tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88568239496402535452024-03-12T17:31:25.798-07:00Classrooms, Culture, Corinth: Ghana 2013Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-66284245731328807822013-09-14T12:26:00.000-07:002013-09-14T12:26:34.309-07:00History, Racism, White Privilege, Culture, EverythingMy experiences in Ghana, more than any other experience in my life, have led me to intense reflections on the history of racism and on my experience of white privilege. Certainly, I have read and thought about these things a great deal and have made them the focus of my studies and my teaching. But this trip brought me experiences that confirmed and deepened my understanding.<br />
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I have wanted to write about this for many months, but I have hesitated, partly because my experience there was, in some ways, so bound up with Bonnee's that I am afraid I might misrepresent or seem to be speaking for her.<br />
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I will try my best not to do that.<br />
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I was blessed to be paired with Bonnee, and we have many things in common--both high school teachers in urban schools, both active in our teachers unions, both feminist, many shared ideas about the role of race and racism in the U.S., both with a history of working with people in prison, both with a particular sort of openness to the experiences we had in Ghana. <br />
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And there are big differences, as well--differences in religion, sexuality, and, most visibly to all those we met, race. Our racial difference means that, despite our similarities in education and politics, our experiences vary widely. The history of racism in the U.S. has constructed my life as one of privilege, and one of those privileges is that, unless I remain vigilant and work at it, I don't even have to be <u>aware</u> of my privilege.<br />
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Bonnee spoke eloquently to the students we met about how racism continues to shape her own experiences in the U.S. At one point she told students that she often finds herself the only person of color in the room at conferences or other educational meetings. Later, a student said something to me about how my experience in Ghana must be like the experiences Bonnee described, since I was the only white person at APGGS while we were there, and only saw other white people two or three times during our week in Takoradi.<br />
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No, I said, and thought, and have been thinking over and over ever since. It is not the same. My experience in my brief time in Ghana was filled with feelings of warmth and welcome and hospitality and respect. And those are <u>not</u> the experiences Bonnee was describing to the students when she talked about being the only person of color in the room.<br />
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Even at times among TGC fellows, I heard this over-simplified parallel drawn; white people going to countries populated mainly by people of color is compared to the experiences of people of color in the U.S. But my experience in Ghana confirmed at a visceral level what I have known intellectually for so long: Racism is not about majority and minority. Racism is complex and insidious and systemic. My white privilege is tenacious and portable; it crosses oceans and borders.<br />
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The institutional racism that leads to things like only one person of color being part of our 12-person TGC group in Ghana also shapes the experiences of that group and of those it encounters. TGC, and other programs dedicated to fostering global education among teachers, need to begin to include critical race theory and a basic understanding of white privilege in their core curriculum.<br />
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<br />Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-42109829359505949532013-09-14T11:17:00.003-07:002013-09-14T13:03:31.088-07:00Language as Culture in Ghana, Part 2I was not surprised, of course, when we arrived in Accra, to see that almost all media was in English:<br />
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But this was the case in all the parts of Ghana I visited, including areas where people speak almost exclusively in local languages:<br />
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In fact, I think that the only place I ever saw words <u>printed</u> in a language other than English (aside from names) was in my Fante language workbook.</div>
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Almost everywhere, however, Ghanaians spoke to one another in indigenous languages, unless the speech was part of a conversation that included us visitors. And I did meet at least one person in Accra, the mother of a student Bonnee and I befriended in Takoradi, who did not speak English.</div>
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While we were in Takoradi, Bonnee and I received lessons in Fante, the dominant local language, almost every day.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNfOyMtxltyjF6xcLRSFnEXQuL7zwqD0vIknhkKhHVD6J1Mto86mOpqfgCWNSoLH35-xHVSOIpRJW9Xs2C9R53QLi6avLIjX2V8QjpByHhjqDgqknE4Ala8iwoD0h5y4TeX86PoTkq0I/s1600/IMG_1510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNfOyMtxltyjF6xcLRSFnEXQuL7zwqD0vIknhkKhHVD6J1Mto86mOpqfgCWNSoLH35-xHVSOIpRJW9Xs2C9R53QLi6avLIjX2V8QjpByHhjqDgqknE4Ala8iwoD0h5y4TeX86PoTkq0I/s400/IMG_1510.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we are with our Fante teacher, Mama Albs. Alberta is one of the assistant headmistresses at APGSS, and she has taught Fante and other Ghanaian languages to Peace Corps volunteers and others. She's a talented, warm and patient teacher!</td></tr>
