Blog 11 - Professional

19/04/12

This week commenced with our farewell assembly at City Parents School, our placement school.  We were very grateful for receiving an invitation back to the school, and honoured to have an assembly dedicated to thanking us for our time spent there.  We were eager to find out what this assembly had in store for us; On arrival at 7.30am we were seated at the front of the assembly and greeted by all of the smiling faces of over 600 Key Stage One pupils.  The assembly began with many kind and thankful words from the headmaster, head of department and staff of City Parents.  It was quite overwhelming to realise the long lasting impression we had made with the staff of this school after just a few short weeks spent there.

The assembly continued with various performances from teachers and students in which they performed some traditions African dances and sang many of the songs that we had taught the children throughout our placement.  It was lovely to hear the performances of our songs as it demonstrated to us how much the children had enjoyed the various teaching activities which we had created for them.  Towards the end of the assembly each of the children presented us with homemade cards and gifts leaving both of us completely overwhelmed by the generosity of the children and overpowered with the sheer number of gifts we received.  This heart warming assembly proved to us how much this school appreciated our presence there and confirmed how much we were going to miss our time teaching in this wonderful school.

This week has also marked the end of our classes at Makerere University which have had both many similarities and differences when compared to our lectures back home in Stranmillis University.  During our time at Makerere University we were enrolled onto two modules ‘Instructional methods of teaching’ and ‘Technology in the classroom’.  While studying in these classes, I found my twelve other classmates (PGCE students) very welcoming and interested in our experience of teaching in Northern Ireland compared to that of Uganda.  Throughout our weeks spent in this class I found it both challenging and intriguing to share my perspective on teaching and discuss the similarities and differences between teaching methods taught in Northern Ireland, and those taught in Uganda.  These discussions also helped me to evaluate my current teaching practices and encouraged me to reflect upon how aspects of Ugandan teaching practices could be incorporated into my own teaching style in a way to enhance my pupils learning experience.

One important difference which I observed during my time within the Ugandan education system was the contrast between education theory and practice which often appeared to exist.  Despite the fact that the lecturers spoke frequently on various western techniques such as interaction in class, I did not often observe this in practice.  The Northern Ireland Curriculum states that “children should be given opportunities to engage with and demonstrate the skill of communication and to transfer their knowledge about communication concepts and skills.”(CCEA, 2007)  In university, the lecturers often spent a large portion of their time dictating notes, this was ironic as it eliminated the opportunity to practice the techniques which formed the subject matter of these notes, namely class discussion and class interaction.  It also set the tone for the principle teaching method used when teaching students in school, where many of the teachers encouraged dictation and rote learning as the main method for education.  In spite of this drawback we found the lecturers very friendly and approachable outside of the lecture theatre in regards to giving advice and guidance on assignments.

Overall, I feel my time spent in City Parents Primary School and studying at Makerere University has been a wonderfully beneficial experience.  I have been truly blessed with this opportunity to experience a different education system outside of western society.  My time spent here has helped me to fully appreciate the vast range of teaching resources that we have in Northern Ireland, and to reflect, challenge and evaluate my own teaching styles.  Having the opportunity to engage with the countless teaching resources available at Stranmillis when contrasted with the limited resources available for teachers in Uganda has enlightened me to make full use of the privileges that we have been given in Northern Ireland as future teachers.

Our final assembly

References

CCEA, (2007), The Northern Ireland Curriculum: Revised Edition, CCEA, Belfast.