Teaching. Oh where to begin. A school day here is the biggest emotional roller coaster I've ever experienced. There are certainly many problems with the education system here, which each present their own challenges, but on days when I'm struggling with those I'll have a class where a student or two will have an "ah-ha" moment and I feel like I actually taught them something.
Some of the issues I've encountered: the main one I think is time. According to the Ministry of Education school should have started on September 19th. During that week we had maybe 10 students show up. The next week we had enough to fill some classrooms, but we didn't have a time-table so the school day was completely random. That was probably fine for most of the Sierra Leoneans but I work much better with some structure. It was at least 3 weeks after the official start of school that we had a decent amount of students and actually got our time-table. Then, once school has actually started we have random days cancelled for cleaning (students come with their farming tools and clean the campus) or meetings. That really throws me off kilter because then the classes I teach that day get behind. For example, my 302 class I only see on Mondays but the last 2 Mondays we haven't had school so they are now behind my 301 class (both classes are JSS3, equivalent to 8th grade, they are split in to 2 streams: 301 and 302). I think it would go a long way towards teaching efficiently if we actually started school on time with a time-table prepared.
Another issue that creates challenges for me is students being promoted to the next grade when they should be repeating. For example, I was helping a JSS2 student the other day when after about 30 seconds I realized she couldn't read. I don't know how she got out of primary school, but now I'm faced with the task of teaching science to an illiterate 7th grader. Not fun. Also, it is possible for students to be promoted to the next grade if they pass in enough subjects but not necessarily all of them. So it is possible for me to be teaching Biology to a student who has failed science for the last 3 years. (Side note: here the students stay in the classroom and the teacher moves around so every class moves along together, there's no chance to repeat just one class if you fail it; it's all or nothing.) They are certainly not at the level I want to teach and I can't go all the way back 3 years in science because the rest of the class actually passed and is ready to move on. Sigh. One great example is math--almost no students pass math classes, but instead of a system where they have to retake a class until they pass they just get thrown in to the next level because they did well enough in their other subjects.
Speaking of math, about a month ago we got our BECE results. (The BECE is the exam they take after JSS, Junior Secondary School, in order to go to SSS, Senior Secondary School--it's like the SAT for high school.) Out of 207 students who took the exam, 0 passed the math section. Each student take the BECE in 8 subjects; 4 of the subjects are mandatory: English, Math, Integrated Science, and Social Studies. The other 4 the student gets to choose their subject from Agricultural Science, Business, Electronics, Christian Religious Knowledge (C.R.K.), Religious Moral Education (R.M.E.), Creative Practical Arts (C.P.A.), Home Economics, Physical Health Education (P.H.E.) and others I forgot. To go on to SSS a student has to pass in 5 subjects (a pass is any score from 1-6, and the only score for a fail is a 7). Of the 207 test takers only 11 got enough passes for SSS. Not exactly stellar results.
As far as actual teaching goes in the classroom a normal day for me consists of writing notes on the chalkboard, talking about them, then waiting while the students copy the notes. I've been told by numerous people, both students and people in the community, that I still talk too fast. I blame America for teaching me to talk at warp speed. The materials I have at my disposal are quite numerous: chalk and a chalkboard. The materials the students possess are: notebook and pens (although sometimes they don't have pens and have to share). I keep thinking of activities or assignments that could be fun but then have to remind myself we don't have microscopes and most students don't have textbooks. Fortunately my school has a library with some books; not enough books to hand out to each student, but enough that I was able to do an activity in class. I had them read some pages that corresponded to my notes/lectures then asked them to answer the questions at the end of the chapter. I don't think the students have much of a chance to read or answer questions that way so it was a good experience for them. It was also a good learning experience for me--I realized that just teaching these kids how to take a test (read a question and pull out the appropriate information) could go a long way in improving their test scores. So despite all the barriers there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I also find it rather amusing the way the students feel compelled to take notes in a certain way. Some things need to be in red ink, some in blue, some in pencil and God forbid you ever draw a picture on the board because that definitely has to be in pencil and only 5 students brought a pencil to class. Frantic borrowing of pencils ensues, and there goes 20 minutes of class. All tables and charts must be drawn with a ruler, or at least a straight edge. Thinking back to the notes I took in middle school it makes me feel sloppy.
