Teacher training based on the results of research on their actual practices in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa: The OPERA project in Burkina Faso, issues and challenges

The OPERA project (Observation des pratiques enseignantes dans leur rapport avec les apprentissages des élèves / Diagnosis of Teacher Practices in Relation with Learning) started on the basis of observations on education systems in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): in educational research, too little attention has been paid to what actually goes on in the classroom. This paper present the construction process in Burkina Faso for training teachers, which is grounded in its context and devised with stakeholders based on the needs identified for teachers through research, as well as initial feedback from the tool designers and trained teachers. The tools resulting from OPERA’s research are tested and combined with a dissemination strategy for their implementation in pre-service teacher training structures. We show how this implementation lead to substantial changes to training and teaching practices.