Description/achievement of initiative
JMA aims to provide free and accessible Medical Biology lessons to students from disadvantageous backgrounds. JMA currently has operating chapters in rural villages in Pakistan, multiple provinces in Zimbabwe,the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and India. With the help of this partnership initiative, JMA will have access to a larger network to collaborate with and exchange resources with so that both JMA and other partner organizations can both increase their bandwidth by delivering a greater diversity in educational resources to a larger scope of developing and underdeveloped nations.
Implementation methodologies
First, the executive team for JMA will reach out to an international nonprofit/NGO with the mission to advance educational access for students in disadvantaged countries.
Second, The executive team will have video calls with every international chapter to provide a orientation presentation on teaching philosophies, mechanisms to teach, and how to properly utilize the resources JMA provides. This will include an overview of each and every single resource provided, including all 10 medical biology lessons, teacher guides, review transcripts/supplemental handouts, and the teaching process. Any questions that aspiring teachers (of any age) have will be addressed in these calls.
Third, a teaching orientation will be held (over video conference) with all aspiring teachers. Any questions that aspiring teachers (of any age) have will be addressed in these calls. This meeting will cover teaching philosophies, methodologies, and tips/tricks to help gauge and optimize student retention.
Fourth, the first lesson will be taught shortly after the teacher orientation and will serve as an evaluation for both JMA and the international nonprofit/NGO to gauge the nature of the lessons. The lesson is taught by having the teachers follow JMA's fully free and electronically accessible lesson power points and guides. For locations without internet access, JMA delivers physical printouts of all its lessons to the location. If possible, the heads of the nonprofit/NGO's can print out the lesson guides themselves to shorten time constraints.
Fifth, the JMA executive team also check in weekly with each international location and gives aid as necessary (with inconsistencies/structural challenges when implementing lessons.)
Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
All JMA would require is the emails of international nonprofits/NGO's (that have at least 1 electronic device with functional internet connection) to facilitate the transfer of our educational resources (available on a comprehensive google drive folder). As long as the other organizations have the capacity to view the JMA Google drive link which holds all the resources and supplies needed to teach the entire class, the educational administration will be well set.
Coordination mechanisms/governance structure
This initiative is coordinated and monitored through multiple hierarchies of regulation via our existing teaching hierarchy. JMA has developed a proprietary 50+ page comprehensive teacher guide which contains instruction sheets to ensure consistent teaching quality, even with instructions who do not have prior/existing knowledge of medical biology. Furthermore, all of JMA's resources that are needed in the teaching process (including teacher guides, all lesson presentations, extra materials, supplemental handouts/transcripts, and more) all all included in a google drive folder which JMA distributes to its partners. These materials have been developed by the executive team and have been subject to scrutinous review and modification (as they have been tested in the teaching environment of multiple countries including rural villages in Pakistan, multiple provinces in Zimbabwe,the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and India).
The google drive folder is then administered to partners (typically international nonprofits/NGO's) that implement the curriculum within their own existing teaching structures. For organizations that don't have a preexisting teaching structure, JMA has a guide on how to implement our recommended leadership infrastructure.
The 3 following divisions are to be created for the proper functionality of remote chapters:
1. Fundraising: Fundraising team will meet with the treasurer (for service hours) and brainstorm ideas, call locations, and determine logistics of fundraising events to help raise money to buy materials, prizes, and food for the sessions. Any decisions made are to be relayed to the Chapter Ambassador for approval.
2. Volunteers and Fellows: They are to help out with sessions and are responsible for coming to sessions and helping out. More specifically, they are to help teach Divisions that are assigned to them, manage the children, ensure good behavior during sessions, help publicize attend fundraisers, and help manage session logistics.
3. Teachers: either adults or students that have a reading proficiency (in english) that can read the teacher guide (that include in depth 1 page summaries of each lesson, with teaching directions for each and every single slide of every lesson).
The executive team will have video calls with every international chapter to provide a orientation presentation on teaching philosophies, mechanisms to teach, and how to properly utilize the resources JMA provides. The executive team also check in weekly with each international location and gives aid as necessary (with inconsistencies/structural challenges when implementing lessons.)
Partner(s)
Junior Medical Academy, Zimbabwe Science Fair, Noor Academy, Lean In, Malaika, Pangea Educational Development, Agents of Change