Week 4 - Professional Blog - 24/02/13

This week Joanna and I started School Based Work (SBW) in Uganda. We have both been placed in Buganda Road Primary School which is approximately a 20 minute walk from Nana Hostels.

The main entrance to Buganda Road Primary School.

On arrival we were introduced to the Head Teacher, the two Deputy Head Teachers and the Head of Academics. They were delighted to hear that we were from Northern Ireland as we had a ‘thematic’ curriculum and they wanted to hear all about the themes and topics we had taught on previous placements. This was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. I didn’t think they would even understand the concept of ‘thematic’ teaching never mind actually implement it in their classrooms. The Ugandan Curriculum (2007, p.1) suggests that, “all efforts should lead towards the use of the thematic curriculum for the effective acquisition of literacy, numeracy and other skills needed for lifelong learning.”

I was expecting to come into a school where the teachers didn’t care, didn’t plan any lessons and just got up and taught from a textbook in a ‘rote’ learning style. However this couldn’t be further from the truth. I have been shown lesson plans and schemes of work which are laid out almost identically to how teachers would in Northern Ireland. They state the learning intentions, resources being used, skills being developed and they include many references to the curriculum.

The curriculum itself is very similar to the Northern Ireland Curriculum (NIC). The introduction includes advice on interactive approaches to teaching and learning, advice on planning for progression and information on additional skills which should be developed (just like the Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities stated in the NIC). 

The Ugandan version of 'Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities'.

 However, instead of simply outlining the concepts that need to be covered in each Area of Learning, within each Key Stage, each year group has a copy of the curriculum that is specific to their year. It includes the topics and themes to be taught throughout the year and is broken down into weeks highlighting what concepts within each subject area should be taught for each week of the school year.

Term 1 Theme: Our School and Neighbourhood.

 I have been placed in Primary 2. There are four Primary 2 classes which are streamed according to their academic ability. Each child’s academic ability is tested at the end of each year or if new to the school, during the registration process. They are then placed in a class according to their result. The Head of Primary 2, Teacher Alice, has requested that I teach each of the P2 classes for one week each and then finish with a day in each class for my final week. This week I have been in P2D which is the lowest ability class and has 92 children.

P2D (It was hard to fit them all in!)

 Throughout the week I have been getting accustomed to the amount of children in my class, the lack of resources and the language barrier which all make teaching a little bit more difficult. Although the curriculum is very similar, the teaching style and classroom management techniques that I have observed are very different from those that I would employ in the classroom. This week I have started to introduce teaching strategies that I use in Northern Ireland and I hope to develop this across the next four weeks as I believe that, “children learn best when learning is interactive, practical and enjoyable” (NIC, 2007, p.9). 

P2D working hard.

Teaching adding sets.

 References:

CCEA (2007) The Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary, Belfast, CCEA.

The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) (2007) The National Curriculum for Uganda, Kampala, NCDC.

Week 3 - Personal Blog - 16/02/13

“One of the delights in life is eating with friends “ (Colwin, 2000)

This week we met one of our friends, Hannah, who has just arrived in Uganda to volunteer with Dwelling Places (the charity we were in Uganda with in the summer). After disrupting the rest of the diners by some screaming and hugging, we enjoyed a lovely Indian meal with Hannah, Marsali (the nurse from Dwelling Places) and the new teaching volunteer, Esther. It was great to catch up with Hannah and meet Esther. We were able to give them advice on living in Uganda; things to do and things to watch out for. Who would have thought 3 weeks ago that we would be giving tips on living in Uganda?

Joanna and I having lunch with Charles.

We then returned to Dwelling Places with Hannah. This almost felt like returning home, the Uganda that Joanna and I first fell in love with, the place where the roads were extremely orange and dusty and where everyone knew us. Firstly, we went for lunch with our Ugandan friend Charles.

Joanna and I outside Dwelling Places Kids' Home.

Then we visited the staff and kids in the home. The staff all greeted us with hugs and kisses but seeing the kids run towards us with their big smiles shouting, ‘Auntie Karen, Auntie Joanna, you are back’ was a priceless moment. We were back with our Ugandan family.

Little Sabin wouldn't even smile for us in the Summer. Now he is full of giggles!

“Family is not just about blood relations or who you share chromosomes with, but something wider and bigger” (Dessen, 2008)

Some of the children at Dwelling Places.

Expert Pancake Flipper!

Later that (Tuesday) night we made pancakes with everyone, our old, new, Ugandan and British friends; it was Pancake Tuesday after all! This was a great chance to introduce our Ugandan friends to a proper pancake, not those banana fried pancakes that they eat here.

Although we still believe that our pancakes are much better than the Ugandan equivalent, we have come accustomed to the Ugandan food. This week, one of our friends, Olive, from Nana Hostels, made us a typical Ugandan meal, rice and soup. It was really tasty and we were so thankful for the vegetables in the soup. Since arriving in Uganda, we have been craving vegetables in this carbohydrate filled world so the carrots, tomatoes and courgettes in the soup were just delightful. We promised to return the favour by cooking Olive, and our other friends, Nellie and Samantha, a typical Irish meal. Although this could be a bit tricky with only one hob!

Joanna, Olive and I.

As “food is a central activity of mankind and one of the most significant trademarks of culture” (Kurlansky, 2009), this week we have been really adventurous and tried lots of Ugandan food such as chapatti (thick tortillas), Ugandan sausages (strangely pink and spicy) and Samosa (similar to a spring roll but triangular and filled with peas). Food is very cheap here; even the high-priced places are cheap compared to home. Dinners from our local restaurant range from approximately 40p to £2.00 each and approximately £5 each from the expensive places.

James and I enjoying a Samosa.

