By: Dr. Kirsty Newman
In many classrooms across low- and middle-income countries, rote learning is the standard. Rows of children recite in unison, call-and-response style—often with little engagement, little understanding, and even less joy. This common reality has led some to view structured pedagogy—with its scripted or semi-scripted lesson plans—as a potential reinforcement of rote instruction rather than a solution to it. Yet it is precisely this context that makes structured pedagogy so promising: when implemented well, it can help shift classrooms away from choral recitation and toward meaningful, joyful learning.
At Luminos, we are relentless in our pursuit of delivering joyful learning for every child. We do this not only because it is right—indeed every child deserves to thrive in safe and happy learning environments—but also because joy and learning are deeply connected.
This mutually reinforcing connection is not just intuitive—it’s backed by research. Children learn best when teaching is engaging as demonstrated by the fascinating results emerging from the LEGO Engage tool. At the same time, the Luminos program demonstrates that when children master critical foundational skills and discover they can learn, it sparks joy and strengthens their self-belief.
A common approach in foundational learning programs is structured pedagogy, which equips teachers with lesson plans and materials that guide them on what to teach and how to teach it. Although it is designed to support effective instruction, it is often criticized as replicating the very rote learning it seeks to improve. This raises an important question we hear often: Is structured pedagogy compatible with joyful learning?
The honest answer is: it depends.
In a recent paper, Ursula Hoadley of the University of Cape Town examined instructional practices of teachers in large-scale structured pedagogy programs in Uganda and Liberia. In both intervention and control classrooms, teachers continued to rely on “highly repetitive chorused readings of words, sentences and short text.” Structured pedagogy had not introduced rote learning. But it did fail to dislodge it.
This points to a critical insight: the mere presence of lesson scripts is not enough. In contexts where teachers have only ever experienced rote instruction themselves, old habits die hard. Unless paired with strong implementation and a focus on joyful and engaging delivery, structured pedagogy risks becoming just another vehicle for rote delivery.
Excerpt from the Luminos Fund’s teacher guide in The Gambia demonstrating a structured lesson plan in numeracy:
At Luminos, we have learned that shifting away from this entrenched instructional practice is arguably the greatest—and most important—challenge of our work. That’s why our approach to structured pedagogy goes far beyond lesson plans. We combine clear teacher guides and teaching materials with hands-on training that gives teachers repeated opportunities to practice engaging, interactive instructional approaches. This is reinforced by robust monitoring of both teaching practices and student learning outcomes, as well as ongoing coaching. When we see a teacher slipping back into familiar, less effective routines, we gently redirect them.
This approach has led to transformative impact across our programs, and within government schools in Ethiopia and Liberia.
According to an evaluation conducted by IDinsight, which followed students one year after completing the Luminos program in Liberia, Luminos graduates fared much better than their peers in both socio-emotional and academic skills. Government teachers reported that Luminos graduates were more confident, motivated, and better readers than their classmates who had not participated in the program.
Figure 1: Teachers’ perceptions of Luminos graduates compared to children who had completed two to three years of mainstream education from IDinsight Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluation of the Luminos Liberia program.
These findings reflect a broader truth about Luminos’ approach: foundational learning and socio-emotional development are not at odds—they reinforce one another. In fact, the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) portion of the evaluation demonstrated that Luminos students made some of the greatest progress in literacy and numeracy of any program ever evaluated, demonstrating that strong foundational learning can be achieved alongside improvements in children’s confidence, engagement, and joy. When students master key skills and see themselves as capable learners, it builds both joy and self-belief.
Additionally, in focus group interviews, government teachers who participated in our structured pedagogy pilot program in Ethiopia emphasized that the combination of lesson plans, training, and coaching is very practical for real classroom settings—a radical contrast to the highly theoretical training they received in teacher colleges. They also emphasized that because core foundational skills are clearly embedded in the lesson plans, they are able to devote more time to building rapport with students and nurturing socio-emotional skills. These teacher perceptions are supported by multiple rigorous, independent evaluations of learning outcomes for students enrolled in Luminos programs.
So yes—our approach, which incorporates structured pedagogy, does lead to joyful learning. But joyful learning is by no means guaranteed in every structured pedagogy program. In fact, I caution against the notion that any single method—whether it is structured pedagogy, teaching at the right level, or another approach—can guarantee joyful learning. While structured pedagogy can be used to enable joyful learning, as noted in the Hoadley study, there are also examples where this has not been the case.
In short, there can be ‘good’ structured pedagogy and there can be ‘bad’ structured pedagogy. As with anything in classroom practice, what matters most is how it’s done.
Our approach to foundational learning—the Luminos Method—is a comprehensive, evidence-based model designed to make learning both joyful and effective. It combines deep community engagement, activity-based learning, structured lesson plans, and hands-on training and coaching. We continually refine this approach using real-time data to maximize impact. It can serve as a strong foundation for those seeking to implement structured pedagogy effectively.
But beyond adopting a particular model, we urge education leaders to focus on the outputs of education programs just as much as the inputs. Are children learning? Are they happy and safe as they do so?
As the old adage goes, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. A program can follow a beautiful recipe—but if the end result fails to bring real learning outcomes in a joyful learning environment, then something has gone wrong.
Dr. Kirsty Newman is the Vice President of Programs at the Luminos Fund where she oversees the global programs team to support joyful, foundational learning for children at the margins. Before joining Luminos, Kirsty held senior leadership roles in various bilateral, multi-lateral, and non-governmental development organizations. Kirsty trained initially as a scientist (she has a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology) and has worked throughout her career to enable local research and evidence networks to support decision-making.
