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on Alison Helm (Ghana), 16/Oct/2011 20:34, 34 days ago
A Week of Head Teacher Workshops . . . I spent last week partaking in numerous Head Teacher Workshops. This was very good timing as it allowed me to meet lots of the primary school Head Teachers all in one place at the same time. They were as welcoming and as friendly as all the other Ghanaians I have met already. It was very interesting for many different reasons:1) In contrast to what I had previously heard about 'unmotivated teachers', these Head Teachers seemed extremely enthusiastic and committed to improving the standards in their schools.2) Many of the Head Teachers seemed to be extremely young, often only two or three years out of university. Apparently these Heads are recruited to work in the very remote village schools where there are only one or two other teachers. Their aspirations seemed to be of then being moved into the towns if they did a good job.3) Some of the topics being discussed are ideas that seem quite recent within our own education system. These include the idea that lesson observations and teacher monitoring should be a positive and supportive process, the importance of open days in order to include the community in the school and also the necessity of involving all stakeholders in the development of the school improvement plan.4) It was pleasing to see a number of female Head Teachers (perhaps about 15%) and it was interesting to note that many brought their babies and young children along to the workshops as well.5) There was an interesting clash between a perceived 'fear' of management and then an accepted culture of 'shouting down' and talking over the very same people who are seen as superior. I was also alarmed to realise that teachers and Head Teachers are very rarely dismissed and unacceptable behaviour (including some things that would be seen as illegal in the UK!) just result in a re-posting to a different area.6) Finally, and in contrast to any workshop/meeting I have ever been to anywhere . . . people arrived early because they wanted the seats at the FRONT! In an attempt to look like a colleague and not a visitor I didn't take any photos during the workshops so I've included some of the locality instead (and some of the different houses as requested by Mother Helm!!)The traditional houses are'compounds'where lots of members of the extended family all live together in joint houses. I have some local friends who live in these and although very sociable and perfect for joint cooking and childcare, they are obviously quite noisy places with limited privacy.Other families ownshops or food businessesand often live within the confines of this shop:As more Ghanaian people go to University and get better paid jobs, there is an increase in the number oflarger and more modern-looking houseswhich are built to protect families from the heavy rains and excessive heat:And a final photo to show that you may be able to take the girl out of London, but can you ever take London out of the girl . . . . . .?Will re-blog soon with a special blog for the year 2 children at Curwen who are comparing Ghana to East London!Missing you all (and love getting your emails and facebook messages!)Madame Alice - as I have been re-named!xx