Mom has mentioned a couple times that some people have expressed an interest in sending school materials to me. I love the idea and I'm definitely thinking about what would be most useful/effective. When I come up with any good ideas I will be sure to spread the word.
My other cool cultural experience recently was going with my neighbor to harvest rice. I realized a few weeks ago that with the amount of rice I eat I have an appalling lack of knowledge about the plant--namely how it's harvested. So when Mary--my friend/house helper--mentioned she was going to her farm to harvest rice I jumped on the opportunity and invited myself along. For some reason Sierra Leoneans think white women can't work or do physical activity, so it was very hard to convince Mary to actually let me help with the harvest instead of just sitting in the shade all day. I didn't hike 3 miles into the bush to sit on my butt all day! However, I eventually got to help and earned my rice education. In short: the top of the rice stalk holds the grains (it's a lot like wheat) and to harvest it I simply cut off the stalk 4-5 inches below the grain. I gathered as much as I could in one hand, until I had a nice little bouquet of rice stalks, then Mary would tie them into small bundles. I'd suggest you go try it in the states, but we have machines that do all that work.
Now for your monthly list of Erica's cultural exchanges. This one is titled "Things I thought I'd never get used to, but did":
-The crispy feeling of clothes not dried in a machine. At first I hated my clothes being crispy (especially my socks) after taking them out of the sun but now I hardly notice it.
-Eating raw peanuts: sounds weird, and it was a little weird at first, but now I love it.
-Eating raw rice: no way around it, this just is plain ol' weird. First time I saw someone take a handful of raw rice and pop it in their mouth I didn't understand the appeal. Sometimes they soak the rice in some water and add sugar, sometimes they pound the rice into little pieces, and sometimes they just plain eat it. At first I thought this was very strange, but, call me an African, now I quite enjoy it.
-Spiders: the big ones still cause me the jump in shock but the little ones now seem like childs play. When I come back home I don't think any insect will be able to scare me (knock on wood).
Miss you all loads!!!
Some of the issues I've encountered: the main one I think is time. According to the Ministry of Education school should have started on September 19th. During that week we had maybe 10 students show up. The next week we had enough to fill some classrooms, but we didn't have a time-table so the school day was completely random. That was probably fine for most of the Sierra Leoneans but I work much better with some structure. It was at least 3 weeks after the official start of school that we had a decent amount of students and actually got our time-table. Then, once school has actually started we have random days cancelled for cleaning (students come with their farming tools and clean the campus) or meetings. That really throws me off kilter because then the classes I teach that day get behind. For example, my 302 class I only see on Mondays but the last 2 Mondays we haven't had school so they are now behind my 301 class (both classes are JSS3, equivalent to 8th grade, they are split in to 2 streams: 301 and 302). I think it would go a long way towards teaching efficiently if we actually started school on time with a time-table prepared.
Another issue that creates challenges for me is students being promoted to the next grade when they should be repeating. For example, I was helping a JSS2 student the other day when after about 30 seconds I realized she couldn't read. I don't know how she got out of primary school, but now I'm faced with the task of teaching science to an illiterate 7th grader. Not fun. Also, it is possible for students to be promoted to the next grade if they pass in enough subjects but not necessarily all of them. So it is possible for me to be teaching Biology to a student who has failed science for the last 3 years. (Side note: here the students stay in the classroom and the teacher moves around so every class moves along together, there's no chance to repeat just one class if you fail it; it's all or nothing.) They are certainly not at the level I want to teach and I can't go all the way back 3 years in science because the rest of the class actually passed and is ready to move on. Sigh. One great example is math--almost no students pass math classes, but instead of a system where they have to retake a class until they pass they just get thrown in to the next level because they did well enough in their other subjects.
