Last Day in Zambia; Teacher Training

Yesterday I joined Chris Mead as she held her third and final teacher training in the South Luangwa area on creative writing. We were at Mufwe Basic with ten 2-7 grade area teachers. It was scheduled to begin at 8:30, by 9:30 eight teachers had arrived and by 10:00 they were all there. Chris teaches 5-7 year olds in England and did a fantastic job presenting. Last year she visited as a volunteer like me. The content was valuable, she engaged the learners, checked for understanding and had fun. She began by explaining that Zambians teach the way teachers in the UK taught many years ago. The teacher stands in the front of the class and lectures. When she asked what they thought creative writing was, the answer was, "using the imagination." In order for students to write creatively, they need to know stories. She asked how often they read stories to their students? Some teachers raised their hands, but most did not. She read Handa's Surprise, by Eileen Brown. She began by suggesting they ask, what do you think the story will be about. By asking the children, they are using their imagination and they are thinking for themselves. Chris modeled how to read a story. How to hold the book so all could see the pictures. She asked a lot of questions. This was a very basic lesson. If you want children to be literate, story reading is the place to start. The most memorable part of the day for the teachers will probably be learning to tell the story The Little Red Hen. After modeling, practicing with the group and then with a partner, everyone used hand gestures and retold the story , some with theatrics and some with deep concentration. To help develop the idea of creativity, Chris mentioned that you can change the animals from a cow, cat and dog to an elephant, hippo and crocodile. And, change the topic of the story from baking bread to fixing a broken down car. At the end, "who will ride to town with me? I will. I will. Oh no you won't, I'll go to town by myself." Other activities included writing descriptions of photographs and objects. One of the laminated pictures was of lightning in a storm. She asked them to describe how they would feel if they were there. On chart paper, teachers shared descriptive words and Chris wrote them under the heading FEEL. Frightened, scared confused, afraid, threatened, nervous, cold... Use your imagination. SEE. Dark as the night sky, dark as a wet elephant. HEAR. Crashing trees, booming thunder, birds whistling, drums, wind blowing like a speeding vehicle. Now write an opening sentence to a story by describing the scene. Chris talked about a big box of objects she keeps in her room. She is always having the kids describe the objects so they can build vocabulary. The objects could also be used to set the scene for a story. A key for example. Other objects in the bag was costume jewelry, British coins, an empty box, shells. She has a time during the day where everything is focused on speaking and writing descriptive language in order to build vocabulary. Lunch break was at 12:45 with nshima and chicken. Some girls had been preparing outside on a fire for an hour or two. The chicken had been cut into pieces and fried in oil. There was some sautéed cabbage and onions along with the nshima. I had tried nshima once, when John ordered it at Flatdogs Camp, but this was the real thing, so I filled my plate. I ate with my fingers, but couldn't seem to take a fist of the doughy corn meal, form a ball and slop up the veggies. I asked a man if I could take a video of him eating so I could show my students back home. He didn't seem to mind. I told him he was going to be famous! At the end of class, about 2:00, Chris gave out a packet for each school. Each packet had a set of picture books, all African themed, a stack of laminated pictures, mainly local recognizable animals and places, and a bag of objects including seashells, pine cones, costume jewelry, British coins and keys. She had also prepared a manual explaining some of the activities she was presenting. It was a really great day and made me think about education in Zambia. First of all, I thought I had empathy for Zambian teachers before, but now I truly do. I have heard and read plenty about the problems with teachers. They leave the kids in the classrooms alone, they sit at the front of the room and lecture, they don't teach, they are late to class, sometimes dont come at all and on and on. Well, spending the day with real Zambian teachers, kind and caring gentle people, changed me. They could have been teachers in the states at a workshop. They collaborated with their partners, participated, laughed, did activities which made them uncomfortable, and had fun. When I think about their teaching conditions; 50-90 hungry students in a room with no desks or books, I can only believe they want to create a more literate country; why else would they teach?