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Bonnee and I both worked hard to improve our Fante and to use it to greet people and ask basic questions while we were at APGSS. Students and others were almost always surprised to hear us attempting the language. I could produce peals of laughter by saying "mema wo ace" (good morning) to folks I encountered on campus or in town. But there was appreciation there, too, and no derision. From conversations I had about this, I learned that the surprise and appreciation was partly because they didn't expect Americans to put effort into learning and speaking the language. </div>
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But I also noticed that most of the students at APGSS spoke English to one another. I imagine that some of this comes from the fact that these students grew up in different parts of the country and speak different local languages, but they all at least know some Twi and/or Fante.</div>
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Of course, I asked some students about their use of English versus local languages. During the meeting we had with the editors of the school magazine, one student said, "my local language is my identity." But another admitted that she didn't know any Ghanaian languages. She grew up in Accra in a home where English was spoken, so English was her first language. Her parents are Ewe and Twi and she can understand some things in those languages, but not speak, read, or write them. There seemed to be some embarrassment on her part as she told us this; and there was some laughter among the other girls. Even in this generation who went to primary school under the English-only educational policy, this lack of Ghanaian language seems to be seen as unusual and even a bit shameful.</div>
Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-42972300184023439552013-09-14T09:52:00.002-07:002013-09-14T11:05:27.806-07:00Language as Culture in Ghana, Part 1One of the most obvious ways that the indigenous cultures are preserved or expressed in Ghana is through the many, many languages that are spoken. I found various numbers of languages listed in different sources. Ekem told us more than 50, but in other sources I've seen 70 or even 80 listed.<br />
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The history of the state's treatment of these languages in education is fascinating. Of course, the first schools in Ghana, begun by colonial powers and missionaries mainly to educate children of Europeans, delivered instruction in European languages. Once England became the sole colonial power, the language of education became English. <br />
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This changed with Ghanaian independence in 1959. Unlike the United States, where states and even local school districts have a lot of control over curriculum and educational policy, Ghanaian schools are governed by the national Ghanaian Educational Services (GES). This centralized system has lots of implications that seem extraordinary to those of us teaching in the U.S. For instance, teachers are assigned to their jobs by the GES at the federal level, so a new teacher may be assigned to a school at the other side of the country from where she lives. Another reality of the centralized system is that new presidential administrations can bring about sweeping policy changes. We saw that played out during our time in Ghana, when two classes of students--the third- and fourth-years--were preparing for the end of high school, because the new government of John Mahama had decided that secondary school should be three years and not four.<br />
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The status of indigenous languages in the schools has been determined by this federal control as well.<br />
For many years after independence in 1959, Ghanaian schools educated the very young--Kindergarten through third graders--in their indigenous languages. Children who had access to schools became literate in their home languages or in some related indigenous language before instruction was exclusively delivered in English beginning in the 4th grade. This multi-lingual approach created a population of educated adults who were at least somewhat literate in two languages and who could speak multiple languages: their own indigenous language; Twi or Fante, two of the dominant indigenous languages; and English.<br />
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Then, in 2001, the government adopted an English-only policy for education and indigenous languages disappeared as languages of instruction in schools, officially at least. Ekem told us that there was already a generation gap appearing between older folks who were literate in local languages and younger folks who were only developing literacy in English.<br />
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Another switch occurred in 2007-08, when the federal pendulum swung back toward multi-lingualism. Once again, the GES policy is that Kindergarteners through 3rd-graders learn in their local language and have English as one subject, then shift to English exclusively in the 4th grade. Local languages continue to be a required subject through junior secondary school and an elective subject in high school. Study of an indigenous language is required of university students.<br />
