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on Mary In Cambodia (Cambodia), 14/Jan/2010 14:34, 34 days ago
Effective Teaching and Learning, Cambodian styleHaving visited numerous schools in the three districts assigned to me, I have now decided on two I am happy to work with for the next few months. One of the schools is a solid building. It has three classrooms, but only two teachers, plus of course the Director. The school has two sessions per day. 7-11am and 1-5pm. Each session has different teachers and different pupils and they swop on the first of each month. Grades 1 and 2 are in separate rooms but taught by the same teacher, so she’s constantly moving from one room to the other, and like children everywhere, when the cat is away the mice will play. Grade 3 children have a teacher to themselves. In the second session grades 4 and 5 have a room each but share a male teacher and grade 6 have their own teacher.The same Director works morning and afternoon. To add to the confusion the female teachers who teach the lower grades bring their own young children in to class with them. When we arrived at 7 15 as arranged, the children were still in the playground and the teachers were just arriving. They went straight in to class and the pupils followed. Another 10 minutes of searching before work finally began, but only with one class. I could hear the rumpus going on next door, but teacher didn’t seem to notice, a reading lesson struggled on for 40 minutes and then it and the children were abandoned for the next 40 minutes while she did a maths class with grade 2. I’m not sure why I have picked this school, maybe it’s because it is so bad it can only improve, or maybe I just feel sorry for the kids, or the teachers who just haven’t a clue. More likely I’m either big-headed or pig-headed enough to believe I can work miracles. For whatever reason I’ll be out there at 7 am on Monday mornings for the next few monthsSchool number 2    This one has to be seen to be believed!     Notice the gaps in the walls, not special effect lighting. This could be uncomfortable in the rainy season!                                                                       Some children facing away from the blackboard and the teacher!                   This has to be the poorest school in the poorest commune in all Cambodia. Even worse, at least one child and his whole family suffer from Tuberculosis                                    If this wasn’t so sad it would be a comedy of errors.    This is a two teacher school also, but no Director.