Week 6 – Professional

Within Northern Ireland the complexity of the teaching profession is widely recognised (GTCNI, 2011), however in Zambia the profession most definitely viewed in a different light. I have had the opportunity to witness this first hand, from none other than my class teacher, who stated: “Teaching is easy! When the children knock off, you knock off too – it is the perfect job for a mother”.  Upon hearing this statement, my stomach churned as I thought of the number of late nights I have spent preparing for School Based Work over the last two years and I am not a fully qualified teacher. Combining the negative view of the teaching profession with the unfavourable conditions, lack of training (primary school teachers must only hold a two year diploma) and the pay teachers receive, it is understandable that the children are not “supported by trained, enthusiastic and committed professionals” that are so widely seen in Northern Ireland (CCEA, 2007, p.9).

During my time teaching in Grade 6a I have observed the Northern Ireland Curriculum‘s (NIC) view that children should have “active involvement... in their own learning” taken to the extreme (CCEA, 2007, p.11). As on a number of occasions, the children have been called upon to actually take full Chitonga lessons -because the teacher cannot speak the language- and have been given the responsibility of writing full lessons on the black board while teachers meeting are taking place. While teaching in Northern Ireland, I really encourage the children to take control and lead their own learning, however I feel that this is a step to far as there is no teacher input - except when Jenna and I have stepped in to aid the children’s learning.

Hollycross Basic School's Women's day outfits.

Over the five weeks I have been in school, the amount of teaching time has been greatly reduced by public holidays – such as Women’s Day and the Elections -, teacher’s meetings – which take place during class time, more often than not during the middle of a lesson – and both teachers and pupils being late for school. It is possible that in one day, which should have seven lessons, that only two will be taught! After engaging in discussions with the Amy and Jade (who are placed in another school), along with a number of Norwegian students (lodging at Jollyboys) who have been teaching in a range of schools in Livingstone, it is apparent that our school in not alone in this custom. Personally, this is very shocking as in all my school experiences, optimising the time children spend learning has been at the forefront of the school ethos. However, I must keep reminding myself that I am in the African Education System which differs greatly in terms of values and culture than everything I am used to in Northern Ireland. 

The army of woman marching down the main street.

Each organisation wears matching outfits.

All of the organisation waiting on the entertainment.

  

One of the African dancers.

Jenna and I with the Head and Deputy Head of Hollycross.

As I have mentioned in previous blog entries, Jenna and I have been using both a table point system and a ‘Star of the Week’ reward. Along with this we have been further implementing Skinner’s theory of ‘Operant Conditioning’ through the use of positive praise and ‘Tactical ignoring’ to encourage good classroom behaviour therefore improving learning (Prichard, 2005, Scott-Bauman, Bloomfield, Roughton, 1997). Jenna and I have seen a positive change in the behaviour of our class and our efforts have not been in vain as our class teacher commented: “The children’s behaviour has drastically improved” . I only hope that our teacher has picked up a few of our strategies and will attempt to use them in place of her own authoritive punishment methods currently in use.

A birthday chart showing all of the children's birthdays in our class - This was a total hit with the children!

My class having a photoshoot after a 'Sports' lesson.

References

CCEA (2007) Northern Ireland Curriculum- Primary: Belfast, CCEA.

General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland. (2010) Teaching: The Reflective Profession, GTCNI, Belfast.

Prichard, A. (2005) Ways of learning, London, Fulton.

Scott-Bauman, A., Bloomfield, A. and Roughton, L. (1997) Becoming a Secondary School Teacher, London, Hodder & Stoughton.

Week 5 – Culture

Having been in Zambia for over 5 weeks, I thought I was coping extremely well with many of the cultural differences. However, after my experiences over the last seven of days, this statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Having reflected on the week’s events I feel that it is important that “we ... acknowledge differences; we ... greet differences, until difference makes no difference anymore”, as in a new culture we will be continually experiencing differences which should be embraced (Allen, ND).

The week began with what we thought would be a simple trip to the local immigration office to extend our visas, this was not the case! On arrival we were informed that we had been given the wrong visa and this resulted in a number of heated discussions and integrating questions from the Officers. As we began to feel overwhelmed by the whole situation, we phoned Patrick for help and he arrived within minutes. After what felt like a lifetime of waiting the in dark offices with groups of people who had illegally crossed the border, feeling that we ourselves had committed a crime. Patrick and the Directors of David Livingstone College kindly fixed the problem and we are now proud owners of a Zambian Study Permit.

On Wednesday, Jenna and I donned our ‘sporting attire’ to take part in the school sports day. After an hour of waiting, three teachers gathered over one thousand pupils to walk for fifteen minutes to the ‘sports grounds’. The walk itself was a culture shock, the children freely ran along main roads, over train tracks and down questionable short cuts.  It was clear that there was no concern for safety and there was no trace of a risk assessment. However, the biggest shock of the day was still to come. On arrival we discovered that the event was taking place within the local prison compound! Prisoners were mingling freely with the children and it was perfectly acceptable for children to enter the prison to get water. I was astonished by how completely normal this all seemed to be! I find this highly difficult to comprehend, mainly because I keep trying to imagine this situation happening in Northern Ireland!

The children getting ready to race amoung the prisoners!

