My flatmate was away for the weekend, so I was able to get up early on Saturday without having to creep around. Early on Saturday there is a farmers' market a couple of streets away, so I went down to get a few provisions. Provisions is what they call the basic root vegetables etc here. My latest recipe (courtesy of my nice landlady) is for metagee. This is root vegetables (cassava, sweet potato, eddo), plantain, onion, garlic, celery leaves, grated ginger, chilli all cooked in coconut milk (grate coconut into water then squeeze out) then with fish laid over the top. Then you have dumplings cooked in the top, the dumplings are flour and cornmeal. It was pretty good, but takes ages to prepare all the vegetables. Fortunately I had some guests who were happy to peel and chop stuff up. I had another VSO staying overnight - she lives out in the sticks so appreciates a chance to see the bright lights of Georgetown - well we both went to the Catholic Cathedral for 6 am mass, then went swimming in the hotel pool, and back in time for breakfast.
Later on I cycled to a sports day run by the Rotary Club for children with disabilities. They call it paralympics, but it is more like a school sports day with running races etc. After each race the children were given a pair of shoes (crocs).
On Sunday afternoon there was a Deaf Awareness concert, called Talking Hands Dancing Feet. It was brilliant, with children and teenagers doing various dance and skits etc, all with signing and interpreting where necessary. The whole thing was delayed an hour in starting, which is just Guyana time, so you have to chat to your neighbour to keep entertained.
The evening was the concert with the choir. Fortunately my costume was ready in time. I really enjoyed taking part - by yesterday I felt more confident about my alto parts, and they gave me a person to stand next to who could keep me on track. There were other music performers including a solo violin which was very professional, as well as a steel band who played the overture from the Nutcracker. I didn't know they did anything so ambitious. It is great to mix with local people in that context as you have the challenge of the pieces to give a focus.
Back to work this morning, then a major trip out to Linden Special School tomorrow. We are being picked up at 6 am.
Monday 28 September 2009
Thursday 24 September 2009
Special School Visit
I went to New Amsterdam yesterday which is about 2 hours drive away, leaving at 5.30 am. I visited a special school, which takes about 40 children who have learning difficulties and disabilities. There are four classes: deaf children, beginners, middle and older children. The deaf children have a teacher who has done a sign language course, so I was able to try out my rudimentary signing. The children are mixed ages from 5 to 16. The curriculum in the special school is the same as for all other schools, they adapt it themselves according to what they feel the children can do. There is no guidance about how to adapt the curriculum, and no additional curriculum to meet their needs. This may be an area that I get involved in (maybe life skills), but at the moment I am just observing what the local situation is. There have been speech and language therapists and occupational therapists coming to the school, but at the moment there aren't any in the country - some of my VSO colleagues are training local people.
On the positive side, the school has separate rooms for each class, and space outside for them to play with some rather antiquated swings etc. The teachers seem more motivated than I have seen in the mainstream schools. I observed teachers dividing up the group to give the children different work according to what level they needed, this is the first time I have seen this. Usually the teachers do the standard chalk and talk lesson, with choral repetition, choral answering of questions, and the children do what they can, there is no differentiation of the work. There is individual questioning of children as well, they have to stand up to answer the question, so it really puts them on the spot. In mainstream schools it is often too noisy for the teacher and the children to hear well enough to do this - (Primary schools usually have 8 - 10 classes in one big room separated by blackboards.)
So you can see that there are lots of challenges here. I am just trying to observe and see the overall context before leaping in to try to find a corner where I may be able to contribute something useful. I am still waiting for my local colleague to be appointed so that I have someone to discuss and work with. Otherwise it is not sustainable.
At the weekend the choir that I am in is performing. I have borrowed a recorder to practise and learn my alto parts, so I am a bit more confident about it now. It is in a local church on Sunday evening. I enjoy being able to mix with local people, as well as focussing on something different from work. It is a good hobby.
Cheers, Kate
Kate
On the positive side, the school has separate rooms for each class, and space outside for them to play with some rather antiquated swings etc. The teachers seem more motivated than I have seen in the mainstream schools. I observed teachers dividing up the group to give the children different work according to what level they needed, this is the first time I have seen this. Usually the teachers do the standard chalk and talk lesson, with choral repetition, choral answering of questions, and the children do what they can, there is no differentiation of the work. There is individual questioning of children as well, they have to stand up to answer the question, so it really puts them on the spot. In mainstream schools it is often too noisy for the teacher and the children to hear well enough to do this - (Primary schools usually have 8 - 10 classes in one big room separated by blackboards.)