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BUT the GES only recognizes 11 local languages when there are many more in Ghana, so this still means that there's some homogenization of language going on through schooling. In addition, there are problems finding enough teachers in some local languages. Theoretically, though, the GES has returned to the research-supported policy of establishing literacy in a student's indigenous language before introducing instruction in English.<br />
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These are the policies and some of the history. In my next post, I'll share some of my admittedly limited observations about how this linguistic diversity plays out in Ghana.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this school timetable from Katapor Junior High School in the Central Region, you can see both local languages ("Ghan. Lang") and English ("Eng Lang") as subjects the students study each week. French is also on the schedule as a third language--there's a push to learn French since almost all of the countries bordering Ghana are French-speaking.<br />
All the other courses--science, social studies, etc., are taught in English.</td></tr>
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Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-49115290272870413292013-03-30T07:01:00.003-07:002013-03-30T07:01:32.093-07:00Return and No ReturnOver the weekend that we were in Takoradi, our host Christian took us on two outings to see some wonderful and important sites. We wanted to take the entire magazine editorial board of students with us on Saturday, but because of the vehicle available to us, we were only able to take one, the editor-in-chief, Irene. Together, we visited Kakum National Park and took a canopy walk in the rainforest.<br />
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Here, Irene and Bonnee embark on another leg of the canopy walk. They're stepping off a platform that surrounds one of the trees from which the walk is suspended.<br />
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I'd never been on a canopy walk before--this is the first one built anywhere in Africa. It feels a lot like crossing a swinging bridge.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ms. Bonnee Breese making it to the end of the walk!<br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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The park was beautiful, but the highlight of the day for me was our visit to Cape Coast Castle. First built by the Swedes in the mid-1600s, the site was used by various European merchants as a site for buying and selling West African resources. The castle came under the control of the British in the late 17th century, and the most important period of its history involves its use as a place to house, sell, and ultimately ship human beings from all over West Africa to Europe and the Americas as slaves. For me, visiting the castle was an important step in understanding the global nature of the history of racism in the U.S.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here's a view of the sea from the castle.<br />
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Our excellent guide, Sebastian, stands here at the entrance to one of the dungeons where slaves were kept. Merchants bought slaves as they were brought into the castle from various parts of West Africa. Since all the slaves were being housed together, they had to be branded with the initials of the merchants who owned them. The slaves were packed into five rooms that are perhaps 20' x 20' with up to 250 people in each room. They slept and defecated on the floor and were led out twice a day to eat. <br />
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Many African Americans who visit the castle leave notes, flowers or wreaths in the dungeons to honor ancestors. Here, Sebastian holds up the remains of an arrangement left by Michelle Obama when she and her family visited the castle in 2009.<br />
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With Irene, Bonnee and Christian at Cape Coast Castle.<br />
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This is one of the portals through which soldiers could look down to the tunnel used to transport slaves from the dungeons to the sea.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BcYB4qHvalxHf0nejshIgG9I9tuuKJv1I90Amj3i7Lpe8uh8ko7Tl07VDO04k3SdfKKOqkmvFFNs5cPZJM9Yz-vorWrvbDMVahBh4upITQIZ_aUzXuz-6a2JQ1IS_oWAX4WwKCGmjeA/s1600/IMG_1439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BcYB4qHvalxHf0nejshIgG9I9tuuKJv1I90Amj3i7Lpe8uh8ko7Tl07VDO04k3SdfKKOqkmvFFNs5cPZJM9Yz-vorWrvbDMVahBh4upITQIZ_aUzXuz-6a2JQ1IS_oWAX4WwKCGmjeA/s400/IMG_1439.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is the "Door of No Return," the last place that slaves were on African soil before being loaded on small boats to row out to the slave ships.<br /></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the day we visited, fishermen mended their nets and children played on the spot where Africans boarded slave ships.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sometime in the 1990's a group of African Americans came to the castle and mounted this plaque on the other side of the door of no return, as a symbol of their freedom to return to the lands of their ancestors.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sebastian told us that this plaque at the castle was installed by Ashanti chiefs as an acknowledgement and apology for their tribe's role in the slave trade.</span></td></tr>
