Page 30 - ELG1705 May Issue 447

PEOPLE

Under

African

skies

‘Leave your assumptions behind’ – a maxim that
should be engraved on every classroom door.
But it is even more important in sub-Saharan Africa.
Teacher and author Jason Anderson talks about the
challenges of teaching in the region

emember last year’s ELTons winner possible for some groups, but others benefited
Teaching in Africa? Its author Jason from a more structured approach, with clear
Anderson tells the Gazette about his tasks, extensive modelling and detailed
Rexperiences. feedback. Moving from Eritrea to Rwanda in
What were the most meaningful episodes 2009, I found many shared challenges.
during your ten years working in Africa that The training programmes by the Bureau
contributed to the creation of your book? National de l’Enseignement Protestant (BNEP)
Which teachers and teacher trainers inspired then ran by Francois Rwambonera were a
you the most? particular inspiration. They involve effective
When I first arrived in Eritrea as a teacher teaching that is also Rwandan in its approach What are the most challenging contexts
educator for VSO over ten years ago, I and ‘culture’. Teachers relate to it because it for teaching English in Africa?
presumed that I was an expert. I was, but not is native to them, relevant to their curriculum Through my work for the Unicef Child-
for the context I now found myself in. The and challenges, and in line with their beliefs. friendly Schools project, I have witnessed some
first thing I had to do was to apprentice myself In Kenya, I learnt from teachers working very challenging conditions – for example, in
to some of the experienced teachers I was in inner-city slums, like Leah Asego, who primary schools in rural Malawi where classes
working with, and to learn from them how to showed me the importance of discipline as the can have well over 100 students. They often
teach again. Only then could I work out how first vital ingredient of their practice. Working have desks, but they have to take them out
my prior experience could be relevant, and in very large classes, they spend a lot of time just to get the students in, who have to sit
then begin, tentatively, to offer advice and training their learners and managing behaviour, on the floor. Classrooms are often dark with
input from more Western models of education. while teaching English in the process They use poor chalkboards, and they gradually heat up
Tesfahanes Negash, a very talented this to ensure that children who face many through the day. An hour’s teaching in such a
secondary teacher, showed me that more challenges outside the classroom are able to classroom can exhaust the most enthusiastic
autonomous, student-centred learning was focus when inside it. teacher. But it’s easy to paint a picture of doom
and gloom and to forget the progress made in
so many countries across the continent.
COLIN J. MCMECHAN happening in many countries, and in some
Near-universal primary enrolment is
countries (e.g. Botswana) class sizes compare
to those in European schools. Incredible
achievements in such a short time!
Could you tell us more about your CHILD
model and how this applies to English
language teaching and learning in Africa?
‘CHILD’ is a mnemonic for introducing a
realistic, learner-centred approach in schools in
challenging contexts. It stands for:
Communicate: Children communicate with each
other;
Help: Children help each other to learn;
Identify: Children identify with the lesson content

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