Hi everyone
Posting this from Namchi, the nearest big town, after a beautiful but hair-raising journey for one hour (to travel 20 k) on mountain roads in what is called a shared jeep ie a jeep absolutely crammed full with people. I got lucky and got a seat by the window. Last time I came here, I got to be next to the driver and had the gear stick rammed around my knees - there were four people plus driver in the front seat of a landrover!
Here are some of my experiences of life at St Pauls school.... School starts at 9.15 and children arrive by 9am. Their first job is to sweep the classrooms and the corridor - there is no caretaker of course. There are 10 classrooms - 5 either side of the corridor. Upstairs there is the school office, a computer room with 8 pcs, and a library as well as a hostel for 11 children who board and accommodation for one of the teachers and their family who also look after the boarders. Assembly is outside on the "play area" ie flattened muddy piece of ground. Prayers are said, some christain songs and the national anthem. Then there is usually a general knowledge quiz asked by the older children.
There are 3 periods of 45mins, followed by a 5 min playtime, followed by 2 more periods. Lunch is at 1.15 for half an hour, then two more periods until 3.15. The children bring tiffen ie packed lunch and eat outside, the teachers eat in one of classrooms and I get toeat upstairs with Daniel and Samuel, the headteacher and his brother, served by one of the older girls who stays in the hostel. On Saturday morning there are 3 periods of drawing and moral education, followed by PE ie cricket or badminton or generally playing.
Each classroom has old fashioned benches with attached ledges just enough room for a A4 book with 2 or 3 children to a bench. There is a dirty whiteboard, small table and chair for the teacher and that's it. Each child brings their own textbooks and each lesson is direct from the text book. They cover science, maths, english, environmental studies, general knowledge, hindi and nepali - same timetable each day. The children stay in the classroom and the teachers circulate. The children have a wide vocab and can read out aloud very well (albeit with some strange pronounciation on occasion). However they very often do not understand what they are reading and find it very difficult to answer any questions. "Learning" is very much by rote. Their handwriting is very good and their spelling is also excellent. My mission is therefore clear - to try and get them to have some confidence to ask and answer questions and to deviate from the text book!
They are not used to working in pairs, or in small groups, or working independently or creatively at all. Their drawing on a Saturday is copying pictures from an art book, for example. I'm trying not to be too "Western" in my approach but simply trying to get them to speak confidently will be a great achievement!!
The other difficulty I have is that I am treated as the supply teacher. There is often several teachers not at school (the school pays a very small wage so I guess the teachers feel it is ok to take time off if someone is visiting their family etc), so I get to cover classes. My first lesson was physics! and my second lesson was social sciences! Their text books are very dense and use very complicated vocab so I try to extract the main points and think on my feet on how to make it interesting! But I can't get to prepare any lessons because I don;'t know from lesson to lesson who I will be teaching and what. It's a small miracle if I get the same class for the same lesson the next day. Another difficultly is that there are no spare copies of the text book so I have to ask to borrow one from the students and they have to share. I am literally one sentence ahead of them, never mind one page!
My most successful lessons have been where I have prepared (just in case I get the same class again). And also the students like playing games with me eg hangman, blackboard bingo, tag games where they have to circle the right time on the board etc. I have tried to take a younger class outside to collect materials to make a nest as birds and nesting was next in their text book but forgot to check that they understood the vocab!!! ie they can read the word twig but haven't a clue what it is.
Despite the lack of resources, and the lack of planning from me, I am really enjoying working with the students. They are all delightful and very keen to learn. Discipline so far hasn't been a problem.... I just threaten them that they won't get a game at the end of the lesson if they don't behave and they all sit up and work hard! Each class is small - between 8 and 14 students so it is quite easy to get to know them and to give them some individual attention. Teaching in India is definately something I could consider doing.... no planning, delightful and sweet children, no discipline problems, and it all finishes at 3.15!!!
Lots of questions and thoughts about resources and the lack of colour in the classroom.... but I need to get back on the shared jeep now.