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Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-89011615830251900092013-03-30T05:42:00.001-07:002013-03-30T05:43:21.064-07:00You Think Our Tests are High Stakes?Right after the Easter break, the students in Form 3 and 4 at Archbishop Porter Girls Secondary School, along with all the other Form 3 and 4 students across Ghana, will begin taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations. All students at APGSS take exams in 8 different subjects, including their specialty subject, which is sort of like a college major, but in high school. The results on these exams will determine whether the students can go to college or university and which school they can attend. Tension is high because twice as many students as usual are taking the exams, since the government decided that senior secondary school should change from four years to three years.<br />
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The four pictures below show the exam schedule, which is the same across Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. In contrast to standardized exams in the U.S., these exams test in almost every conceivable subject. And they are not only multiple choice, but also essay exams. In a way, they are most similar to our AP testing system, except with a much broader range of subjects.<br />
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You can see on this list that students can take exams in many subjects that we would consider vocational, like auto mechanics, typewriting and electronics. I also love that there are multiple tests on the local languages, like Dagaare, Dagbani, Ewe, Fante, Ga, Gonja, etc. Students can focus on local languages as a specialty in secondary school, if they're available at their school. Ultimately, Ghana wants all instruction in Kindergarten through third grade to be in students' local languages, so they need teachers who are experts in these languages.<br />
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Not all the subjects listed on this schedule are taught at every school. For instance, crop husbandry and horticulture is not available at APGSS. Gender is definitely a factor in what subjects are offered. We were told that home economics used to be offered everywhere, but is no longer offered at boys' schools.<br />
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You'll also see that students may focus on three different religious studies--Christianity, Islam or West African Traditional Religion. At least on the surface, the Ghanaian education system seems to value the diversity of its students more than the U.S. system does, especially in terms of the languages of instruction that are available. At the same time, though, here's a quote from a study guide for one of the social studies exams: "Factors that hinder the development of national identity include...the presence of different languages. In Ghana, every ethnic group has its own language or local dialects. The danger is that people tend to show more interest in...people they speak the same dialect/language with and neglect people who speak different languages...This will obviously hinder the development of national identity in Ghana."<br />
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One big difference from U.S. standardized testing is that there are practical exams as part of the WASSCE. The students at right and below are practicing for their home economics exams with the help of their teachers (who were on strike, by the way--not technically teaching classes, but around to support students).<br />
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There are also visual arts practicals in ceramics, sculpture, painting, mosaic art, and wood carving. The students get specific assignments from examiners, like, "create a set of salad bowls," or, "sculpt a woman's torso." And then they have a certain number of days to complete the project. <br />
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This student wood carver was being watched by an external examiner when I took this picture. For visual arts, the examiners look at process, examining the students' technique, as well as evaluating the final product.<br />
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The picture below shows Forms 1 and 2 taking internal school exams, but many of the paper and pencil WASSCE will be given in huge rooms like this.<br />
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While in general I'm not in favor of high-stakes testing, I do appreciate the fact that these exams give students a chance to exhibit skills in a broad range of areas and that students have some degree of choice about which exams to take.Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-29739245300503202312013-03-28T04:09:00.001-07:002013-03-28T04:09:50.446-07:00End of strike and end of termToday, the national teachers strike in Ghana was suspended. Even though the government has not met the demands of the union regarding salary and allowances, the union says they're suspending the strike so that negotiations can take place. They cite a federal regulation that bars negotiation during a strike.<br />
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So for the first time during our trip, all the teachers were back at Archbishop Porter Girls Secondary School. And it was the last day of the term. Forms one and two have finished their exams and will be going home for vacation in the morning. Forms three and four are still on campus awaiting the start of their external, West African exams, which will go from April7th through May 13th and will determine students' futures at universities and technical schools.<br />