The Elections were due to take place in Livingstone on Thursday, however after a number of riots, protests and a member of a political party being violently murdered the elections were proposed.  During a trip to town, we found ourselves locked inside the Post Office as the police had released tear gas to disperse a mass of protesters. Many of the tourists around us broke into a panic, but being Belfast girls it felt like a home away from home.

A convoy of cars supporting their Political Party

'Sweets' from the village.

The house our friend, Leonard, was born in.

The weekend came, bringing with it our first experiences of the ‘real Africa’! On Saturday we found ourselves being driven to Mukuni Village by our new local friends to be given a private tour, visiting their homes and meeting their families. The surroundings and the simple way of life could not be further away from our lives here in Livingstone, never mind in Northern Ireland. The difference in cultures is truly incredible and thoroughly humbling to witness first hand. 

Meeting a few of the village locals.

The primary school in the village, set up by The Butterfly

Men of the village making crafts to sell at the market.

To round off our week of culture, we experienced our first Zambian meal, cooked by locals. As the food was served, we washed our hands over a basin and began eating nshima, beef and beans with our hands. Surprisingly I took to this like ‘a duck to water’ as for me “food is our common ground, a universal experience” (Beard, 1960 cited in Clack et al, 2004, p. 2).

Our first African meal.

During a visit to a local hotel, close to a National Park, I had the amazing opportunity to witness a herd of Elephants stampede through the car park, across the road and into the bush. This was an incredible experience! Ask any of the girls I am here with, my family and friends, and they will tell you how excited I have been to see one elephant, never mind an entire herd!

References

A. Allen (ND) Cross Cultural and Diversity Quotes, available at http://www.culturecoach.biz/Quotes/diversityquotes.html (accessed on 03/03/13).

G. Clack, K.R. Davis and F. B. Ward (2004) Americans at the Table – Reflections on Food and Culture, U.S Society and Values, 9 (1).

Week Four – Personal Reflection

It is very hard to believe that I have been in Zambia for a month now, it seems like a life time ago I left my snow covered house to begin my life changing adventure in the sun. However, my time here flown in and it is scary to think I only have seven weeks left in Zambia.

From the moment I stepped off the plane, I felt a sense of home in Africa. With this feeling, the process of settling in took me no time at all. I was extremely shocked at how I adapted, as I am usually a ‘home bird’. However, after a conversation with an Aunt the reason for this became very clear, as she pointed out that I will ‘jump into every situation with two feet’. I have never thought this about myself before, but her words have stuck with me and I feel that this quality has enabled me to take full advantage of every situation I have been placed in so far. Coupled with this, I have embraced the motto of a dear friend – “Life is an Adventure!” – Which has presented me with some wonderful opportunities to date and I hope it will bring many more!

“One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure!”

(Feather, ND).

During the time I have spent here, I have visited an orphanage in the outskirts of Livingstone - Luasi home – a number of times. On our first visit, I was surprised to find myself very nervous and unsure about how I was going to react to the whole situation. However, I had no time to think; as soon as I walked in the door one of the children took my hand and led me to play football. With this, my nerves washed away and I thoroughly enjoyed playing games and talking to the children. Since then, I have been visiting once a week to provide help with reading and home work. These experiences have been heart warming as the children truly share a sense of family. During my short time here, I feel like I have gained more from the children than I have been able to give them, as their happiness overshadows the fact they are living with very little which is a completely humbling experience.

 

I have attempted to embrace all the African culture I can. However, when Pancake Tuesday arrived, it was our turn to express ourselves and our Northern Irish culture.

 

“Culture is like wealth; it makes us more ourselves, it enables us to express ourselves”                                                                                                                                                                                                        

(Hampton, ND (1834 – 1894)).

With the ingredients at the ready, we discovered that we had no measuring equipment. With this our inner teachers emerged and after a quick internet search we found ourselves measuring with tablespoons.  As we flipped our pancakes, we caused a lot of commotion in the kitchen and began happily explaining the tradition of Pancake Tuesday and sharing our delicious pancakes.

The pancakes were more appetising than they look!

In between our busy days at school, we try our best to fit in a few tourist activities. Last week we battled with the strong rapids of the Zambezi River as we boarded a raft to go White Water Rafting. This was an unforgettable experience for me, with breath taking views and a few dips in the water along the way. I enjoyed every single minute, which could not be said for the other girls, who ended up on the safety raft after the first flip. This weekend we had the pleasure of meeting over 50 adult crocodiles and holding a two month old baby crocodile. As I mentioned when visiting the falls, the lack of safety persuasions in Africa is alarming, the Crocodile farm was no different – only I found this even more disturbing!

Our raft mid flip! We are about to swallow half the Zambezi...

The girls pushing each other out of the way to get on the safety raft.

Taking it easy on the river, before the rapids.

 z

Holding a two month old crocodile!

This crocodile is 80 years old!

References

P. Hampton (No date) Philip Gilbert Hampton -English art critic (1834 – 1894), available at http://www.giga-usa.com/quotes/authors/philip_gilbert_hamerton_a001.htm (accessed on 26/03/12).

W. Feather (No date). William Feather quotes, available at http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1095813.William_Feather 2013 (accessed on 26/02/13).