Today term started again after the three-week Easter break. It was good to see the students again. A lot has happened over the break and it feels like a long time since we were last teaching. We began the term by reviewing students opinions about what they had learned in the previous term, asking them what they thought had gone well and so on. We asked them to state three important things they had learned, and what difficulties they had encountered. Then we asked them how they thought we could help with the difficulties and what they thought they could do to help themselves. We told them some difficulties we had had as their teachers, and how we thought they might help us. Then we asked 'What went well?' and told them what we thought had gone well and how proud we are of their achievements. Then we enquired what they wanted more of in the second half of the course, and finished by asking whether there were times when they had used what they have learned on the course in their own lives. David led this session and I sat quietly at the back and noted down everything that they said to help us with the planning of the next few weeks. They came up with ten important things they thought they had learned and I was pleased to note that that after some discussion they were able to agree that the most important three were: Observation, Play and Nutrition. Observation and Play I don't think any child care specialist would argue with anywhere in the world, and I think that here in Malawi most people would recognize how important it is that children should receive good nutrition and that this will have a profound effect upon their ability to learn and develop as well as upon health issues. The other important things listed were: Developmental theories, Developmental Milestones, Children's Rights, the importance of Key Concepts to later learning, Creativity, making story sacks, and Fun. Not a bad selection I feel. David wanted Fun to be one of the most important three, but the consensus reached was Observation, Play and Nutrition. That is good enough for me!
Under difficulties we had a lively exchange about the cultural appropriateness of the approach to early years teaching that we are taking; debated again the difficulty of deciding whether issues and milestones are Moral, Spiritual, Social or Emotional; discussed the difficulties of making good observations and of linking theory to practice, considered whether or not it mattered that some of us are not 'good at drawing'; and discussed the relative merits of using larger print on handouts to make them easier to read or economizing on the amount of paper we use. Handouts are the major expense of this course as there are over 70 students and paper and ink cartridges are expensive in Malawi. However the handouts build up into a useful resource to be used by the students when they become care Givers in the Children's Centre. I could write a lot more about this session but it is late and I am tired, however I do have my record of the session so can go back to it at a later date. It is worth noting however that in answer to the question, 'What is the most important thing you can give to a child?' we received the following answers: Time, Praise, Play, Attention, Love, Care, Freedom balanced with safety, Rights and responsibilities. Not a bad list. We must be getting some things right at least!
In the afternoon I led a session looking at Reflective Practice and how it can/should be beneficial both for the learning of the children and the professional development of the Care Givers. A group of students demonstrated a new activity involving using a piece of Lycra material with a couple of rhymes, and then I encouraged each student to write their own entry in a reflective diary about the activity they had seen and how useful it might be to them in their work with children. Then they discussed their entries in small groups. Tomorrow we have a visiting speaker and I have asked them all to write a reflective diary entry about how they can use the information learned when they are working in the Children's Centre. The idea is to encourage the practice of reflection for the benefit of both staff and children.
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