My lessons on Education from England. During my last visit to UK, I did visit a number of schools ranging from primary to secondary, single and mixed schools, and also universities including Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Cambridge University. My particular course though was at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. I did attend some lessons in the schools I visited to be able to learn how teachers in these schools teach, to experience the learning environment of the learners in the UK, and to compare notes with the Ugandan education system and way of teaching. Of all the experiences I had, I was most struck by how much Teachers value their learners and how the burden of the progress of the learner is very much on the teacher and than on the learner. They explain that since learning should be a pleasurable experience, there is no reason why the learner should fail. So if the learner is performing poorly, the teacher has to take responsibility and make all possible efforts to help the learner to improve including having extra time with learner. Here, in sharp contrast, some teachers celebrate when learners fail. They say, I got them; I arrested them and got them offside...or I am going to set an exam and not a single one of them will get 60%. Very sad. I was also struck by the way they manage the discipline of the students. Here, students are beaten, and ‘tortured to learn’. You have to learn by force. Learning is not a pleasurable experience for most learners. When a child wakes up in the morning and they think about school, the only thing that comes to their mind is that teacher with a cane, that teacher with a bad tongue, that teacher who assaults them, think about a teacher beating them for failing, reducing their self esteem and all sorts of abuse. School is a nightmare although out of despair, these youngsters in very unbearable conditions that tear the human spirit...they somehow cope and carry on. I was surprised that not a single pupil or student is beaten yet the discipline is exceedingly good and few very few students if any cause much trouble in school. In England, the learner is as important as the teacher. In sharp contrast, here in Uganda, the teacher is in most environments the most important person and they lead the learning and not the learner. So the learner perceives himself or herself as less important in the learning process, and only a receiver of information. I was also amazed at how small the classes are. In one of the very impressive schools I visited called Marlborough Primary School, the Head Teacher said that some of his teachers were complaining about the ‘big’ sizes of some classes. Those who had 30 pupils in classes felt that was too much and were finding it hard to give attention to every learner. They have a class size of between 20 to 30 pupils/students per class. I was totally shocked because back in my own class at University, I teach over 200 students during each lesson. It’s just unbelievable how much the difference is. I also found that students have very brief lessons unlike our two and sometimes three hours which wears out the learner and reduces the concentration. The feeding was another interesting thing. Children eat enough, nutritious food. In our country, children in over 80% of the schools feed on Posho (Maize flour/grain) and beans for six days a week if not seven. The same meal every single day for all the 3 months. Students in UK also are taught to be very inquisitive and are left to explore as much as possible during the process of learning. In fact, there is so much food that teachers have to increasingly talk to students to eat the food. Many children I learnt, were more interested in cold foods, and sandwiches than the very good food prepared by the schools. I was utterly amazed. I have seen children who even go with one meal a day for months. I was also not happy that here, we limit questioning, we emphasise conformity, compliance and do not offer leads to further personal study and exploration. I hope we can become better teachers too and focus on helping our learners than threatening them and making learning a tormenting experience.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 18:21:25 +0000
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