The Chapatti Man

We are certainly getting used to the Ugandan food but what I wouldn’t give for my Mum’s Irish stew and Pavlova….

References:

Colwin, L. (2000) Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, London, HarperCollins.

Dessen, S. (2008) Lock and Key, North Carolina, Viking Children’s Books.

Kurlansky, M. (2009) The Food of a Younger Land, New York, Riverhead Books.

Week 2 - Cultural Blog - 09/02/13

Two weeks has now been and gone and we are certainly getting into the way of Ugandan life. This week we having been working very closely with a charity based in Uganda called ‘Tomorrow’s Heroes’. It is run by a girl called Kate who is originally from Northern Ireland. The charity works with local street kids and children from the nearby slum and aims to help give them an education and a home. With this charity, Joanna and I have both taught in the local street kids’ school and helped out on Sunday afternoons at the kids’ club. Through this work we have met many Ugandan adults and children who have all helped us to gain a better understanding of Ugandan life and its culture.

David, one of the street kids at the Sunday Program.

One of the Ugandan Volunteers at the charity offered to bring us around the local slums to see where the boys lived and the homes they came from. When I was previously in Ugandan I had visited two of the slums in Kampala so I felt like I knew what to expect when entering. As anticipated, a drunken man peeing at the side of the slum greeted us to ‘Nakylabye’ slum. The distinctive smell brought back all the memories from the summer and reality set in about what I was going to see again. This time I wasn’t as shocked by the small shacks as homes, holes in the ground for toilets or sewage everywhere. This time I could see beyond the exterior of the slum and see the people there all laughing and chatting. Although to me, a slum is one of the worst places a person could live, to them it was home and you could feel that it was a community in itself. They weren’t just neighbours; they were more like a big family. Howard (1978, p.83) emphasizes the importance of family as she states, ‘Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe or call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.’

One of the houses in the slum.

Men at work in the slum.

We then continued into ‘Kisenyi’ slum. Here I couldn’t appreciate the sense of community as I was too shocked by the amount of children and adults who were drunk or high. Children as young as 3 or 4 were slumped up against walls, eyes rolling in their heads, not having a clue about what was going on around them. If that wasn’t bad enough, we witnessed the children taking the drugs and they even offered them to us. After visiting this slum I couldn’t help but think that these children’s lives are already ruined and their dignity lost. However, ‘Every life deserves a certain amount of dignity, no matter how poor or damaged the shell that carries it.’ Bragg (2010, p.76).

Michael, one of the many hungry, drugged boys from the slum.

Getting children off the streets, off drugs and into school is a huge issue for Uganda and has been for many years. Although some significant progress has been made by the work of all the charities in Uganda, it still seems that the slum or street lifestyle is a vicious circle, which may never be broken.  Although Northern Ireland and Uganda may seem worlds apart and that the issues within each country cannot be compared, the difficultly concerned with resolving their issues is exactly the same.

References:

Bragg, R. (2010) All over but the shoutin’, New York, Knopf Doubleday Publishing.

Howard, J. (1978) Families, London, Transaction Publishers.

Week 1 - Personal Blog - 02/02/13

Just over a week has passed and in some ways it has flown in but yet feels like the longest week of my life. After having been in Uganda in the summer, Joanna and I both felt like we knew what to expect. However, this comfortable feeling soon evaporated when we actually arrived on Ugandan soil.

‘Moving away from the comfort zone means we need to adapt to something new, face challenges and cope.’ (Borbye and Riggs, 2010, p.56)

We arrived into Entebbe Airport on time at 12.40pm. After going through security, visa, baggage reclaim and currency exchange, which felt like a lifetime, we were delighted to see Mr James Jaala (Makerere University Tutor) holding a sign saying ‘Joanna Armstrong and Karen Waddell’. A sense of relief came over me as I think at the back of my mind I feared that no one would turn up to pick us up but there he was smiling away.

James then brought us to Nana Hostels, which is going to be our home for the next 3 months. We went in through the main door to be greeted by the lovely Sedrax.  Sedrax and James both offered to carry our suitcases to the room which were extremely thankful for as I don’t think Joanna or I could manage to carry a 30kg suitcase up to the seventh floor. We then arrived at our room, M90, the last room on the 7^th floor. We open the door to a dark, depressing, small room, with no bed sheets or mosquito nets.  It was then that it hit Joanna and me that we were here for 12 weeks, not just a two-week holiday. Fortunately, Sedrax brought us to the supermarket to buy bed sheets and other essentials. 

Our bedroom with lovely new pink sheets.

Later that afternoon, we looked out of our balcony and realised that we could see the start of a slum only a few 100 metres away from us. For me this really put things into perspective and reminded me to ‘reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many’ (Charles Dickens, 1870) as a few hours ago we were complaining about having a dark, depressing room while there is probably a family of 8 living in a small wooden shack just a short distance away.

The view of the slum from our balcony.

Throughout the week we have been trying to adjust to the Ugandan lifestyle. For me, it has been very strange coming from Stranmillis where all the students are like one big family to not knowing anyone.  That is not to say that the people aren’t friendly, but most of the time the conversation doesn’t go past ‘hello, how are you?’ I have also found it strange adjusting to the relaxed, unorganised way of life where days have nothing planned. In some ways this free time has given me too much time to think about home but on the other hand, it has given me a sense of freedom where we can just explore our area without feeling rushed or on a timescale. I am now hoping that this relaxed feeling will last for the rest of the trip.

References:

Borbye, L. Riggs, H.E. (2010) Out of the comfort zone: New ways to Teach, Learn and Assess, New York, Morgan and Claypool Publishers.

Charles Dickens (1870) Speeches, Letters and Sayings, England, Routledge.