Trainee Midwives taking their finals.
Well it has been a busy couple of weeks here in our school of Midwifery. All the students have had a very intense, full, five days of exams and what with all the last minute revision sessions, high tensions and flashbacks of my own finals- I’m exhausted.
Today, I can finally sit back and write to you, and boy do I have a lot to write about.
Change is a coming …
I have been moving slowly but surely onwards with my plans for development. Yet if I’m being honest, I have had to be very gentle with my suggestions, as I’ve found the staff here are rather wary of changing their teaching practices.
The main reason I’ve struggled to get all the staff members on-board and attending training sessions is their long hours and poor pay. Most of them have to take on additional work in private hospitals at the weekend and some even work night shifts during the week. I’ve often walked in to find them with their heads down on their desks, trying to get just a couple winks of sleep. They have a tough life with an awful lot of responsibility, therefore convincing them to take on new changes is an uphill struggle. These are unforeseen challenges, but luckily they are the most delightful people to work with and that makes it that bit easier.
Just recently we took a massive step forward. After I requested a staff meeting we agreed to our timetable of implementation. Now that I have a set timeline the tutors are coming to me and asking for support and advice. It is so exciting to feel like we are all working together towards a common goal.
Planning the lessons.
One of the key areas I am focusing on is lesson planning, the foundation of good teaching. Lesson plans ensure a teacher is providing all the learning a student needs to succeed in both the long and short term. They also allow a teacher to vary their methods and to assess what the students are responding to best.
Lesson plans are not commonly used here, and when they are, they are not used effectively. The teachers either think one good plan can cover a whole unit or they write non-specific objectives with lots of meaningless jargon.
Above and below, experiments with teaching methods. © VSO
The more motivated tutors have all started bringing me lesson plans to discuss and review and I’ve allocated time for them all to see me individually. I also arranged a group training session where we were able to discuss what made a good lesson plan and what we had all found useful in the past.
Though there is still a lot of wariness, I know that once they have had a successful lecture using a plan they will be excited to continue and I can’t wait to see them try.
Teaching methods.
I have also been encouraging the use of different teaching methods to engage students. One of our biggest struggles is that there are around 120 students in a class. Can you imagine trying to teach such a large crowd how to resuscitate a newborn baby?
I always say that interactive learning is the best kind. People respond so much better when they are asked to think rather than told what to do- and it’s also a great way to check they’ve been listening. I've been encouraging the staff here to use group discussions and quizzes. Quizzes are a brilliant opportunity to assess the students’ existing knowledge at the start of the class in comparison to their learning at the end.
However, interactive learning requires resources that they don’t often have. They don't even have visual aid charts, the tutors have to draw their own. They want to do power point presentations on the computer but our projector doesn't work. They don't have enough flip chart paper or any post-it notes to help with their revision and learning. This has got me thinking hard, do let me know if you have any easy ideas that might help?
Even Bigger Changes.
I’m also working on rewriting the midwifery curriculum which is a task and a half. The hours allocated to different topics is way over the number of college hours in the week so tutors run sessions into the evenings. They are under pressure all the time to complete the subjects they have to cover. I need to find a way for the teachers to be able to easily teach the curriculum without magicking hours out of a hat.
Good luck to the new midwives.
Last night was beautiful, we celebrated those whose exams were over and whose schooling was complete. I remember when I finished my finals, that feeling of elation, and more importantly, the trip to the pub. So I was so happy to join the young midwives as they celebrated last night. There was the singing of songs and lots of guitar playing. For a lot of the students this was going to be the first time leaving home, and having to say goodbye to close friends left a certain melancholy amongst the cheer. Some of the students gave speeches, and I found their excitement for the future amid their sadness at leaving truly touching.
It was great to be a part of the day, typical of the respect and kindness I have often witnessed in these students, they made the day more about their teachers, organising a closing ceremony where they offered their thanks. They also gave all the staff, including myself, presents. They gave me fabric for a longie, their traditional dress, which I'll get made up for their graduation ceremony in January.
Merry Christmas!
I hope everyone at home is well and enjoying the run up to Christmas. I thought I would get away from all the usual hype here in Myanmar but my local supermarket this week is selling artificial Christmas trees- I might buy one and put my tacky lights on that I bought for the light festival.
All this festivity does make me miss home, which is why it is so lovely to know that you are supporting me from England and sending over warm wishes.
Speak soon,
Carol