So you can see that there are lots of challenges here. I am just trying to observe and see the overall context before leaping in to try to find a corner where I may be able to contribute something useful. I am still waiting for my local colleague to be appointed so that I have someone to discuss and work with. Otherwise it is not sustainable.
At the weekend the choir that I am in is performing. I have borrowed a recorder to practise and learn my alto parts, so I am a bit more confident about it now. It is in a local church on Sunday evening. I enjoy being able to mix with local people, as well as focussing on something different from work. It is a good hobby.
Cheers, Kate
Kate
Monday 21 September 2009
Deaf Awareness Week, Balmy Breezes
September is Education Month (Punctuality and Attendance - the keys to success) and this is Deaf Awareness Week. These things are declared grandly in the local paper or local TV, but it is well nigh impossible to find out when and where anything is actually happening. But yesterday I succeeded in joining the Supporters Group for Deaf Persons marching behind a banner with a police motorcycle in front to sort out the traffic. Then there was a conference day covering solidarity, HIV AIDS, Advocacy and Rights. There were about 30 people including lots of teenagers, all using sign language apparently very effectively. I am hoping to learn, but of course it is the American version. This week there are visits to schools to promote Deaf Awareness and I'm going along to a couple of these as well as visiting the Police - to raise awareness of issues with the police tackling groups of youths who may be deaf. That should be interesting.
On Sunday evening we met up with VSOs and friends as one of the VSOs is leaving. We went to a bar with terraces overlooking the beach - cool balmy breezes and dark, so you cannot see the mud coloured sea.
On Sunday evening we met up with VSOs and friends as one of the VSOs is leaving. We went to a bar with terraces overlooking the beach - cool balmy breezes and dark, so you cannot see the mud coloured sea.
Monday 14 September 2009
Speedboat trip
I went off for the weekend to visit another VSO who is working near the coast to the north of here. We went on a minibus at 6.30 am from the market place in Georgetown, then a speedboat ride on the Essiquibo river for an hour, then a shared taxi to the place which is called Charity. The speedboat was pretty exciting taking a dozen people on a wooden boat alongside mangrove covered islands (lifebelts provided and tarpaulins to keep off the spray). Charity is the end of the road literally, where goods get traded with river craft from up the Pomeroon River. Our VSO friend used to work for the World Wildlife Fund so is very knowledgeable. He lives in a quiet place on the first floor with views from the balcony across paddy fields towards the palm trees on the coast. We saw scarlet ibis flying over, the locals call them curry curry birds because of the colour. Also saw vultures, birds of prey, lizards, wasps an inch long and other flying bugs worth avoiding. On the way back we were in the taxi and were stopped by armed police. I think they are looking for drugs smugglers bringing stuff down from Venezuala down the rivers. But they let us through without any bother.
Visits to Schools
On Friday I visited some primary and secondary schools. It was a real eye opener. In the secondary schools there appeared to be a lot of chalk and talk, but the primary schools were incredible, in one place there were ten classes in one big room, separated by blackboards, and with very little space between. There was a high level of noise and lack of privacy for the teacher to establish a relationship with their class. The teacher had to repeat the question to each group of children in the class so they could hear. Again the main method was copying from the blackboard. It is difficult to see how children with special needs could receive the support they need. We have also found out that the organisation we work for (NCERD) is responsible for continuing professional developement and provision of materials for teachers, but that responsibility has been devolved to Regional Councils for things like providing and maintaining equipment.
Today I went to a unit for children with a visual impairment which is attached to a secondary school, but also supports children in nursery and primary. I met the head teacher who said that the main difficulty they had was in maths. For other subjects the children go to the mainstream classes, then bring the work to the unit where they go over things, and record bits onto casette for them to listen to. But for maths they only do basic number work and money in the unit itself. So there is a lot of work that I can contribute there. She said that I was the answer to her prayers. Let's hope so. However I have to do things in a sustainable way, ie I have to make sure that I work alongside a local person so that they can continue when I leave. I am arranging to go to observe sessions later this week hopefully.
