I recently went to my midterm conference in Lusaka where I was able to see my intake for the first time since August. It was good to see the old gang --a lot has happened to us individually and as a whole over the past eight months. Many ups and downs, issues in the village, progress in our schools... we've come a long way. Now, with tougher skin and having had grown in so many different ways we are second-years! Yet nothing has changed. Still playing our same undercover games during mandatory training sessions, still have that family like bond and still supporting each other regarding our position as a change agent in our communities.
One thing we talked about was critical thinking. We dissected this topic in every which way in order to analyze how to implement it more into our roles in the schools.
Critical thinking: being able to look at a problem and figuring out how to solve it. It's the question "why." It's drawing conclusions by recalling information or experience from different topics and figuring out how they work together. It's how you learned in grade school. It's a "question of the day," comparing/contrasting, brainstorming. It's planning your future, it's mapping out a route when you are lost, and it's used in our every day lives.
Yet in Zambia, or in the Zambian classroom, it's hard to find. Sometimes it is not used at all. For example, in a Civics class, pupils learn about human rights. I found this to be a popular topic. ANd it seems to me that the teacher could pull information from history class, teach on human rights from the civics perspective, and have pupils use the information to evaluate how human rights may effect them through a writing assignment. But in Zambia, it's like this: a teacher writes the notes on the board and the pupils copy, memorize, memorize, memorize, write word for word on their test paper, and then wipe that information from their mind, This isn't news and I think I've shared this before. But this term I am solo teaching English for grade eight and it is so hard to explain new ways of giving "exercises" without my co teacher here to say "okay kids, you are not going to do the same old questions from the book, Madam Shannon has something weird and different for you today." If I write a question starting with "In your own words..." they are unsure about how they are supposed to answer. After all, where is "their own words" in their notes? If it's not something that they can't put on paper using your photographic memory, they get confused. For reading comprehension I taught who, what, where, when, why, how. The first four are easy to scan through and spot and write down, But the "why?" and the "how?" No, it is not spelled out in the passage .
Why is critical thinking not emphasized? This is what set off a hefty discussion at our midterms. For one, it's the Zambian culture. There is less validity put on what our children think or say. The elders are often relied on for the answer, and believe me, even if the elders are grabbing the answer out of thin air (or hot and humid rainy season air), they are always considered right and it is rude to question them. It is also rude to question the teacher (you may get punished) and it's better to just say "Yes, Madam I understand" than to speak out and ask "Why?" because then your friends may laugh at you because it means you are the only one who does not get it. It's that fear of standing out, challenging something to create an answer or idea, and the safety of having one clear cut answer that matches one clear cut question. As if information is not presented as a puzzle piece, but rather a card in a memory game.
It's also the infrastructure in our classrooms. It is noisy and difficult to set up a debate or an open discussion 1) because it would mean to break the mold and for a teacher that can be scare and new and 2) with one hundred pupils it will be a bit chaotic (at first) to organize themselves and get over the excitement of a fun active exercise
Lack of critical thinking skills emphasized in middle childhood can influence a person forever. I recognize it in my staff room. Grown educated individuals who have gone through the same basic schools that they are teaching at now, cannot comprehend creating a lesson plan without a teacher's manual, page number, etc. etc. Yes, a teacher's manual is important and useful. But I was recently going through the syllabus with my co-teacher (who left already) and pointing out concepts that we should use in our lessons but tailor them more toward the actual level of our pupils, And she kept focusing on --where in the teacher's manual was the step by step lesson for such a proposal? I explained that there isn't one written out but we can go through the book to guide us and come up with a plan on our own . The teacher's manual bases it's lessons with the presumption that the grade 8 pupils are actually at the grade 8 level. And in our rural villages that simply is not the case. And it would do no good to assume so because then these lesson would be completely over their head, so Hey! Let's be creative. Let's make a class exercise of our own.
Teacher: "But there are no written out exercises for the lesson you have in mind"
Me: "So- we'll make exercises up."
...... total confusion.
That's the difference between Zambian and American education system. Here I am sitting with a woman who went to college for teaching. Yet never gained the critical thinking skills that would make her teaching much more effective. And I, obtaining nothing of a teaching degree and being able to see that structuring a lesson plan based on observations of pupils' performance and a few different sources is much more effective. The reason being these skills need to be taught at middle childhood... it's needs to be part of your immediate thinking pattern. And that is the way that I learned at Apalachian elementary. Doing a science project, creative writing, Math puzzles.
