Success?

"The recess detentions give us a better alternative to corporal punishment, and they are an even more effective punishment than using the cane. I have also given in to frustration and used a stick on the children but it is wrong and now is the time for all of us to say no to corporal punishment."

Those were the words I'd been waiting to hear, spoken by the school principal at last night's teachers' meeting. Although it will take a lot for the words to be followed up with actions (plus the meeting wasn't very well attended), it was a great momet for me, the culmination of my work on the classroom management workshop and recess detentions, and my conversations with the principal. In an ideal world I would know that the words would be followed up with real sanctions for teachers who go against the policy, and that there would be a real effort to stamp out corporal punishment; but the sentiment is there and realistically this was the best that could have happened.

Schol closes for Christmas this week, and my work there is definitely not done. There are some things I've introduced and helped to implement - the detentions, seating plans, teachers observing each other, and subject department meetings - that the teachers are generally keen about but that haven't had time to take root yet and the teachers are unlikely to take the initiative independently to carry them on. But the principal is keen, as are the other volunteers, so the baton will be passed onto them. A bit wierd for me as I like to see these things through and make sure they're done properly (bit of a control freak).

On a different topic, something that is really impressing me about the camp is the community spirit and the amount of effort the Liberian refugees put into helping each other. I've had a number of people talk to me about projects they've set up. For example, the guy working behind the counter of this internet cafe noticed that most schools are open only in the mornings so has set up a free afternoon school which he teaches at voluntarily. Also, one of the teachers, who I didn't trust very much as he's been a bit sneaky and pushy before with trying to get money out of people, told me about a project he and another refugee have set up. They are giving basic literacy and vocational education to 27 girls aged 12-20, who have dropped out of school and become prostitutes on the camp. Totally changed my opinion of him! Both have asked for help (even if not financial), and I'm going to use some of my spare time after schoool closes, to go and see the projects.

Getting there...

Been a hectic week, but a good one. After spending November feeling a bit ineffective here, the classroom management workshop has really been a bit of a springboard and I'm really feeling like I might be making some kind of a lasting difference now. I can't tell if the strategies for in the classroom are being used, but the system of teachers observing each other has started and is going well, and there is at least some supervision of the kids at break times now (although a bit haphazardly).

The main thing I'm trying to get sorted at the moment is a system of break time detentions. They were agreed at the workshop and are quite important, because everything else was about controlling the class whereas the detentions were the only feasible alternative punishment for corporal punishment. The teachers weren't taking any initiative though for using the system and nothing was happening; so on Wednesday when there were about 40 kids late for school and the teachers turned to me to ask what to do now (they do that quite often now. I don't know whether it's healthy) I said we'd put them in break time detention.

It was a bit manic rounding them up and getting them into detention - I was doing most of it, supported by the principal and a teacher - but eventually we got them in and settled, and it worked really well. We did another detention yesterday, this time getting names off teachers of kids who'd misbehaved in lessons too. The principal is pretty impressed and grateful that I've followed up on the workshop by actually enforcing the policies - but my worry is that they're going to have to continue without me. The other international volunteers are keen to carry them on when I've left, and hopefully the teachers will see the benefits of the detentions and be prepared to put the effort in to run them themselves.

I didn't realise till yesterday that corporal punishment has only been banned for less than a year; and someone told me that in other schools in Ghana, kids get hit for giving wrong answers - so actually the teachers aren't doing too bad at changing their practice. They just get frustrated and don't know any alternatives. Hopefully the detentions will give them one.

Taking the plunge

The teachers’ enthusiasm for the workshop lasted as far as Monday. They’re still positive about it, but I think when the reality of teaching slapped them in the face again their positivity started to wane. The system of break-time detentions that I proposed and that was agreed during the workshop was slightly misapplied by the vice principal on Monday when he sent some girls out of his class for some minor misdemeanor and decided to “put them in detention” by locking them in the store room. And them told them off for banging on the door. I had to carefully explain to him that there is a difference between detention and imprisonment, and that anyone would bang on the door if they were locked into a small room. It’s an uphill struggle for me to try and get them to follow their positive words with positive action, but I think we’re getting there. It’s a shame I only have half a week before exams and then holidays, but I guess even a small improvement would be good.

