Week 2- Professional 10/2/12

Week 2- Professional

“Education is a bridge to the future so, go girls go!”

This week we finally visited the college after not being able to the previous week because of student protests. The quote above is the welcoming sign to DALICE (David Livingstone College of Education), and although it makes it seem that the college is particularly for females, I was in fact quite shocked by the number of male students and would say that the ratio of males to females would probably be higher than it is in Stranmillis.

DALICE currently doesn’t offer a primary course but we went along to some classes anyway to see how teaching and learning is structured over here. Just like anywhere else we go in Livingstone, we were welcomed by everyone we met and got shown around the campus and taken to classes by some of the students.

One of the major differences that became apparent fairly quickly was the fact that the college is really lacking in resources. In Stranmillis we may complain when we are in a classroom which is missing a SMART board, but here they don’t even have enough desks and chairs to fill every room, which means that you have to go and get your desk and chair and bring it with you to lectures!

We attended a PE class which was structured quite similarly to those that we would have at home, with the students actually doing the lesson as though they were the class, while other students had the chance to teach (we even got to join in with some netball although I wasn’t properly dressed in my skirt and flip flops!). The other classes we attended were lectures so they were similar to Stranmillis in that there were a lot of students in a large room and the lecturer did the majority of the talking. The classes were quite interesting and the content wasn’t very different to what we hear about at home; one of the topics was motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic and how teachers could motivate their learners. It was really good to see these similarities since teaching is obviously the same job no matter what culture you are in, so it is important that trainees are getting similar training.

During the lectures the lecturer dictated notes to the students. There was little discussion or student input but perhaps within a smaller class this would have been a more popular teaching strategy. This idea of dictating notes evidently has an impact on how the students then work as teachers because the notion that it is important to have lots of notes written down is a big part of the primary classroom here in Zambia.

We have also now completed our first week of teaching in Zambezi Basic School. We had two days observation last week before we started teaching on Monday. The use of ability groups, questioning, lesson structure of introduction/main activity/ plenary, differentiation, staff meetings and staff workshops all made the school seem not that far from what I am used to with our schools in Northern Ireland. However, as time has gone on and we have gotten to observe and teach some of the older classes it has become apparent that there are also a lot of differences. This week has been quite a challenge; attempting to overcome some of these differences, and also having to admit that there are some things we won’t be able to change. In the coming weeks we will continue to try and make a positive impact on the children we are teaching, and I have no doubt that this experience is going to have a great impact on my professional development.

The challenges this week did get us down at some points and there were definitely times when we were a bit fed up. My lowest point was after a morning of school where two out of three of our lessons just didn’t go the way we hoped, then I made myself a very unappetising lunch, we waited ages for the bus to take us to the orphanage and then a thunderstorm came just as we were about to leave the orphanage again which made the road very, very slippy! Just as I walked right out of my flip flop which got caught in the mud and nearly fell right over with lots of locals laughing at me, a local man turned to me smiling, shrugged and said “It’s Africa!”. This simple statement made me remember to appreciate every moment that I have here because after all, it’s not every day I get to be studying in Africa!

Outside of our ‘work’ hours we also had lots more fun this week! Last weekend we went white water rafting which has to be one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. The scenery, adrenaline and great people made for an excellent day. Apart from some bruising we both survived and it will be difficult being in Livingstone for another ten weeks and not wanting to go again, but there is just too much to do and it all adds up in price! We are trying to make the most of our Saturdays as our ‘day off’ so this weekend we have planned to go to Livingstone Island and then spend the afternoon in the Royal Livingstone which is the 5* hotel. Also, Zambia beat Ghana in the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations to make the final, so this is an exciting weekend to be in Zambia with the final on Sunday!

Supporting Zambia in our new football shirt in the semi-final against Ghana!

I am really settled here now, and my biggest indication of this was that when I had a bad day I just couldn’t wait to get home to Jollyboys and into my hut. I was surprised that I didn’t just want to go home at that point, but I guess Africa is really starting to make its lasting impression on me. I am looking forward to what will no doubt be another interesting, and enjoyable week in Livingstone!