A summary of some of my projects

April through June Activity Summary

My work continues in a variety of areas—one significant difference is that students are no longer participating in School Based Studies so that supervisory work is finished.  However, I continue to work with students in the field by supporting their research and development as teachers in an after school program in Katutura.

Practical Class:  Until the semester finished on May 23, I worked weekly with a third year group on the Khomasdal Campus with their Environmental Studies Practical.  I was hoping to stay with this group all year, and then next year in January when they are begin their 12 week teaching practice so I can continue to support and evaluate their teaching.  However, I believe Dr. Trudie Frindt will no longer be their instructor, so I will need to check with the faculty member teaching that group in semester 2 if she would like me to support her in the practical part of the class.

UNESCO/CFIT (Chinese funds in trust) research project:  After working with the research group and finalizing all field documents, Trudie Frindt and I provided instructions for the research as one part of a short video that provides background information for all researchers.  I will be making my first visit to Tsumkwe to observe at a school there the last week in June.

Mentoring Project:  After meeting with Dr. John Nyambe (Continuing Professional Development) and Dr. Charmaine Villet, we have a detailed plan to move forward with the Mentoring program.  We have formed a steering committee with educators from UNAM, CPD, NIED, and the Ministry of Education—(Program Quality Assurance). I have decided that dinner meetings funded with the Fulbright food allowance are an easy way to bring everyone together.  At this time all participants are reviewing documents from NIED and at our next meeting will identify elements they believe are necessary in a credit based program for mentors.  The goal is to develop mentors who will mentor pre-service teachers during their school based study experiences and then continue the mentoring process during the first two years of teaching. 

Program Development for Diploma Course:

I have participated and supported the Faculty of Education in the development of a Diploma Course in Junior Primary Education.  In April we spent a full weekend working as a group, then had our own work to develop Exit Learning Outcomes for the courses, followed by another full day workshop.  We also discussed the program at the Faculty Board Meeting in June.  Juanita Moller and Charlotte Keyter—two key players have asked me to review the almost completed document and so I am currently half way through the document and will provide my feedback prior to the early July meeting to create a final document.

Student Research Support:  I have been working with 4^th year students who are specializing in the pre- and lower primary area.  All of these students are required to conduct research and so I have been working during the class break on their projects.  These are students who are interested in learning how an after school program can support student learning.  I have taken them to an after school center in Katutura and facilitated their work in this after school program. 

Additional Activity:

·      Participated in the YALI orientation for the Namibia group leaving for the United States.  I provided insight about professor expectations to the group.  Additionally, as a result of talk with the participants I met with one of the participants about education in the US, and responded to questions related to pursuing Ph.D. work.  I recommended some action steps and we will meet again when she returns.

·      I have worked with two faculty members from my department with their literature search related to doctoral research.  Both were feeling challenged with finding recent sources, so in each case we met for a couple of hours at my house and used my university’s library resources to find appropriate materials.  One of the benefits to them was that PLU will send electronic files of articles, and if our library doesn’t have them, then they will request from another library and have them sent electronically to me.  I know that isn’t a sustainable way to do research, but both faculty members felt they were able to move forward and not be concerned about navigating UNAM’s library.   

·      Submitted a workshop proposal for the Educator’s conference in September that connects research related to learning to college teacher.  I conducted a similar workshop at my university and I will see if this is something the organizing committee believes will fit into the conference.

·      Met with the principal at A.I Steenkamp, which is a school in Katutura that is connected to PLU’s education program.  She wondered if I would consider doing a classroom management workshop, and when we met to discuss what this would look like, I said yes to four 2 hour workshops between now and July 12.

Catching up after a long pause

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything on the blog. I have been providing pictures on Facebook, and decided there are some people I can reach this way and share some of my daily live here in Namibia.

