My stay there was short. The people and community was beautiful. Sure there are problems: unclean drinking water, health issues, poverty. However, I came away with a profound sense that these people are just fine under God's sun. In fact, the thing that bothered me most was the fear that the people had about discussing their native beliefs. These are considered Witchcraft.
My primary educational concern was that the formative years of education are totally instructed in English, the official language of Uganda. However, without a connection of education to traditional culture, I feel that valuable assets are lost including a healthy sense of self-identity. I expressed some of these feelings to the US missionaries there and was met hostility and resistance.
Upon arriving at Teachers and Tour Sojourner (TATS), I was able to teach classes to many different age groups and disciplines. This experience opened my eyes to the desire for education in the country and there belief that education is power. Only gaining their independence in the late 1960's from Britain, the educational system is chaotic without many organizational or structures to assure a quality education in being given. For me, FLEXIBILITY was the key. At one University, I had gone prepared to talk about Educational Philosophy to group of second year students; however, I ended up on the grass outside, where many classes are taught because the power was off that day, which is typical of Uganda. The class was comprised of students of a disciplines, so I had to regroup and quickly. Taking a lesson on Educational Motivation, I modified it for motivation in general. The students asked questions and were eager to learn.
One barrier that I experienced in all my teaching experiences was my strong southern accent. I learned quickly to speak slowly, rephrase what I was saying, and to open the door for them to slow me down and ask me to repeat if they did not understand something.
They were without books, paper, pencils. Basic supplies. So, I put them into pairs for role playing to reinforce the lesson.
This was the most challenging teaching event of my life. It is hard to summarize the affect that it had on me as an educator. I am working on putting this into words, and I will when they come clearly.
As for what I learned about being a a Master Teacher. She is flexible, secure in their content area and able to adapt content to many different situations. She can apply many classroom management techniques and can adjust those to best suit students and situations as they change.