Earlier on Monday, I decided to take advantage of the principal’s positivity after the workshop, and I took the plunge that I’d been wanting to take for a while – I confronted him about the fact that corporal punishment was going on in the school, including by him, which is blatantly against their policy and supposed ethos. Without intending to, I ended up giving him a bit of a lecture, saying that as refugees from violence they should be setting an example for the children that violence isn’t the solution to problems (repeating what I said in the workshop). He started to act surprised when I was saying that I’d seen kids come out of his office having been hit, but then saw I wasn’t having any of it. As I continued, he then started going red and his eyes started welling up. When I finished, I expected him to get defensive or pretend it didn’t happen. Instead, he thanked me, saying that he wanted to have honest and open relationships with the volunteers. He said that the school had fallen short of the standards they’d set themselves, that they should be setting a better example for the kids, and that things are not the way they should be. He also agreed that following the workshop, the next teachers meeting would be a good time for him to make a statement recommitting to the policy. Although I’m not sure whether he has enough control over the teachers to make them stop, I came out of the discussion really buzzing with the result. In retrospect I feel a bit sorry for him though – his heart is obviously in the right place and he is against corporal punishment, but he doesn’t have enough control over either the kids or the teachers.

Looking forward to watching the Manchester United match tomorrow night, as a random guy who started talking to me in the street (which happens at least 5-10 times a day) told me about the Man U fan club in the refugee camp, which sounds like a great place to watch it!

Ups and Downs

The past couple of days have been quite up and down – as always here. Had a upsetting experience on Thursday. I was walking back from school when I heard a commotion behind me. A boy of about 3 had been running towards me, excited to see a white man, and crashed into someone holding a pot of boiling water, which went all over him. He was bawling and his mum was jumping about, screaming and tearing her hair out. Other people started throwing dust from the ground over him. I could hear people saying “he was going to the white man”. I was rooted to the spot – my first instinct was to run over and help (I was about 20m away), but there was absolutely nothing I would have been able to do, plus I had the strange feeling that as an outsider it wouldn’t be appropriate to interfere, especially when there was nothing I could do. That probably sounds weird to you at home, but the other volunteers here said they’ve experienced similar feelings. So my next thought was to just carry on home – there was nothing I could do.

I decided instead to run to the nearby volunteers’ house and come back with water and savlon cream. As I returned, the crowd of 20 or so people who had formed turned and stared at me approaching. They’d already put some yellow herbal ointment on him. It took a while for me to convince them that the water I’d brought should be poured over him, rather than given to him to drink A few people were going “listen to the white man” (we’re sometimes given disproportionate authority here); others were saying “look at him, he’s still looking at the white man”. Being constantly referred to as “the white man”, and the way people seemed to be taking note of everything I did, gave me another weird feeling – that I should make sure I did the right thing as it would reflect the image of foreign volunteers on camp. I was just standing around on the fringe of the group, trying to get them to apply the cream but not wanting to impose myself and say I knew better. In the end I asked if there was anything else I could do, and left them to it – they’d poured water over him as much as possible, and said they would apply the savlon and take him to the clinic. His skin was going pink, and blistering on his back. It was one of those experiences that I think will stay in my head for a while.

I went back yesterday and he seemed OK – but had a patch of skin missing on his head, and another on his back. His mum still said they didn’t need help. I was a bit concerned they hadn’t taken him to a clinic, but he didn’t seem too bad to me. His dad (who hadn’t been there) later came round to say that the mum had been confused and panicked which is why she had refused to take help, and actually they could do with some money to buy him ‘some pills or food or something’. I wasn’t happy to just hand over a wad of cash, especially as it didn’t seem like they were going to take him to a clinic. I said would be happy to pay directly for any medical treatment or supplies, and the mum agreed we would go to the clinic. They took good care of him there, so I’m quite satisfied I’ve done my bit to help. The dad still tried asking me for more money; I just said he should come to me if any more treatment was needed but I wasn’t going to just give cash.

I said it’s been up and down; that was the ‘down’. The ‘up’ was the classroom management workshop I ran today, after lots of work. The turnout wasn’t brilliant, but the teachers got really into it, appreciated the input, and seemed to get quite inspired and enthusiastic to improve. They also agreed some changes to the school policies. Just as important was that the workshop had a motivational effect. It’s always good as a teacher to step back, remember the reasons you’re in the job (I spoke lots about how impressed I was with what they’re doing, how they’re building Liberia’s future leaders etc), and to realize that there are ways to improve and get more out of it. You could actually see the teachers getting more positive and motivated, and they said themselves it had that effect. I was really happy, as I’d hoped it would be a boost – especially after I found out the teachers didn’t get paid on payday (Thursday), due to the ongoing pay dispute (for that reason, I abandoned my position of only paying for a bare bones workshop, and provided proper food to help make it an upbeat occasion).

A side point about the money issue. Turns out that the charity’s Central office – which wouldn’t fund my workshop at 250,000 cedis (about £15; not an insignificant amount here – more than a month’s salary for a teacher), or the HIV workshop at 2,000,000 cedis – just donated 1,000,000 cedis (enough for 4 classroom management workshops) to the ‘Miss Liberia in Ghana’ pageant’. Hmmm…