Blog Five - Professional Blog

6^th March 2012

As I begin to find my feet at City Parents, the children have in turn, welcomed me as an important member of their class. It is no surprise that after observing in school, I was excited to be greeting P.3.S as their new teacher for the next six weeks.

I was very surprised to find that most schools in Uganda use corporal punishment as their way of disciplining children.  According to a recent ANPPCAN Study , “81% of children in Ugandan primary schools undergo corporal punishment.” (ANPPCAN, 2011) To my dismay, I have witnessed various occasions In Uganda when my teacher has lifted her hand to the pupils. Initially I was stunned that this method of discipline was adequate, still the reaction of the children proved how customary it had become throughout the class. Upon talking through our ideas of how we would obtain classroom management and manage discipline within our class, negligible jeers and sniggers were overheard amongst the staffroom.  Tackling a different discipline method, not involving corporal punishment, “Teacher Ashleigh’s five stages” are posted beside the blackboard. This in turn allows pupils to have a degree of ownership for their behaviour. Pupils are moved down a ‘level’ every time they misbehave, with the degree of the punishment getting worse. Upon questioning our head of department, Jovita, I was able to have her view on punishment throughout the school.  Her belief is that corporal punishment is what children are used to at home, and so to understand how to behave in school, pupils should be treated in the same way.

Used to what teachers believe to be ‘good’ classroom management, it’s not surprising I felt uneasy presenting my new system to the class. I have split each row in my class into three different animals; lions, gorillas and tigers. Each group has an empty water bottle which is used to collect beans. Beans are rewarded to pupils who behave well, yet they are taken away if they continue to misbehave. At the end of each week, the beans are counted within each row, and the winning group will receive sweets.

Winning group "Gorillas"

Recognising the importance of introducing teaching strategies learnt from home, I felt they could influence the children to think for themselves and allow them to experience new ways of learning.  ‘W.A.L.T’ and ‘W.I.L.F’ are no strangers to any classroom in Northern Ireland, and with this in mind; I felt that I should introduce them to my class in Uganda. Originally unaware of the purpose of “We Are Learning To…” and “What I’m Looking For…” my pupils were soon quick to catch on to its meaning and its practicality within each lesson. The pupils have responded well to this and can be reminded continuously of each lessons’ objectives, and what they are expected to achieve.

Teaching Aids for my classroom

Although our methods seem uncommon in Uganda, we have had some praise from fellow staff who have heard how we are implementing new strategies and teaching methods. As we continue to teach in C.P.S we hope to make an impact not only on the pupils, but on the staff’s teaching approaches.

References

ANPPCAN, (2011) “ANPPCAN calls on government to expedite amendments to the Children Act”, Kampala, Uganda, Greenmedia Publications.