Today I went to a unit for children with a visual impairment which is attached to a secondary school, but also supports children in nursery and primary. I met the head teacher who said that the main difficulty they had was in maths. For other subjects the children go to the mainstream classes, then bring the work to the unit where they go over things, and record bits onto casette for them to listen to. But for maths they only do basic number work and money in the unit itself. So there is a lot of work that I can contribute there. She said that I was the answer to her prayers. Let's hope so. However I have to do things in a sustainable way, ie I have to make sure that I work alongside a local person so that they can continue when I leave. I am arranging to go to observe sessions later this week hopefully.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
National Literacy Day, Early Grade Reading Assessment
Yesterday was National Literacy Day. We attended the event here at NCERD. The day kicked off with standing up to say the National Pledge, then very formal speeches of welcome to an audience of ministry officials, head teachers etc. The Minister of Education talked about the importance of literacy in an age when children are tempted away from books towards watching TV and playing computer games. There were displays from bookshops, displays of learning materials for nursery, primary and secondary teachers. Then there were storytelling for groups of various age school children. It was good to have contact with some school children at last. There were groups of 10 children from each school with a teacher - they may have been selected on the basis of smartness and quietness (mainly girls). Their uniforms are extremely smart right to the colour of hairbands. There was barely a murmur while they wait half an hour for an activity to begin.
Today we had a presentation of the results of the Early Grade Reading Assessment which is a piece of research conducted by academics from the US. The results are appalling, particularly in children understanding how to sound out words and comprehend what is written. We believe that many teachers rely on old fashioned writing on the blackboard which the class copies down, without understanding the meaning. A programme of jolly phonics has been introduced to schools over the last couple of years, but the results are still poor, allegedly because training given to staff is not implemented. Why? Because many teachers have little training and motivation is low, because many schools are very isolated so support is difficult, because when teachers get experienced they go overseas to work so there is little continuity.
So all in all there are plenty of challenges here. My job is to set up a Special Needs Unit at NCERD to address the training needs of teachers in special schools, in SEN units attached to mainstream schools and of teachers who will be expected to include more special children in mainstream classes. My first step has to be a baseline of what is currently going on. There has been a lot written down about initiatives over the last couple of years, but how much have things actually changed? My first visit to schools will be on Friday, so that will help get my feet on the ground a bit more.
I have tried again to put a picture on here, but without success. I think the processing on this computer is not up to it. A couple of us are planning a trip on Saturday and Sunday to go North to a place called Charity to visit another VSO. It involves a speedboat ride on the Essequibo River, so I hope to have some good stories to tell after that. Cheers Kate
Cheers
Kate
Today we had a presentation of the results of the Early Grade Reading Assessment which is a piece of research conducted by academics from the US. The results are appalling, particularly in children understanding how to sound out words and comprehend what is written. We believe that many teachers rely on old fashioned writing on the blackboard which the class copies down, without understanding the meaning. A programme of jolly phonics has been introduced to schools over the last couple of years, but the results are still poor, allegedly because training given to staff is not implemented. Why? Because many teachers have little training and motivation is low, because many schools are very isolated so support is difficult, because when teachers get experienced they go overseas to work so there is little continuity.
So all in all there are plenty of challenges here. My job is to set up a Special Needs Unit at NCERD to address the training needs of teachers in special schools, in SEN units attached to mainstream schools and of teachers who will be expected to include more special children in mainstream classes. My first step has to be a baseline of what is currently going on. There has been a lot written down about initiatives over the last couple of years, but how much have things actually changed? My first visit to schools will be on Friday, so that will help get my feet on the ground a bit more.
I have tried again to put a picture on here, but without success. I think the processing on this computer is not up to it. A couple of us are planning a trip on Saturday and Sunday to go North to a place called Charity to visit another VSO. It involves a speedboat ride on the Essequibo River, so I hope to have some good stories to tell after that. Cheers Kate
Cheers
Kate
Friday 4 September 2009
Choir and Meeting with Eyecare Guyana
Two of us VSOs went along to a local choir for the first time last night, it was a real hoot. Turn up at a local secondary school hall, help get out the chairs and sit around. The woman conducting is very entertaining, laughing all the time but also very clear and strict about what she wants which is great. There were about 25 people, with a good number in all the four parts. But they were glad to have more altos. We did some Handel, Spirituals, Gospel, locally written songs, and the standard was really high, quite a challenge for me. We did some rhythmic work as clapping to accompany a song. We were sat in front of the basses, some of whom took solos and that was a real inspirational sound. They were all local people, of a mix of ages, very friendly. They said they would make sure we got home safely, and we were given a lift with someone who was the head of a special school, where I will be going to visit soon, so that was good. The choir meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I am looking forward to going again. I asked someone there to help me find a local dance group that I could join, so I'm hoping to get that sorted as well.
