International Experience - Uganda 2013: Week 4 - Professional Blog

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).