematic evaluation exercises indicated that, they have personally gained a lot of new knowledge about mangroves, corals, reefs, sea grass, sea weeds, invertebrates, vertebrates, fishes and the general marine ecosystems. The general assessment shows that they have all appreciated the course content and exercises undertaken in this program.
The participants observed that the content of the program is very vital for public awareness to schools and local coastal communities in order to protect, conserve, manage and sustainably use the marine ecosystems.
Some of the participants indicated that the course has challenged them to revisit their out dated management plans and incorporate new concepts acquired from the training.
They also recommended that this is a very vital and important program that must be used to in-service other teachers in other schools in Madang.  They also saw the need for this course to be incorporated in the school curriculum as it has relevance in the primary school’s curriculum on Science, Social Science, Making A Living and Environmental Studies.
The participants strongly recommended that the training should continue annually.  They further suggested that the training should take place in districts/clusters.
They pointed out that the program has both theoretical and practical sessions and therefore it was very interesting to visit the ecosystems in the field and conduct hands on practical sessions.  Other participants suggested that this training should be conducted in two weeks instead of a week. 
Meanwhile, other participants recommended that this training should also be done to other coastal community leaders in their province. Since most of the participants were the head and senior teachers, they suggested it should become part of teacher in-service every year.
The entire training workshop was timely, very informative, and addressed marine ecosystems issues and information gaps that were identified from initial consultations by MAKATA’s team during our ongoing community consultation, monitoring and evaluation exercises in the coastal communities we work with.


2.     Follow-up

There were several activities that needed to be done as identified through the course and closing of the workshop. These are listed below:
(1)    Teachers to incorporate and teach in detail the importance of the marine environment in their schools.
(2)    Incorporate environmental management into their school’s activity plan
(3)    Carry out marine awareness to their immediate local communities
(4)    Establish and incorporate the “The Marine & Terrestrial Educators Network of Madang.” This group was formed by these 23 teachers. This is a successful positive outcome of this workshop.
(5)    Monitoring and Evaluation – MAKATA/MND to visit selected schools in Madang in September 2015 and assess their action plans.

These plans are to be implemented from October 2014 to October 2015.

v  Mobilizing of distribution of awareness materials
o   All workshop participants mentioned the need to have awareness materials with them when they are talking to the community and school children in their communities.  The first point of contact will be Mahonia Na Dari. Request will be made to MND and the South Pacific Regional Environment Program’s  marine officer(s) for posters, brochures, DVDs to be send to MAKATA for distribution to schools in Madang who will in turn make sure that awareness materials mobilized, will be sent to appropriate schools to be distributed during their awareness campaigns.
v  Other stakeholders especially in Australia, the Asia and the Pacific will also be approached to supply materials to schools in Madang.

v  Further Training Workshops on Marine Environment Education
o   The training workshop was the first of its kind in Madang and has generated a lot of interest among different coastal schools in the province. Some participants from remote schools such as Rai Coast, Bogia, and Sumkar Districts could not make it due to transport difficulties.  These teachers have requested that a similar training be conducted for them at the District level in the near future to continue raising awareness along the coastal communities.
o   MAKATA will look into this and develop proposals etc to mobilise funds to continue the training to other communities along the Madang coastal areas.


Annex I. The Training Workshop Program.


1.      LOGISTICS
1.1   Venue: St. Theresa’s Sisters Conference, Alexishafen, Madang.
1.2   Logistics
Wenceslaus Magun
MAKATA
Port Moresby
Ph: 71959665

Wenceslaus Magun is the Project Coordinator for Turtle Program and was responsible for all logistics and coordination.  Wenceslaus put in full time for this training program taking care of all logistics, coordination and support.  He also facilitated the training on Draft Protected Area Policy and how it is linked to the Convention on Biological Diversity and what conservation practitioners do on the ground to implement these policies on 26th of September before the closing and graduation ceremony.

1.3   Participation
·         Selected Primary and Elementary School Headmasters and Senior Teachers of Madang


1.4   Key Personnel / Trainer
Adolphina Luvongit
Education Officer
Mahonia Na Dari, West New Britain
Ph: (675) 73145966
Email: adolph.luvongit@gmail.com

Mrs. Adolphina Luvongit has been involved in marine environment education program with Mahonia Na Dari (MND) since 2011.  She holds a Bachelors Degree in Education from the University of Goroka, in PNG and a Certificate in Pacific NGO Leadership and Management from the Institute of Technology at the University of Wellington, New Zealand.   She has taught in Secondary Schools in West New Britain for the past 11 years prior to joining MND. She has represented her organization in numerous international gatherings including the inaugural World Indigenous People’s Conference in Darwin in 2013, the workshops by South Pacific Regional Environment Program, and the recent Convention on Biological Diversity workshop in Apia Samoa in 2014 as well as the Small Islands Development States Forum also held a week later in Apia, Samoa.
Adolphina’s input into this program will be i) Developing the training program, ii) preparation of course material, iii) running the course itself and iv) writing up the final report.


