Thank you for continuing to support me as I complete my placement in Tanzania. I have recently facilitated a training day alongside my VSO volunteer colleague Steven where we focused on how to make lessons more fun and engaging.
I’m proud to say the day was a huge success so I wanted to use this latest blog to share the day with you! I was really happy to be given the opportunity to share my lesson plans from the UK with my wonderful Tanzanian counterparts, but the fact is I couldn’t be here without your loyal support, so thank you so much. I hope this update proves to you just how vital your gifts are for secondary school education here in Tanzania.
My biggest achievement so far
So, the training day was done in the town of Likotwa for 24 experienced teachers. A big issue I have picked up in my months of observation and discussions with teachers in the region is the lack of learning resources and large classroom sizes so my colleague Steven and I ensured all methodologies were suitable for every teacher to use.
Back where I belong
The top tips of the day
We introduced the teachers to several different methodologies and ensured they really understood them by acting out a lesson using each one. This is how it went...
1. Multiple choice questioning
The teacher asks a question and the students have to choose from three options provided and hold up a corresponding number of fingers for option 1, 2 or 3. I gave them some subject specific examples such as;
‘Which sentence is grammatically correct?’
1. The cat sit on the mat
2. The cat sat on the mat
3. The cat sitted on the mat
The fact that 90% of them held up one finger is an indication of the difficulty these teachers face when teaching in English. It prompted a flurry of discussion about why it wasn’t right which was perfect to show the power of this methodology for engaging the learners.
Thumbs up for training! Yay!
2. Thumbometer
I also introduced them to this gladiatorial style method that allows every student in the class to approve, disapprove or partially agree with the answer given by a single student. This was quickly adopted and used throughout the day. I like to think it was being employed as a general commendation of the day in the parting group photo below.
3. Dominos
This involves writing out cards with mismatching answers and questions on them and handing one to each pair of students. One student starts off by asking their question and then the person who thinks they have the answer on their card, reads it out before then reading their question and so on. Well, that was the theory at least, but it created a lot of confusion and answers plucked from thin air before we were able to communicate how it should work. This one really was hilarious to watch, and we got there in the end!
Legs eleven!
4. Bingo
The participants each drew a grid of nine squares and then chose facts from the list of 15 written on the board. I then read out definitions or asked questions that the facts related to and if the teacher had it in their grid they could cross it off. You get the gist! We had been promising a Toyota landcruiser as the prize, but the winner gracefully accepted the real prize of a biro instead.
5. Vote with your feet
I used this to start the evaluation of the training and at the same time model a methodology that allows students to express opinion by moving to the sign they agree with. Ironically they all voted with their feet to show that ‘vote with your feet’ was their least favourite methodology, saying that with their classes of 60 plus students and small classrooms it wasn’t the most practical. I think my suggestion of putting signs on the mango trees in the courtyard and making it an ‘outside classroom’ was a too big a step away from normal practice at this point in time, I’ll save that for the next training session I think.
Overall, dominos was voted as the clear favourite, which was my colleague Steven’s suggestion, which in his words made him the ‘winner’. Anyone that knows me well can imagine the internal reaction I had to being the ‘loser’!
And now over to the teachers themselves
After lunch the teachers worked in subject groups to prepare a ten minute section of a lesson using their favourite methodologies we had shared with them, which they can then use back in their respective schools to deliver their own training session to their colleagues. The evaluation at the end of the day showed great results, which I have a sneaking suspicion was influenced by the ultra-polite Tanzanian attitude. The next step will be observing a lesson by a teacher not at the training who is using the methodologies thanks to being trained by their colleague. If I can achieve that, I know my time volunteering in Tanzania will have a legacy long after I have left, which is always what VSO aims to achieve.
Thank you again
I hope the training session shows just how much of an impact VSO volunteers can have for education. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this, I am having the time of my life! I look forward to updating you again soon.
Best wishes,
Paul