Yesterday I also went to meet someone from Eyecare Guyana. They have a little office in Georgetown. They do advocacy, campaigning for funding for free glasses for people who can't afford them, and give rehabilitation training eg they give out long canes which are provided by a charity, along with training. The canes are good for indoors, but the external environment around here is absolutely dire for anyone with low vision, no kerbs, loads of open holes into drains, changes of level, broken concrete paths, street vendors, insane traffic and so on. This chap says that the school system is managing to get a few kids with visual impairment through their equivalent of GCSE English, History etc, by using amanuenses, but have no way of doing maths or science diagrams and stuff. So he suggests that I could set up a programme for training new teachers, as well as CPD for existing teachers. I also found out today from the maths people here that they do not make any adaptions to booklets, exam papers etc, not even photo enlarging, so there is a lot to be done. It is great to feel I have found some work that I can get involved in.
Cheers, Kate
Yesterday I also went to meet someone from Eyecare Guyana. They have a little office in Georgetown. They do advocacy, campaigning for funding for free glasses for people who can't afford them, and give rehabilitation training eg they give out long canes which are provided by a charity, along with training. The canes are good for indoors, but the external environment around here is absolutely dire for anyone with low vision, no kerbs, loads of open holes into drains, changes of level, broken concrete paths, street vendors, insane traffic and so on. This chap says that the school system is managing to get a few kids with visual impairment through their equivalent of GCSE English, History etc, by using amanuenses, but have no way of doing maths or science diagrams and stuff. So he suggests that I could set up a programme for training new teachers, as well as CPD for existing teachers. I also found out today from the maths people here that they do not make any adaptions to booklets, exam papers etc, not even photo enlarging, so there is a lot to be done. It is great to feel I have found some work that I can get involved in.
Cheers, Kate
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Second day at work
I'm on my second day at work. The person that I will be mainly working with is a local SEN Coordinator who should be in post by the end of September, so up till then I will be talking, observing, visiting schools and trying to get an overall picture of the current position: a baseline. Then if I do a project I will be able to measure if it has had any output, outcome and impact. We have already had a power cut this morning, but apparently they only last for half an hour or an hour.
My morning routine is shaping up: I managed to cycle to work with no punctures, it is about a mile and a half, then a swim in the pool at the posh hotel, there is another lady who swims early every day, so I have a little chat to her, get into work just before eight. Having the bike will be worthwhile because it is so hot later in the day. At least the bike gets you there quickly without having the heat reflecting up at you from the road. I hunted round to find a shop to buy a spanner after work yesterday, and got quite lost, but got an adjustable one eventually, only to find when I got home that it was useless. So I will go down to the best hardware shop in town at lunchtime. Hopefully it won't rain. Yesterday we had very heavy rain for about half an hour. At least it cools things down a bit. I finish work at 4.30, and as the shops can shut at 5pm, it can be difficult to get things. I have to be very focussed and know exactly where to go and my route.
Cheers
Kate
My morning routine is shaping up: I managed to cycle to work with no punctures, it is about a mile and a half, then a swim in the pool at the posh hotel, there is another lady who swims early every day, so I have a little chat to her, get into work just before eight. Having the bike will be worthwhile because it is so hot later in the day. At least the bike gets you there quickly without having the heat reflecting up at you from the road. I hunted round to find a shop to buy a spanner after work yesterday, and got quite lost, but got an adjustable one eventually, only to find when I got home that it was useless. So I will go down to the best hardware shop in town at lunchtime. Hopefully it won't rain. Yesterday we had very heavy rain for about half an hour. At least it cools things down a bit. I finish work at 4.30, and as the shops can shut at 5pm, it can be difficult to get things. I have to be very focussed and know exactly where to go and my route.
Cheers
Kate
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