Learning Poverty

Allen Thurston, Professor/Director of Centre for Effective Education at Queen's University Belfast tasked us with the LA Portuguese translation of a Peer tutoring pack which gives information and guidance for teachers on how to set up and successfully run a Paired Reading programme. The aim of the project is to develop reading skills in schools in poorer areas in Brazil. The LA Portuguese translator we chose for this task is based in Brazil and worked as teacher, teacher trainer and publisher of educational resources. Sandra holds an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of London and is a qualified member of the UK-based Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

In February 2023, we completed the LA Spanish translation of Professor Thurston's project Classwide Reciprocal Peer Tutoring In Mathematics for teachers in Colombia and Chile. The translation was commissioned by Dr Maria Cockerill, Principal Research Fellow of Centre for Effective Education at QUB and International Director at CIIL UANDES in Chile. Our LA Spanish translator is based in Santiago, Chile. Andrea was awarded the Diploma in Translation, English to Spanish (Options: Business and Social Sciences) by the British Chartered Institute of Linguists Educational Trust (CIOLet) in 2011.

In March 2024, Dr Maria Cockerill tasked us with the translation of Peer tutoring manuals for teachers in Greece. The manuals are complemented by specific exercises and activities designed to improve the social, communication and tutoring skills of students working in pairs or small groups, i.e. skills which have an impact on the quality of peer tutoring and learning outcomes. Dr Cockerill has a special interest in finding cost-effective solutions which improve learning outcomes – with a focus on cooperative/peer learning. Chrysoula, our Spanish & English into Greek translator is based in Thessaloniki, Greece. She is a full member of the Panhellenic Association of Translators (PEM), the equivalent of CIOL & ITI in the UK, and BDÜ in Germany. In addition to being an experienced translator, she brought in her experience in devising and appropriately wording exercises and activities for younger children.

In April 2025 we translated the Paired Reading Manual written by Professor Allen Thurston and Dr Maria Cockerill into Czech.

53 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story by the end of primary school. In poor countries, the level is as high as 80 percent (source: World Bank Group, April 2021). To spotlight this crisis, the World Bank Group has introduced the concept of Learning Poverty, drawing on new data developed in coordination with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.   

Our Greek translator Chrysoula with her young English students (photo kindly provided by Chrysoula)

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Dr Cockerill’s and Prof. Thurston’s work contributes towards 6 resp. 9 SDGs.