Speaking of math, about a month ago we got our BECE results. (The BECE is the exam they take after JSS, Junior Secondary School, in order to go to SSS, Senior Secondary School--it's like the SAT for high school.) Out of 207 students who took the exam, 0 passed the math section. Each student take the BECE in 8 subjects; 4 of the subjects are mandatory: English, Math, Integrated Science, and Social Studies. The other 4 the student gets to choose their subject from Agricultural Science, Business, Electronics, Christian Religious Knowledge (C.R.K.), Religious Moral Education (R.M.E.), Creative Practical Arts (C.P.A.), Home Economics, Physical Health Education (P.H.E.) and others I forgot. To go on to SSS a student has to pass in 5 subjects (a pass is any score from 1-6, and the only score for a fail is a 7). Of the 207 test takers only 11 got enough passes for SSS. Not exactly stellar results.
As far as actual teaching goes in the classroom a normal day for me consists of writing notes on the chalkboard, talking about them, then waiting while the students copy the notes. I've been told by numerous people, both students and people in the community, that I still talk too fast. I blame America for teaching me to talk at warp speed. The materials I have at my disposal are quite numerous: chalk and a chalkboard. The materials the students possess are: notebook and pens (although sometimes they don't have pens and have to share). I keep thinking of activities or assignments that could be fun but then have to remind myself we don't have microscopes and most students don't have textbooks. Fortunately my school has a library with some books; not enough books to hand out to each student, but enough that I was able to do an activity in class. I had them read some pages that corresponded to my notes/lectures then asked them to answer the questions at the end of the chapter. I don't think the students have much of a chance to read or answer questions that way so it was a good experience for them. It was also a good learning experience for me--I realized that just teaching these kids how to take a test (read a question and pull out the appropriate information) could go a long way in improving their test scores. So despite all the barriers there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I also find it rather amusing the way the students feel compelled to take notes in a certain way. Some things need to be in red ink, some in blue, some in pencil and God forbid you ever draw a picture on the board because that definitely has to be in pencil and only 5 students brought a pencil to class. Frantic borrowing of pencils ensues, and there goes 20 minutes of class. All tables and charts must be drawn with a ruler, or at least a straight edge. Thinking back to the notes I took in middle school it makes me feel sloppy.
Mom has mentioned a couple times that some people have expressed an interest in sending school materials to me. I love the idea and I'm definitely thinking about what would be most useful/effective. When I come up with any good ideas I will be sure to spread the word.
My other cool cultural experience recently was going with my neighbor to harvest rice. I realized a few weeks ago that with the amount of rice I eat I have an appalling lack of knowledge about the plant--namely how it's harvested. So when Mary--my friend/house helper--mentioned she was going to her farm to harvest rice I jumped on the opportunity and invited myself along. For some reason Sierra Leoneans think white women can't work or do physical activity, so it was very hard to convince Mary to actually let me help with the harvest instead of just sitting in the shade all day. I didn't hike 3 miles into the bush to sit on my butt all day! However, I eventually got to help and earned my rice education. In short: the top of the rice stalk holds the grains (it's a lot like wheat) and to harvest it I simply cut off the stalk 4-5 inches below the grain. I gathered as much as I could in one hand, until I had a nice little bouquet of rice stalks, then Mary would tie them into small bundles. I'd suggest you go try it in the states, but we have machines that do all that work.
Now for your monthly list of Erica's cultural exchanges. This one is titled "Things I thought I'd never get used to, but did":
-The crispy feeling of clothes not dried in a machine. At first I hated my clothes being crispy (especially my socks) after taking them out of the sun but now I hardly notice it.
-Eating raw peanuts: sounds weird, and it was a little weird at first, but now I love it.
-Eating raw rice: no way around it, this just is plain ol' weird. First time I saw someone take a handful of raw rice and pop it in their mouth I didn't understand the appeal. Sometimes they soak the rice in some water and add sugar, sometimes they pound the rice into little pieces, and sometimes they just plain eat it. At first I thought this was very strange, but, call me an African, now I quite enjoy it.
-Spiders: the big ones still cause me the jump in shock but the little ones now seem like childs play. When I come back home I don't think any insect will be able to scare me (knock on wood).
Miss you all loads!!!
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