2.      Training Workshop Goals

The training workshop seeks to enhance the capacity of Madang primary and elementary school teachers in marine environment education. This training is targeted for schools within the Turtle Conservation and Management sites. Its specifically seeks to build a grassroots constituency for conservation by raising awareness about the environment through marine environment education.
The expected outcomes for the training workshop are:
(1)    Twenty three (23) teachers to receive training per batch
(2)    Participants to be certified with a certificate of participation in the training
(3)    Teacher’s manual developed and printed together with e-copies of the manual and related documents and distributed to these 23 teachers and other partner organisations.

3.      Training Workshop Program

Day
Activities
Field Trips/others
Day 1
Monday
22nd/09/14
8:30 am –12:00 noon
Registration & Orientation
LUNCH
1:15pm – 4:00 pm
Ø  Evaluation Statement
Ø  Ppt Presentation (organisation)
Ø  Knowledge Review Test.
(1)   Environment, Conservation Biological Diversity.

  Activity (Group discussion & Presentation)

Day 2
Tuesday
23rd/09/14

Ø  Marine Ecosystems (connectivity)
Ø  8:15 am – 9:30am (Practical)
10:00 am – BREAK
10:30 am – 12:00 noon

Activity (Group discussion & Presentation)


1:15 pm – 4:00 pm

Ø  Coral Reef Ecosystem
Ø  Coral Biology

8:00 pm – 9:00 pm Video show – The last blue wilderness


Mangrove/sea grass site
2 groups each site










Video Show
Day 3
Wednesday
24th/09/14
8:30-12:00 noon

Ø  Marine Animals – Vertebrates/Invertebrates
Group Research & presentation.

12:00 -1:00 Lunch 
   
1:15 pm -3:00 pm

8:00 pm – 9:10 pm – Video Show – South Pacific Fragile Paradise









Video Show
Day 4
Thursday
25th/09/14
8:30-4:30pm

Ø  What are some critical issues and threats affecting the Marine Environment in Madang, and how can we help?

Ø  Coral Reef Ecosystem






Coral Reef Ecosystem
Day 5
Friday
26th/09/14


8:15-10:00 am
Ø  Review Test
Ø  Evaluation of Training
PNGS Protected Area Policy/CBD - WM
11:30 am to 12 noon – Presentation of certificates. Closing Ceremony
·         Speeches
·         Awarding of certificates
·         Closing speeches by
a)      Mrs Adolphina  Luvongit
b)      Mr. Wenceslaus Magun
c)       Mr Luag Magu (Deputy Governor for Madang’s Executive Office,
d)      Mr Andrew Mapio, Madang Civil Society Representative in the Madang Provincial Assembly,
e)      Mr Bruno Tulemanil, Catholic Education Secretary
f)       Mother Superior of the St Theresa’s Sisters, Sr Theodora
·         LUNCH /Departure





               
Annex II. Participants List.

Marine Education Training. MND/MAKATA
Participant Attendance List.

22nd to 26th of September 2014
No
Name
Gender
School
Contact
1
Francis Arigini
M
Alexishafen  PNG
71396793
2
Nick Baum
M
St. Mary’s – Urimong
72068272
3
Sixtus Baleng
M
St. Paul’s Ulis P/S
72074655
4
Longmo Dau
M
Ambarina P/S
72913716
5
Benedin Kalom
M
Riwo Elementary

6
Vincent Kabaiyah
M
Bogia Cath P/S
73406490
7
Bucknell Nambionga
M
Bogia Admin Ele
72265757
8
John Agoba
M
Tabele P/S
70176019
9
Charlie Semo
M
Kuminimo P/S
73551058
10
Hillary Bega
M
Meiro P/S
72608377
11
Karen Malagui
F
Munumbo P/S
71093157
12
Janet Sual
F
Malmal P/S
71277626
13
Pia Bilas
F
Ambarina P/S
71541757
14
Jethro Mugau
M
Katom E/S
71765694
15
Muka Tawi Kasu
F
Bongu P/S
72729572
16
Rem Iwangu
M
Watang Yagomi
73619199
17
Simon Ioka
M
Bongu P/S
70583247
18
Francis Nanuna
M
Rempi P/S
72078862
19
Alfred Mula
M
Wararuk Utu P/S
70655501
20
Carolyn Mai
F
Bugajim P/S
73147607
21
Boang Raphael Basse
M
Jerome Memorial P/S
72121099
22
Sanatha Mamu
F
Male P/S
71766846
23
Mary Esther Labau
F
Bugajim P/S
73147607

Total of 23 Participants

Note: We cannot upload the rest of the Annexes. However, please go to our facebook link to upload the pdf file. 

 


 



 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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