First Week Reflections

Alright, I am done with my first full week of observations of schools. I will observe again next week, and then next Thursday will be our first training session. My plan is to have a one hour training session each Thursday. This first one will just focus on introductions and laying out the vision for the program that I have designed. I will get into the specifics of the program later, but basically I plan to develop the teacher's leadership skills so that those skills can be applied in the classroom to make academic gains. Developing leadership skills will also help in whatever life trajectories the teachers take. I will also be teaching best educational practices after we have set up a foundation of educational leadership. There is a lot to do, but I will describe the program more later.

As far as first week observations here are my initial impressions. I can handle all the children in one classroom because there are no other options. Yes, Patrick there is only one teacher in that class with 60 students. That was the significance of the shirt. There is a lot of wasted time. Just like in America, the education system still follows the culture, but here that is evident in the wasted time. Teachers sit and grade student work while the class just sits there. The work is mainly copying some activity off of the board. We are mostly working with the students having no books and the teachers only having one student book. Teaching is nonexistent in that in most classes there are no questions asked of the students or by the students. Reading done by the students is almost nonexistent in the schools. The student's job is basically just to sit there and copy off of the board while listening to the teacher. Most of the copying exercises don't even accomplish an objective. I apologize for the random thoughts, but hopefully that paints a better picture of education in this situation. I also apologize for the bleak picture. It is not all hopeless. The best teacher I saw runs a school by himself. It is he and 250 children. He has different classes come at different times during the day. He was actually asking the students questions and allowing them to think. I am really encouraged by him also because he wants to be the best teacher he can be and wants to provide a high quality education for the children. Peace until next time!