Tag Archives: Tanzania
Living in a foreign culture
I have been finished teaching for a little over a week now, and while I am still in Tanzania I want to take a little time to reflect on the experience of living here. I think maybe another post will … Continue reading
Improving Education at the National Level
I have now officially finished teaching in Ngara, and am now writing from my Dar hotel room. In my last post I talked about the way district education officials could improve education in their districts, but ended by suggesting that … Continue reading
Improving Education at the District Level
I mentioned a while back that I was going to send a letter with feedback to the District Education Officer in Ngara. I gave him that letter a couple weeks ago, and have yet to receive a response. The letter … Continue reading
WorldTeach Tanzania Effectiveness
I came to Tanzania with WorldTeach for a number of reasons, but one of the primary reasons I chose WorldTeach was that as an organization it doesn’t displace local labor, and exists primarily to help fill teacher shortages in countries … Continue reading
Abuse
The other day I witnessed the most extreme abuse I have ever seen in a Tanzanian school. This case is illustrative of how Tanzanian schools handle teachers who give corporal punishment outside the legal and ethical boundaries of their society. … Continue reading
Critical Thinking
In America there has been a shift towards emphasizing critical thinking in education. Indeed, I remember at some point in high school one of my teachers saying, “In 10 years I doubt you’ll remember many details from the books we … Continue reading
“Tie your tie, or your tie will tie you” – Inspection
Every Monday morning, after singing the national anthem and the school song, it is time for inspection. This means that the teacher on duty, the discipline master, or sometimes the secondmaster, inspects students along with other prefects. The inspection focuses … Continue reading
The Form I students
I realized last Friday, after some particularly successful classes with my Form I students, that I have only four weeks left of normal class with them. This was a very sad moment for me, because of everything I have done … Continue reading
Streaming Students
The teaching I do in Tanzania is one of the most rewarding elements of my experience here, but since my arrival I have been frustrated with the wide range of abilities in my classes. This is especially problematic in class … Continue reading
When the salesman comes to school
It is quite a regular occurrence for salesman of one type or another to come visit my school. They come selling books, household wares, and even fish. And almost always, their visits are met with great excitement by the teachers. … Continue reading