Critical thinking goes a long, long way. It's 2012 and I think Zambia's old-school, black and white culture is adapting to the changing world. It's not everywhere, but I can see bits of it panono panono (slowly but surely). People are starting to take in information as a puzzle piece rather than a memory game. People are starting to question why. I know this from listening to the radio, listening to my head teacher, spending time with my girl's club, witnessing the change of government. People are opening up their minds and asking, questioning, challenging, rising up against corruption, standing up for their rights, demanding change, creating change, and fostering confidence. This is what it takes to develop a country. And it starts in the classroom.
In my Play Therapy internship we were taught not to ask questions with our clients (children) or to give praise. But to reflect, reflect, reflect. Instead of "Oh that's a beautiful picture" we would say: "You are spending a lot of time and using a lot of red in that picture," basically acknowledging what they are doing with the intention of prompting them to question themselves. This method of getting children to speak up and say: "Yea, I did a good job. Look- I used a lot of red because it's the color of my dress today" builds self-awareness and gets those wheels turning. But it requires patience, trial/error, and time. Lots of times I'll have my kids coloring in my Insaka and the older sister or brother may point out to her younger sister "Dogs are not red, your picture is wrong," and the small child will believe it and scribble it all out.
The truth is kids HAVE critical thinking skills . But they feel most comfortable with them outside of the classroom. I mean they'll dig through my garbage pit and find whatever they need to make a toy car, or they will compile a handful of D sized batteries and a bungee and some wire to get a tiny bulb- the size of a pea- to provide light at night.
I am trying my best to promote these skills in the classroom and the staff room. I've had the most success in my GLOW club. For example, I gave them a scenario of a teenage girl with a bright future, a boyfriend, high grades, etc. etc. The club members had to decide the future of this girl; what sort of decisions does she make with her boyfriend, what sort of friends does she hang out with, does she go to university? etc. etc. etc. And then I had them apply the same exercise to their own lives; where will they end up? How will they get there?
It's a slow process but if I can just work on that one concept in all my programs for the rest of my service I'll be happy.
Check out some snakes!
Host mother. Ba Sylvia
My new tattoo. It is the symbolic bemba crocodile with my given village name- Mulenga, which means the creative one.
One thing we talked about was critical thinking. We dissected this topic in every which way in order to analyze how to implement it more into our roles in the schools.
Critical thinking: being able to look at a problem and figuring out how to solve it. It's the question "why." It's drawing conclusions by recalling information or experience from different topics and figuring out how they work together. It's how you learned in grade school. It's a "question of the day," comparing/contrasting, brainstorming. It's planning your future, it's mapping out a route when you are lost, and it's used in our every day lives.
Yet in Zambia, or in the Zambian classroom, it's hard to find. Sometimes it is not used at all. For example, in a Civics class, pupils learn about human rights. I found this to be a popular topic. ANd it seems to me that the teacher could pull information from history class, teach on human rights from the civics perspective, and have pupils use the information to evaluate how human rights may effect them through a writing assignment. But in Zambia, it's like this: a teacher writes the notes on the board and the pupils copy, memorize, memorize, memorize, write word for word on their test paper, and then wipe that information from their mind, This isn't news and I think I've shared this before. But this term I am solo teaching English for grade eight and it is so hard to explain new ways of giving "exercises" without my co teacher here to say "okay kids, you are not going to do the same old questions from the book, Madam Shannon has something weird and different for you today." If I write a question starting with "In your own words..." they are unsure about how they are supposed to answer. After all, where is "their own words" in their notes? If it's not something that they can't put on paper using your photographic memory, they get confused. For reading comprehension I taught who, what, where, when, why, how. The first four are easy to scan through and spot and write down, But the "why?" and the "how?" No, it is not spelled out in the passage .
Why is critical thinking not emphasized? This is what set off a hefty discussion at our midterms. For one, it's the Zambian culture. There is less validity put on what our children think or say. The elders are often relied on for the answer, and believe me, even if the elders are grabbing the answer out of thin air (or hot and humid rainy season air), they are always considered right and it is rude to question them. It is also rude to question the teacher (you may get punished) and it's better to just say "Yes, Madam I understand" than to speak out and ask "Why?" because then your friends may laugh at you because it means you are the only one who does not get it. It's that fear of standing out, challenging something to create an answer or idea, and the safety of having one clear cut answer that matches one clear cut question. As if information is not presented as a puzzle piece, but rather a card in a memory game.
