Nipissing in Africa
Imagine a practicum placement in a kindergarten where sticks,
pebbles and a few pieces of construction paper are your only resources.
Now think large class, really large – 107 students – and
they don't speak either of the two languages of instruction. Top
that with the harsh reality that school lunch – a cup of
boiled maize and legumes – is the only meal most of your
students will eat all day.
by Leanne Miller
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The soon-to-be-teachers who took this practicum with the Kipsigi people
of Kenya, and the faculty instructors who accompanied them from Nipissing
University, use words like devastating and frustrating, as well as incredible,
awesome, fantastic and powerful.
Life-altering.
For three weeks this February, 18 pre-service students – accompanied
by three members of Nipissing's Faculty of Education – completed
a practicum at the Motony Primary School in the Maasai Mara region of
southwest Kenya.
Nipissing's Faculty of Education dean, Ron Common, is proud of the alternate
practicum program, which has been in place since 2003 and offers students
and faculty experience in Cameroon, China and England, in addition to
outdoor education and First Nations placements in northern Ontario.
“We want to offer our students experiences that are culturally
and linguistically different,” says Common, “to help them
become more experienced and well-rounded human beings and teachers.”
“We are committed to providing students with a variety of alternate
practice-teaching experiences,” says associate professor Lorraine
Frost, who accompanied Common and the students to Kenya. “It helps
them be more confident, creative and resourceful in their own classrooms.”
For the past several years this part of Kenya, like Uganda and Ethiopia,
has been ravaged by severe drought. Local riverbeds are nearly dry and
many of the Kipsigi people, traditionally herders and pastoralists, are
verging on starvation. The Kenyan government only funds schooling up
to Standard 8, and for most, the $500 fee for high school is out of reach.
In any case, by Standard 8 (equivalent to Grade 8), only a small percentage
of the students who started in Kindergarten remain in school, as the
vast majority leave to help their families survive.
“The kids want to be there. They are extremely
motivated to learn and they value education.”
Still, the students of Motony Primary School shared a lesson of strength
and joy with their Canadian visitors.
“Although they didn't have much food, they appreciated our presence
and loved being in school,” says Melissa Grech, who taught 38 Standard-6
students during her practicum. “They were always happy – for
every minute of the day.”
The logistics and accommodation for the teacher-candidates' trip were
provided by Free the Children (FTC). Food and living conditions were
rudimentary: they slept in tents, there was no running water and electricity
was sporadic. In the school, black-painted wood served as blackboards,
and goats and chickens occasionally wandered across the mud-packed classroom
floors. Teaching resources were scarce.
Lessons learned
The aspiring teachers quickly learned to make do with found and invented
resources. Sticks and pebbles were used for counting exercises. They
made up songs and rhymes to help children learn important mathematical
procedures, like subtraction that uses borrowing: “I can't subtract
9 from 2. So what do I do? I borrow 1 from 2.” You get the picture.
“What a thrill it was for our teachers,” recalls Frost, “to
hear the children singing their songs in the schoolyard at recess.”
Sarah Nelles and her partner taught 53 Standard-5 students. “Classroom
management is not an issue. The kids want to be there. They are extremely
motivated to learn and they value education.”
But there were other issues for Nelles – like having to compensate
for lack of classroom materials and the fact that students only begin
learning English in Standard 4. In teaching about mammals, she and her
teaching partner acted out their characteristics. Though challenging,
the lesson was a success.
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Nipissing volunteers work on the construction
of new buildings to replace older stick and mud structures
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“Acting is universal,” Nelles explains. “That and
a whole lot of repetition helped them understand.”
Teaching large numbers of students with nearly no supplies forced these
teacher-candidates to rely on ingenuity and communication skills. A few
key phrases in Kipsigis helped.
“It was back to basics,” says Glyn Madill, who taught 15
Standard-8 students. “There was no razzle-dazzle – no
computers or VCRs. I couldn't let things teach for me. It was just me
and my students and it was fantastic.” He hopes that next year,
ideally teaching in a Rainbow District secondary school, he can remain
just as unencumbered.
Because the language of instruction was English – a second language
for the students – teacher-candidates also had to look for ways
to teach those with stronger and those with weaker language skills. For
students with stronger language skills, teachers could engage the children
in the whole story and its themes. For those with less English, the same
story was used as a vocabulary and basic comprehension exercise.
Sweat equity
The Canadians taught every day for three weeks. After school hours they
worked with FTC staff to help build a new school.
“There's sweat equity in this program,” Common laughs. Nipissing
students helped finish the Motony school and helped clean and decorate
classrooms to prepare for the new school's opening.
“It was fantastic to be part of the celebration,” says Madill. “The
villagers take such pride in education and truly respect and appreciate
what a gift it is for their children.”
