I really wish everyone could see through my eyes. The
experiences and things I saw today (Wednesday) remind me of why I love bring part of the
educational process. I have the privilege of supervising school practice for six
students. Our student teachers have to complete school practice twice during
their university time, once during year two and one during year three. Each
school practice time last 8 weeks. During the 8 weeks, student teachers are
observed six times. I am overjoyed and excited that I get to be a part of this
process as a supervisor. It allows me to get out into public and private
schools and see our students in action.
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| This is the form I am required to use to grade students. |
Each school has a way of greeting visitors and security
procedures. Some have huge gates with guards and some just have an office you
walk into and sign-in to the visitor’s log. My supervision began on Wednesday
with Winnie at a small, Catholic private school. The school is very young, only
about four years old and is associated with a church next to it. The tuition is
about Shs 400,000 (less than $200) per term. I took a boda to go to her school, but it
was so close to campus that I could have walked. The school was very welcoming
with a small office. Winnie came and picked me up and took me to her class. As
soon as I arrived, the students greeted me in unison. Winnie taught senior 2
with about 40 students. This was Winnie’s first teaching experience and she was
nervous, but prepared well. The lesson covered two hours. I was surprised at
the amount of knowledge the students had and how quiet they were during the
lesson. After the lesson, we conferenced and then Winnie walked me back to the
road.
Today (Thursday) I began with an observation at another small, private,
Christian school with about 400 students. Their tuition is about Shs
350,000-400,000. I took a boda, but he took me to the wrong school. There is
Naminyango Secondary School and Naminyango High School. So, I had to take
another boda to Racheal’s school. It seemed a long way, but I arrived at the
right school and Racheal greeted me. Rachel was teaching senior 2 and taught a
lesson on vocabulary using a text. The texts here are so, so old. All of the
students have these notebooks that they keep their class notes from the
blackboard.
Next, I headed to Seeta High School, again via boda. On my
way, I passed many animals, screaming kids, and many stares. I often tell
people here I feel like an alien because people stare and shout “muzungu” but I
guess I have gotten used to it. This is a HUGE school and there are around 2500 students. This is a private, Christian school started by a member of parliament and the tuition is Shs 800,000 ($320). My student, Gladys, had over 90 students in her class. It was
a really large, large class. I don’t really know how she managed. The students
were very inquisitive and excited for my presence. Gladys used a text from 1985,
but she helped students to try to understand the context about archaeology. As
far as I could tell, there were three students per book.
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| This is the tradition food at schools (beans and posho) |
After Gladys' school, I headed to Seeeta Hill College, which was just up the hill from Seeta High. This school has around 400 students and the tuition is ranges from Shs 600,000-900,000 ($240-360). Aron is a third year student and will graduate in November. He is an excellent teacher and will possibly already have a job by the time her graduates. His school is small and he had 27 students in his class.
Today (Friday) I set off for Mukono Parents' High School to see a second year student. This is a private school of about 800 students with a tuition of about Shs 800,000 ($320) per term. Remember there are three terms, so this is almost $1000 a year PER CHILD! Needless to say, most money goes towards education. Asha is from Tanzania and I visited her in Dar es Salaam during the winter holiday. She is an excellent students and will be an awesome teacher. She works hard and thinks carefully about her lesson plans. I am so proud to supervisor her!
I am also proud to say I can ride a boda sideways without falling off like the lady in the picture! So excited about that!
I look forward to the next six weeks that I have to observe our students in action. They are a joy to work with and I am so thankful for this experience.
Things I have learned so far:
Things I have learned so far:
- Very few resources are available (paper, pens, pencils)
- Our student teachers don’t like students to use dictionaries
- There is a blackboard in every classroom
- Students sit very close and are very quiet
- Students are very quiet when answering questions, but teachers encourage them to speak up
- Teachers only have to be in the classes when they give lessons
- Teachers like quiet classrooms
- Bugs, wasps, noise, etc. don’t phase students