It's also the infrastructure in our classrooms. It is noisy and difficult to set up a debate or an open discussion 1) because it would mean to break the mold and for a teacher that can be scare and new and 2) with one hundred pupils it will be a bit chaotic (at first) to organize themselves and get over the excitement of a fun active exercise
Lack of critical thinking skills emphasized in middle childhood can influence a person forever. I recognize it in my staff room. Grown educated individuals who have gone through the same basic schools that they are teaching at now, cannot comprehend creating a lesson plan without a teacher's manual, page number, etc. etc. Yes, a teacher's manual is important and useful. But I was recently going through the syllabus with my co-teacher (who left already) and pointing out concepts that we should use in our lessons but tailor them more toward the actual level of our pupils, And she kept focusing on --where in the teacher's manual was the step by step lesson for such a proposal? I explained that there isn't one written out but we can go through the book to guide us and come up with a plan on our own . The teacher's manual bases it's lessons with the presumption that the grade 8 pupils are actually at the grade 8 level. And in our rural villages that simply is not the case. And it would do no good to assume so because then these lesson would be completely over their head, so Hey! Let's be creative. Let's make a class exercise of our own.
Teacher: "But there are no written out exercises for the lesson you have in mind"
Me: "So- we'll make exercises up."
...... total confusion.
That's the difference between Zambian and American education system. Here I am sitting with a woman who went to college for teaching. Yet never gained the critical thinking skills that would make her teaching much more effective. And I, obtaining nothing of a teaching degree and being able to see that structuring a lesson plan based on observations of pupils' performance and a few different sources is much more effective. The reason being these skills need to be taught at middle childhood... it's needs to be part of your immediate thinking pattern. And that is the way that I learned at Apalachian elementary. Doing a science project, creative writing, Math puzzles.
Critical thinking goes a long, long way. It's 2012 and I think Zambia's old-school, black and white culture is adapting to the changing world. It's not everywhere, but I can see bits of it panono panono (slowly but surely). People are starting to take in information as a puzzle piece rather than a memory game. People are starting to question why. I know this from listening to the radio, listening to my head teacher, spending time with my girl's club, witnessing the change of government. People are opening up their minds and asking, questioning, challenging, rising up against corruption, standing up for their rights, demanding change, creating change, and fostering confidence. This is what it takes to develop a country. And it starts in the classroom.
In my Play Therapy internship we were taught not to ask questions with our clients (children) or to give praise. But to reflect, reflect, reflect. Instead of "Oh that's a beautiful picture" we would say: "You are spending a lot of time and using a lot of red in that picture," basically acknowledging what they are doing with the intention of prompting them to question themselves. This method of getting children to speak up and say: "Yea, I did a good job. Look- I used a lot of red because it's the color of my dress today" builds self-awareness and gets those wheels turning. But it requires patience, trial/error, and time. Lots of times I'll have my kids coloring in my Insaka and the older sister or brother may point out to her younger sister "Dogs are not red, your picture is wrong," and the small child will believe it and scribble it all out.
The truth is kids HAVE critical thinking skills . But they feel most comfortable with them outside of the classroom. I mean they'll dig through my garbage pit and find whatever they need to make a toy car, or they will compile a handful of D sized batteries and a bungee and some wire to get a tiny bulb- the size of a pea- to provide light at night.
I am trying my best to promote these skills in the classroom and the staff room. I've had the most success in my GLOW club. For example, I gave them a scenario of a teenage girl with a bright future, a boyfriend, high grades, etc. etc. The club members had to decide the future of this girl; what sort of decisions does she make with her boyfriend, what sort of friends does she hang out with, does she go to university? etc. etc. etc. And then I had them apply the same exercise to their own lives; where will they end up? How will they get there?
It's a slow process but if I can just work on that one concept in all my programs for the rest of my service I'll be happy.
Check out some snakes!
They are dead FYI. Found on my neighbors compound
GLOW club making friendship bracelets
Maayo's getting water to make bricks for the new preschool
YOu can carry just about anything on your head
Cinco Bamaayo!
Host mother. Ba Sylvia
THe new puppy--- Obama
Preschool! I gave them stickers and they all put them on their head
My new tattoo. It is the symbolic bemba crocodile with my given village name- Mulenga, which means the creative one.
