From March 5th through March 17th I will be traveling to Ghana as a fellow with Teachers for Global Classrooms, a program sponsored by IREX and the Department of State. As part of a year long effort to promote globalizing my chemistry/physics curriculum, I will spend time in Ghana public schools learning ways that American science student and Ghanian students can work together to promote global understanding.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Today was my first opportunity to attend my host school in Ghana. For the next week I will be spending time in the classrooms of The Accra Girl's Secondary School. It is a school of about 1800 students in grades 9-12. Over half of the students actually board at the school which is very common in Ghana. Next year will actually be the last year that the school will hold seniors because the state is transitioning to a 3 year secondary school model in the near future. Below you will see me being introduced to the student body as the presented me with a ceremonial welcome garment. Later tonight I will present my own garments (Packers hats) to my host teachers.
The school day always starts with an assembly. An interesting difference is that there is no real separation between church and state so the school day starts with a prayer and the singing of the school song (yes this is a public school).
Welcome to morning assembly.
Here is a video of a typical physics class at the school. Notice that there are easily more than 50 students in the class.
I had a chance to talk with the school lunch ladies today. The food is definitely fresh and local but I think they might be pretty jealous of Chef Brian.
Here is the school media center. It is pretty clear that all of the books have been donated either from the US or the UK. They had more books in the back but no room to put anything and no real organization system. A cool project might be to help them organize this part of their school as they need some help.
Wow this is so cool that you get to experiance this! Everything is so different there compared to here it seems, but it must be a moving and eye opening experiance. Have a great rest of your trip!
Without a doubt, it makes you really appreciate what we have both as teachers and students in the US. At the same time, I am amazed at what the educational system can accomplish with so little.
This trip sounds like an awesome experience! I have a couple of questions: You mentioned that the day starts out with an assembly, and that there are more than 50 kids per class--but how is the rest of the day structured? Do kids change classes like we do, or do the teachers change & kids stay in the same classroom, like Brazil? How long are typical classes, how many classes do kids usually have, and what types of classes are common? (I guess that was more than a few questions...)
Hope you're having a great time (it seems like you are)!
So more or less the kids change classes. 50 students to a class is actually on the smaller side. I have seen one class here that is over 70 students. The girls at this school have 40 minutes blocks. The more or less take 8 blocks a day with several free to work on assigned class work. The teachers move around. I think this is primarily because it would be hard to move around with so many students. One student in each room is in charge of taking attendance.
Good questions. If you post a short video on youtube asking them questions about what life is like, I can video tape their responses. Just put it up on youtube and link it to this blog in the comments.
Wow this is so cool that you get to experiance this! Everything is so different there compared to here it seems, but it must be a moving and eye opening experiance. Have a great rest of your trip!
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt, it makes you really appreciate what we have both as teachers and students in the US. At the same time, I am amazed at what the educational system can accomplish with so little.
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Peterson!
ReplyDeleteThis trip sounds like an awesome experience! I have a couple of questions: You mentioned that the day starts out with an assembly, and that there are more than 50 kids per class--but how is the rest of the day structured? Do kids change classes like we do, or do the teachers change & kids stay in the same classroom, like Brazil? How long are typical classes, how many classes do kids usually have, and what types of classes are common? (I guess that was more than a few questions...)
Hope you're having a great time (it seems like you are)!
--Genevieve
So more or less the kids change classes. 50 students to a class is actually on the smaller side. I have seen one class here that is over 70 students. The girls at this school have 40 minutes blocks. The more or less take 8 blocks a day with several free to work on assigned class work. The teachers move around. I think this is primarily because it would be hard to move around with so many students. One student in each room is in charge of taking attendance.
ReplyDeleteGood questions. If you post a short video on youtube asking them questions about what life is like, I can video tape their responses. Just put it up on youtube and link it to this blog in the comments.
Great videos, Mr. Peterson!
ReplyDelete