So I think a short update is warrented today. I learned that I was elected to be the Mbeya Region VAC (Volunteer Advisory Council) representative for the coming year. It's not much of a burden, requiring a few trips to Dar over my service but I'm excited to represent other volunteers in a meaningful way, solving real issues that arise in the field. I would not consider myself the kind of person that goes out and takes leadership roles but I do enjoy being in a position to enact change (when warrented of course!) and improve people's lives, even in small ways. I suppose that's true of all of us here in country, as why would anyone come without the intention of helping those here? Regardless, it's a position I'm looking forward to :)
Speaking of doing little things, I've spent this week organizing and taking inventory in the library. My enthusiasm for the project comes and goes but I find myself enjoying it when I'm in the room. I've come to realize many of the issues with the system in place are just a lack of concern for organization. I know when I was a kid, the parental requests for cleaning and organizing didn't really seem worth it, but as I got older I found myself wanting a clean organized space, especially with information. Now it seems almost ridiculous to ever be so disorganized. Things don't have to be super available but at least know generally where they are so you can get to them if you need. Anyway, things are going well and I'm taking stock of what's available. The actual moving should be happening soon (in Tanzanian terms so within the month). I'm trying to take a long term approach to this and see what it will be like 5 years after I leave, but we'll see what happens. I'm a little concerned I'm getting dangerously close to the giving something and someone take care of it rather than having them build it and see it as something they have to work for. Well for now, it's going well!
That's all for now, I hope things are going well!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The only constant in the world is change
So, as I continue my efforts to maintain a dialogue here for those following elsewhere, I have some fairly significant news. The school has aquired, temporarily, another teacher (to add to the seemingly endless stream as of late) that can teach A-level Physics and Math. He is waiting for either a permanent teaching post or an opportunity to continue his higher-education to become a lecturer at university. In the meantime, he can help us here at school. I was not aware of his coming but Monday morning my headmaster cuts into my first period lecture to introduce him. After I finished teaching for the day we began to discuss the situation and what responsibilities he would take on. It became clear that he was looking at teaching all of A-level Physics, to which, I will freely admit, my first reaction was negative. They're my students! I want to be responsible for their education and lead them! It was refreshing to see my own desire to ensure the students' success, as teaching lately has become somewhat monotonous and long. Anyway, after stepping back a bit I'm starting to see this as a very good thing.
First of all, this dramatically reduces my teaching responsibilities, a bit ridiculously. I'm now looking at a schedule of 4 double-periods a week, although that could change as well. Secondly, someone who has been through the material before in a Tanzanian system is in charge of the lecturing. Admittedly, for the Form VI group, we were getting into physics I had seen only once in my life and to a depth much further than I had gone. If it works out that he can only teach through Electronics, then it still will have been worth it because they had that material taught by someone more qualified than I. And thirdly, I now have time to concentrate on projects that are outside of my teaching responsibilites.
In response to this proposition, I decided to go to my headmaster and talk about my options. I explained that while I didn't mind passing on my physics periods, it would leave me dangerously low in the teaching periods I had and I wanted to fill them with another project if nothing else. Through the conversation it became apparent, my suggestions for the library have put me in line to really influence the project by running the transition. Let me explain, the current library is a small room in part of an old house on the school property. There are two other storage rooms and two larger rooms. When the dorm ran out of space for new students at the beginning of the year, a small group of students were put into the library to sleep. Recently, the headmaster decided to have a new room added on to the library to move these students into and then he would like to expand the library into the larger room(s). This new construction had slowed somewhat and a roof was lacking but he said he would call yesterday to check on the progress. Today, there was a wooden frame for the roof up and the metal sheets were sitting beneath them so one way or another things are getting done!
So it appears as if next week I'll be working in developing a new, more functional and most importantly useful, space to work with. I think the idea they have for the library is based on the right ideas, but it has become something that is offered because it is expected to be and motivations for quality are lacking. Anyway, I can further detail this when I get going with real facts and base it less on speculation. Regardless, it seems my reduction in workload and increase in outside of class activity is the ideal scenario, let's hope it works out that way!
That's the big news, and I can't think of much more to add beyond that. I read an interesting passage in my old text book for my urban studies class which I found interesting.
"The problem is not that our suburbs and cities are lacking design but that they are desiged according to failed priciples with flawed implementation. They are designed in accord with modern principles and implemented by specialists. The modernist principles of specialization, standardization, and mass production in emulating our industrial economy had a severe effect on the character of our neighborhoods and regions."
- "Designing the Region" by Calthorpe and Fulton
It goes on to say more specifics about how those factors cause issues on the neighborhood scale but essentially it's pointing out the issues with having highway engineers plan the freeways, retailers plan the commercial developments, and single family home builders planning neighborhoods. You get very bland, repetitive products that have no synthesis between the different functions. In other words, you get suburban America. It makes me wonder what the right amount of specialization is, in everything from urban planning to education.
First of all, this dramatically reduces my teaching responsibilities, a bit ridiculously. I'm now looking at a schedule of 4 double-periods a week, although that could change as well. Secondly, someone who has been through the material before in a Tanzanian system is in charge of the lecturing. Admittedly, for the Form VI group, we were getting into physics I had seen only once in my life and to a depth much further than I had gone. If it works out that he can only teach through Electronics, then it still will have been worth it because they had that material taught by someone more qualified than I. And thirdly, I now have time to concentrate on projects that are outside of my teaching responsibilites.
In response to this proposition, I decided to go to my headmaster and talk about my options. I explained that while I didn't mind passing on my physics periods, it would leave me dangerously low in the teaching periods I had and I wanted to fill them with another project if nothing else. Through the conversation it became apparent, my suggestions for the library have put me in line to really influence the project by running the transition. Let me explain, the current library is a small room in part of an old house on the school property. There are two other storage rooms and two larger rooms. When the dorm ran out of space for new students at the beginning of the year, a small group of students were put into the library to sleep. Recently, the headmaster decided to have a new room added on to the library to move these students into and then he would like to expand the library into the larger room(s). This new construction had slowed somewhat and a roof was lacking but he said he would call yesterday to check on the progress. Today, there was a wooden frame for the roof up and the metal sheets were sitting beneath them so one way or another things are getting done!
So it appears as if next week I'll be working in developing a new, more functional and most importantly useful, space to work with. I think the idea they have for the library is based on the right ideas, but it has become something that is offered because it is expected to be and motivations for quality are lacking. Anyway, I can further detail this when I get going with real facts and base it less on speculation. Regardless, it seems my reduction in workload and increase in outside of class activity is the ideal scenario, let's hope it works out that way!
That's the big news, and I can't think of much more to add beyond that. I read an interesting passage in my old text book for my urban studies class which I found interesting.
"The problem is not that our suburbs and cities are lacking design but that they are desiged according to failed priciples with flawed implementation. They are designed in accord with modern principles and implemented by specialists. The modernist principles of specialization, standardization, and mass production in emulating our industrial economy had a severe effect on the character of our neighborhoods and regions."
- "Designing the Region" by Calthorpe and Fulton
It goes on to say more specifics about how those factors cause issues on the neighborhood scale but essentially it's pointing out the issues with having highway engineers plan the freeways, retailers plan the commercial developments, and single family home builders planning neighborhoods. You get very bland, repetitive products that have no synthesis between the different functions. In other words, you get suburban America. It makes me wonder what the right amount of specialization is, in everything from urban planning to education.
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