“There's a profound ripple effect from the
three-week experience that lasts a lifetime and spreads to many thousands
of young people.”
Although he plans to teach in northern Ontario, Madill says he “can't
let it go.” Once he secures a job, he plans to spend one month
a year working in Kenyan schools and hopes to return to the same region.
Krista Thompson is keen to continue helping the Kenyans she met at the
school. “It's that much more meaningful – knowing the people
you are helping,” she says. As one of 18 faculty-of-education students,
she calculates: “We will have 18 classrooms with 30 or more students
in each, and we can accomplish a great deal.”
Ripple effect
Dean Common notes that a significant benefit of this experience for
pre-service students is a heightened social conscience and an understanding
of their roles as teachers and as global citizens.
“They realize and appreciate how privileged we are in Canada,” says
Common. “There's a profound ripple effect from the three-week experience
that lasts a lifetime and spreads to many thousands of young people.”
In their own classrooms next year, many of these new teachers will build
awareness of global issues among their students.
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Nipissing visitors with teachers of Motony Primary
School in front of new school buildings
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Melissa Grech hopes to teach in a Durham or Peterborough elementary
classroom next year and is strongly committed to fundraising for FTC.
Other participants in the international practicums will continue to
teach abroad after graduation. Frost mentions one former student who
travelled to Cameroon for his practicum two years ago and now teaches
in Bangladesh – at a posh International Baccalaureate school
during the day and then helping and educating street kids at night.
“His day job supports his passion,” she explains.
After her experience in Kenya, Nelles is also keen to do more international
teaching – perhaps in Africa or Asia. She loved working in an environment
where education was deeply valued by students and parents.
“I will never again take things for granted,” she vows. “Those
children have it right. They value the basics: love, friendships, food
and education. That's what it's all about, not consumerism or fashion.
We all need to learn that.”
Free the Children
Toronto-born Craig Kielburger founded FTC in 1995 when he was 12 years
old. He later gained international attention when he crusaded against
child labour – exposing the exploitation of children in the developing
world. Today, Craig and his brother Marc run this organization.
Motony Primary School, where part of the Nipissing group worked, is
one of over 400 schools built by FTC in 23 countries to serve over 35,000
children who would not otherwise have access to education. More recently,
FTC has expanded its work to include building health clinics and clean-water
projects.
In Kenya, the school year runs to the end of July. So even those who
teach full time here in Ontario can book themselves to volunteer in schools
or contribute to the humanitarian work of Free the Children.
In June 2005 Nipissing University awarded honorary doctorates to the
Kielburgers for their inspirational work helping children.
In April 2006 Queen Silvia of Sweden presented Craig Kielburger with
the World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child. The prize – founded
by Children's World with support from the Swedish government and several
humanitarian organizations – is decided by a jury of children from
all over the world.
www.freethechildren.org
Lesson plans
The Toronto Star collaborates with Nipissing and FTC to engage young
people in global issues and current news events. Every second Thursday
the Star publishes an article by the Kielburgers on a current news topic
and its impact. They also look at how young people here can make a difference
in others' lives by getting involved.
Using Ontario's Grade 6 social studies curriculum, Nipissing's pre-service
students have developed lesson plans related to the Kielburgers' articles.
Background information, links to the lesson plans and online forums are
found on the newspaper's web site.
www.thestar.com
International experience
Nipissing is not alone in offering supplementary practicums outside
of publicly funded schools. Among the other Ontario faculties of education
are OISE/UT and Queen's.
At Queen's, students must complete a three-week alternative practicum
outside of the regular school system in addition to their 13 weeks of
in-school placements. “This past spring we covered all parts of
the world except Antarctica,” says Brian McAndrews, who is Queen's
practicum co-ordinator. “About 100 of our 700 students chose international
placements.”
At OISE/UT students must complete a five-week field-based internship
that complements their program. Although locations may be self-selected,
students must demonstrate that their placement connects explicitly with
the College's Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession. Internships
are usually completed in Ontario schools, but have also taken place at
other education sites, such as TVOntario, the Art Gallery of Ontario
and at schools around the world. This spring about 100 of OISE/UT's approximately
1,300 pre-service students chose the international option – working
in schools in Mexico, the Caribbean, Spain, France, Kenya, Swaziland,
Vietnam, Australia and the UAE.
World Food Programme
School lunches at Motony Primary School are provided by the United Nations'
World Food Programme (WFP).
The goal of WFP is to eradicate global hunger and poverty. The program
promotes policies and operations that directly benefit the poor and hungry.
As the food-aid arm of the UN, the WFP provides logistics support for
food aid, meets emergency needs and supports economic and social development.
www.wfp.org
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