Miss Bee
Posting this from Namchi, the nearest big town, after a beautiful but hair-raising journey for one hour (to travel 20 k) on mountain roads in what is called a shared jeep ie a jeep absolutely crammed full with people. I got lucky and got a seat by the window. Last time I came here, I got to be next to the driver and had the gear stick rammed around my knees - there were four people plus driver in the front seat of a landrover!
Here are some of my experiences of life at St Pauls school.... School starts at 9.15 and children arrive by 9am. Their first job is to sweep the classrooms and the corridor - there is no caretaker of course. There are 10 classrooms - 5 either side of the corridor. Upstairs there is the school office, a computer room with 8 pcs, and a library as well as a hostel for 11 children who board and accommodation for one of the teachers and their family who also look after the boarders. Assembly is outside on the "play area" ie flattened muddy piece of ground. Prayers are said, some christain songs and the national anthem. Then there is usually a general knowledge quiz asked by the older children.
There are 3 periods of 45mins, followed by a 5 min playtime, followed by 2 more periods. Lunch is at 1.15 for half an hour, then two more periods until 3.15. The children bring tiffen ie packed lunch and eat outside, the teachers eat in one of classrooms and I get toeat upstairs with Daniel and Samuel, the headteacher and his brother, served by one of the older girls who stays in the hostel. On Saturday morning there are 3 periods of drawing and moral education, followed by PE ie cricket or badminton or generally playing.
Each classroom has old fashioned benches with attached ledges just enough room for a A4 book with 2 or 3 children to a bench. There is a dirty whiteboard, small table and chair for the teacher and that's it. Each child brings their own textbooks and each lesson is direct from the text book. They cover science, maths, english, environmental studies, general knowledge, hindi and nepali - same timetable each day. The children stay in the classroom and the teachers circulate. The children have a wide vocab and can read out aloud very well (albeit with some strange pronounciation on occasion). However they very often do not understand what they are reading and find it very difficult to answer any questions. "Learning" is very much by rote. Their handwriting is very good and their spelling is also excellent. My mission is therefore clear - to try and get them to have some confidence to ask and answer questions and to deviate from the text book!
They are not used to working in pairs, or in small groups, or working independently or creatively at all. Their drawing on a Saturday is copying pictures from an art book, for example. I'm trying not to be too "Western" in my approach but simply trying to get them to speak confidently will be a great achievement!!
The other difficulty I have is that I am treated as the supply teacher. There is often several teachers not at school (the school pays a very small wage so I guess the teachers feel it is ok to take time off if someone is visiting their family etc), so I get to cover classes. My first lesson was physics! and my second lesson was social sciences! Their text books are very dense and use very complicated vocab so I try to extract the main points and think on my feet on how to make it interesting! But I can't get to prepare any lessons because I don;'t know from lesson to lesson who I will be teaching and what. It's a small miracle if I get the same class for the same lesson the next day. Another difficultly is that there are no spare copies of the text book so I have to ask to borrow one from the students and they have to share. I am literally one sentence ahead of them, never mind one page!
My most successful lessons have been where I have prepared (just in case I get the same class again). And also the students like playing games with me eg hangman, blackboard bingo, tag games where they have to circle the right time on the board etc. I have tried to take a younger class outside to collect materials to make a nest as birds and nesting was next in their text book but forgot to check that they understood the vocab!!! ie they can read the word twig but haven't a clue what it is.
Despite the lack of resources, and the lack of planning from me, I am really enjoying working with the students. They are all delightful and very keen to learn. Discipline so far hasn't been a problem.... I just threaten them that they won't get a game at the end of the lesson if they don't behave and they all sit up and work hard! Each class is small - between 8 and 14 students so it is quite easy to get to know them and to give them some individual attention. Teaching in India is definately something I could consider doing.... no planning, delightful and sweet children, no discipline problems, and it all finishes at 3.15!!!
Lots of questions and thoughts about resources and the lack of colour in the classroom.... but I need to get back on the shared jeep now.
Miss Bee
Hi Bee, it all sounds amazing - a complete assault on all your senses. You write so well! I'm intrigued by the 'moral education', wondering what form it takes. What an adventure! Liz xx
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