      I am involved in a variety of projects, plus had a busy 11 days with Ashley, my former student who finished her first year of teaching in Spain and a group of faculty, staff and students from my university were here for 3 weeks filming a documentary and that carved away at some free time.  I am past my halfway point and so I completed a summary for the embassy—it really only includes April-June, because at the beginning I would provides updates about every 6 weeks.  I will include my work update on another entry, so those of you who are enjoying all my “fun” posts on Facebook  will know the other side of my life here.

            This week I completed 2 of the 4 classroom management workshops at a school in Katutura.  I know the first day many of the teachers weren’t too happy about the principal’s mandate to attend an after school session.  I told them the exit slip was a ticket out the door, and only 2 people told me they just couldn’t respond—would need to think about the prompts—“Describe a new insight for you from today related to classroom management” and “Write any questions or concerns you want me to address tomorrow.” I know they complete evaluations after some professional development workshops, but I believe saying it was a ticket out the door was a new concept for them.  By Day 2, I had 100% completion!  It was sweet because about 6 teachers commented positively on the presentation, including a teacher I was pretty sure didn’t want to be there—chose to sat in the back corner farthest from me on the first day.  On the second day she was much closer. Management is challenging for a lot of teachers, especially is small classrooms with often 40 learners. After spending time yesterday talking about positive connections with students as a strategy for positive classroom management, and then on an exit slip the majority of teachers saying they value positive connections with students, I feel that even if they make one change, there might be a benefit and make teaching less stressful.  I offered to come into their classrooms, observe and give feedback all confidentially, and about 8 or 10 out of the 30 teachers took my card, so we will see what happens.  I will finish up the workshop July 8 and 9^th before family arrives.

            This Sunday-Friday, I go to Tsumkwe in the eastern part of the country.  It is a region of the San people and along with my Dean I will be spending a week observing pre and lower primary (K-2) classrooms. Because instruction is in the language of the San people, we will also have two interpreters.  I am excited about seeing a totally new area of Namibia.  This research trip is part of the large research project funded by UNESCO and the Chines Funds in Trust.  We are looking a pre and lower primary education at schools in all 14 regions of Namibia, and after collecting data in June and July will begin to identify strengths and needs, and from there begin to develop ways to increase the quality of education at the lower grades.

            Lindsey will be on her own this week—Tony went to Wales to visit family and returns the following week.  She will have an automatic car to get around.  I know she will be fine on the left hand side of the road—she really attends to what I am doing, but even with that, she has Pam, one of my colleagues, and a friend from the Embassy watching out for her.  She gets to help at the Embassy’s 3^rd of July event so that will be nice for her.  On Tuesday she was part of the reception committee at the UN that greeted all the dignitaries arriving for the visit of Ban Ki-moon and the Namibian president.  What an experience for her!  She got to see and meet a variety of people and learned that some ambassadors like to be greeted formally with the title “Your Excellency.” How she learned that makes for a good story—one that is hers to tell.

So this update is getting to be long.  One more paragraph about the upcoming family visit. Laura  (niece) and Tony arrive on July 11^th, and then Ann (sister) and Andrew (son) arrive on July 13^th.  We will have a packed week with visits to Erindi for animal viewing, and Sossusvlei for dune climbing at dawn.  Andrew will be performing magic at the National Theater of Namibia (NTN) on Saturday July 19^th.  It’s a bigger event than we thought.  I had talked to people at the Embassy about Andrew performing and apparently when they contacted the NTN and showed his website, the idea grew quickly from a show perhaps at the American Cultural Center to a matinee with tickets being sold by CompuServe—the Namibian/South African equivalent to Ticket Master.  Tickets are US$3.00 (children) and US 6.00 (adults).  The cost might be a luxury for some children and families so my sisters and I have decided to sponsor 40+ kids from the after school centre in Katutura.    

            As you can see, our experiences continue to be positive. Lindsey does miss her friends and is looking forward to her July/August visit to CA and WA to attend two weddings and connect with family and friends.