Techniques for better teaching

Amy and Freda, two wonderful teacher trainers, are back at St Jude's again. They have become regulars at the school, as they work with the teachers to introduce new curricula and new teaching methods.

In a recent blog post, Amy describes a demonstration lesson she gave to a Standard 5 class, to model the concept of artifacts as representations of culture.

Amy used a classic lesson, with photos of cups from different cultures and times in history. She said,

The children explored the photos in small groups, drew inferences about the cultures from the photos, and discussed. The higher level thinking was running all over the classroom, and their inferences were stunningly well-informed and insightful.

Then, they created a cup of their own to represent something about themselves and their culture. Typical of children their age, we had many sports cups, hearts and butterflies, names and ages decorating cups around the room.

Each of these processes was completely new to the children, and the joyful enthusiasm for the task, with no concern about "right and wrong" (a real issue in schools in this part of the world) let me know that they are ready and anxious to take on big ideas and big thinking at a moment's notice. Hoping the teachers who observed it uses the lesson as an example of how to raise the bar for learning, engage students actively, and produce big thinkers in the process. Fun day!

The School of St Jude does a whole lot more than give a basic education to poor children. It is building a network of teaching competency that gives these bright kids an excellent education. They will grow up with a wide view of the world, and will have the skills to think deeply about issues and problems.

The School of St Jude will educate hundreds of children, and that will make a massive difference to the whole community of northern Tanzania – and the country as a whole.



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Classrooms – learning on the job

Over the years of building classrooms in Tanzania, a developing country, the building materials and the builders’ skills have improved. The paint lasts longer, the floors survive thousands more foot steps, the render on the walls can cope with posters and charts and the blackboards remain black!



At first, the School shipped donated desks and chairs from Australia, but now all furniture is made locally. This way the School can ensure the furniture is the right height for the students and they are creating huge job opportunities for people in the local village and, therefore, the ripple effect is enormous.



The School also believes that staff and students will enjoy coming to school and will want to work hard and with pride for their school and themselves if they have harmonious surroundings. For this reason the School has gone to a lot of trouble to plant trees and grow gardens and lawns around the classrooms. Of course, it’s not all aesthetic - the greenery keeps down the dust and holds off the heat … to a certain extent!

By sponsoring classrooms at the School of St Jude, you are helping to pay for the bricks, cement, steel, wood, paint, render, corrugated iron sheets, building tools and fundis (bricklayers, carpenters, steel workers, builders, painters, cleaners, etc) wages. There is a maximum of 10 sponsors for each classroom – there are many people involved in building a classroom!

So, you can see how valuable your contribution is to the development of the school. When you give to the School of St Jude, you are joining a global team of wonderful people who realise that the fight against poverty starts with education. You can stay in touch with the School by newsletters, the School website and this blog – and feel the immensity of your contribution to many lives.


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End of school year

The 2006 school year is nearly over in Tanzania as well as in Australia. The School of St Jude has had its final assembly before the summer holidays.

Final assembly for 2006

With nine teachers and office staff leaving at the end of the year, Friday's assembly was big and emotional with some tears shed by both staff and students. Many of the classes did farewell songs and dances for the teachers and those who were leaving made speeches about how the school has changed them.

At any point in time there can be around 24 volunteers working at the school. These fantastic people help to keep the school running.

As well as teaching classes and running the office, volunteers help the local teachers to expand their teaching skills beyond the basic ‘chalk and talk’ methods that are the focus of teacher education in Tanzania.

Mandy uses a board game for revision

Here is a revision game that Mandy has demonstrated to the teaching staff.
Mandy came to the school for a quick visit in 2005 and used her great teaching tools with the classes. This was so successful that Gemma encouraged her to return this year for three months to continue her lessons. She has shown the Tanzanian teachers some ways that the children can have organised fun in the classroom while learning.

The game is used at the end of a lesson for revsion. When a student’s counter falls on a number with a gold star, he or she has to answer a question correctly before advancing on the board. The kids love it; they are learning in a fun atmosphere and the teacher has a happy, focussed class - it’s winners all round!

Mr Andrew uses the Snakes and Ladders board game

Mr Andrew has the ‘Snakes and Ladders’ version – if you don’t want to slide backwards down the snake or you want to take an advantage by climbing the ladder, get the question right!

With so many volunteers at the school, there is a high level of staff turnover. This would be regarded as a problem in an Australian school, but in Tanzania the benefits far outweigh the work of managing the turnover.