What went well?

Having arrived on the previous Wednesday, I had ample time to settle in with Mercy’s family and the three other scholars already there before starting on Monday. A highlight of this period was the school trip to Munda Wanga Zoo on the Friday, which provided an excellent opportunity to get to know the students without the constraints of a classroom and the time pressure of a normal day. Playing football with several of the Grade 5 boys was a lovely opportunity to connect on a personal level before beginning my teaching.

The primary goal for this first week was to get to know the students and get settled into teaching. With the Grade 5s and Grade 6s I started new topics in maths and science, looking at solid shapes and materials and energy. With only 4 students in Grade 6 and 10 in Grade 5, learning their names was a straightforward task! I’m proud of how quickly I adapted to teaching primary-aged children, having only tutored secondary school children before. A large part of this is thanks to the valuable advice from Grace, Henry and Rebecca, the other Laidlaw Scholars who had arrived before me.

What could have been done differently?

Coming into this week, I expected teaching to be the main challenge. It was not. Far more difficult was creating a calm and focused classroom dynamic. This required a carefulbalance of authority and patience; a balance I began to find by the end of this first week. However, maintaining a positive yet focused atmosphere will require continued and conscious effort throughout the rest of the project, and I believe it is one of the most important components in ensuring positive outcomes for the students.

In my Grade 5 maths class, I pushed through the material a bit too quickly this week. I have learned that engagement in the in-class activities does not necessarily indicate sufficient understanding to move on. To better understand where the students are, I’ve set my first set of homework on circles. Next week’s lesson content will then reflect the areas in which the students are less proficient.

Leadership reflection

This week, fast was certainly my most prominent changemaker value. Being thrown into a new environment and straight into teaching, I had to quickly find my feet and make sure that my arrival did not interrupt the children’s learning in any meaningful way. With some students, connecting required some determination and perseverance as they were a little slower to open up. This is still definitely a work in progress.

With Grade 5 maths, there was some underlying tension between fast and good. I wasn’t consciously sacrificing the quality of understanding for speed but realized by the end of this week that moving through the material quickly shouldn’t be my primary focus.