“Yes, there’s the teacher training toolkit, but really it’s the people who are delivering it that are responsible for what happens in the classroom.”
Dr Clyde Ancarno to Fine TV Gambia
15 August 2025
King's-funded multilingual education project pilots in The Gambia
Dr Clyde Ancarno’s multilingual education initiative, co-developed with Gambian educators and shaped by teacher practice in the classrooms, was received positively by stakeholders in The Gambia.
Dr Clyde Ancarno’s multilingual education teacher training, co-developed with Gambian educators and shaped by teacher practice in the classrooms, has been received positively by stakeholders in The Gambia.
The project recently culminated in a conference in The Gambia, which reflected on the pilot of Dr Ancarno’s research-informed teacher training toolkit at the University of Education The Gambia (formerly Gambia College) with over 500 trainee teachers. The training focuses on multilingual pedagogy and material development and was co-created with Gambian lecturers and teachers.
The project began as a research project by Dr Ancarno in 2018 to explore the integration of Gambian languages such as Mandinka, Wolof and Fula into the country’s English-dominated education system and understand the role Gambian languages play in education in The Gambia. The teacher training toolkit was developed from the project, guiding teachers on how to incorporate learners’ home languages (L1) into classroom practice.
Last year Dr Ancarno was awarded as the overall winner of the 2024 SSPP Faculty Impact Awards for her development of the Multilingual Resource Bank, which would later inform the Multilingual Education teacher's programme.
The conference also encouraged practitioners to envision the next steps in adopting inclusive, multilingual pedagogy. Dr Ancarno and her colleagues, including Vice Principal of the University of Education of The Gambia Ms Isatou Ndow, hope to integrate the Multilingual Education course into teacher training for non-degree students and eventually degree students at the University of Education The Gambia.
Dr Ancarno, in an interview with Fine TV Gambia, shared her appreciation for the seven lecturers who delivered the multilingual education training to the 500 trainee teachers at the University of Education The Gambia.
Dr Ancarno’s work on multilingual education in The Gambia highlights the importance of collaborative, participatory approaches to educational reform, and the value of reframing multilingualism as a resource rather than a barrier to create more inclusive learning environments for Gambian students. The initiative aligns with global efforts to promote inclusive, linguistically responsive education in multilingual societies.
Learn more about the Multilingual Education in The Gambia project