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Bonnee and I got to be part of the final school assembly and the first post-strike staff meeting today. A few things about the assembly surprised me. All 1600 girls were packed into the assembly hall to hear from the headmistress. One of her topics was the non-payment of school fees, which are normal here even for government-supported schools like this one. She went so far as to call out the names of the most serious debtors and have them walk to the front of the room. Yesterday, I noticed a posted list of all the students' names and how much they owe. Our data privacy laws in the US would never allow either of those ways of publicizing financial information.<br />
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The other, more pleasant surprise was the way the headmistress recognized the hard work of the teachers and their right to strike. All the teachers were there and the students gave them long and load applause at the urging of the headmistress. She even went so far as urging the students who have parents in government to speak to their parents on the teachers' behalf.<br />
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The faculty meeting in the staff room was a little more discordant. There were conflicts about money. Because the government decided that both 3rd and 4th form students would be taking their final exams this year, extra teaching was needed to catch the 3rd form students up. So all teachers were asked to take on 2-3 classes on top of their usual load. The school's PTA agreed to collect an extra fee from students in order to pay teachers for these additional hours, but many students--more than half--haven't paid. So the teachers have been working harder with no extra pay up to this point, and there was a lot of discussion in the meeting about how to collect the extra fees.<br />
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Another point of contention in the meeting involved the headmistress' information that overseeing exams over the next few weeks will be compulsory for teachers. In the past, it was voluntary, and the teachers who oversaw exams didn't see their pay for it until up to 12 months later, if at all. The teachers were frustrated about the requirement to work during the exams without a guarantee of payment.<br />
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After the meeting, one of the English teachers told me that there's a saying in Ghana that teachers will receive their reward in heaven. She followed it up by saying, "Of course, we're not sure we'll be in heaven to get the rewards, so we would like them now."<br />
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Below are the faculty meeting in the staff room, me with Lydia, an English teacher, and the headmistress addressing the assembly. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpdzenX0sKZlRgYXnxnXtk7bs95H5NjJt1q1IuR50ooj2NgwtkDYFyM-9sPYguIGmCBsuD27DhcZPIKPx1T2vOkx3Uo9EiIPd6wLsHgqRjl9nLqm-7yTv96dIny92xXjE17eDtYE2rsQ/s640/blogger-image-1752246057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpdzenX0sKZlRgYXnxnXtk7bs95H5NjJt1q1IuR50ooj2NgwtkDYFyM-9sPYguIGmCBsuD27DhcZPIKPx1T2vOkx3Uo9EiIPd6wLsHgqRjl9nLqm-7yTv96dIny92xXjE17eDtYE2rsQ/s640/blogger-image-1752246057.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHclp5T6BVDGNj6Fa-OxHosrd7Y-Woq7BPEYwIUqxwlHy-YZwaS_vB-Z5biXKumVRf6rdnyXT-NjNwrhYPu8Lu4SPZ28Ey8_Dl8WKnkFg_5x31Okd7u8WFCUnMDkTsFfyIoXZMlArLK8/s640/blogger-image-955190873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHclp5T6BVDGNj6Fa-OxHosrd7Y-Woq7BPEYwIUqxwlHy-YZwaS_vB-Z5biXKumVRf6rdnyXT-NjNwrhYPu8Lu4SPZ28Ey8_Dl8WKnkFg_5x31Okd7u8WFCUnMDkTsFfyIoXZMlArLK8/s640/blogger-image-955190873.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdaIIXD8L8yqLUc43eRqcmYota-hZHnGTh7pQiDHM06Hkgj-jVt-XAulwD_KcvmkSppL3bVKTrqjsEBzX-H5fkxBsCDXkE5c1j7V1y_cT61hZbzfxNLOnheWIYwzz7vu9ZFO957QGqF0/s640/blogger-image--277351530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdaIIXD8L8yqLUc43eRqcmYota-hZHnGTh7pQiDHM06Hkgj-jVt-XAulwD_KcvmkSppL3bVKTrqjsEBzX-H5fkxBsCDXkE5c1j7V1y_cT61hZbzfxNLOnheWIYwzz7vu9ZFO957QGqF0/s640/blogger-image--277351530.jpg" /></a></div>Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-8610774179389560892013-03-24T14:11:00.001-07:002013-03-24T15:28:05.414-07:00First Meeting with StudentsAs I said before, there are no regular classes going on right now, but on Friday, Bonnee and I got to meet with the editorial board of the school's magazine, which comes out once per year and is sort of like our yearbooks. Both Bonnee and I are advisers of student publications--I advise the newspaper and Bonnee advises the yearbook at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia.<br />
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We started by sharing my students' newspapers and Bonnee's yearbook with the students and getting some reaction. Students were impressed with the depth of coverage in the Southerner and its focus on school-based issues. <br />
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Our conversation then turned to broader topics, such as comparisons between Ghanaian and US schools. The most obvious difference those of you looking at these photos will notice involves school uniforms and even mandated haircuts. The students at APGSS, and at most Ghanaian high schools, are not allowed to wear makeup or jewelry, nor can they have cell phones or their own computers on campus. The philosophy is that these rules keep them focused on their studies, and most of the students were pretty positive about the rules.<br />
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One question the students had for us right away was whether racism still exists in the US. I think this subject came up both because of the content of the Southerners the students were looking at and because Bonnee and I are African American and white, respectively. While we both have a similar analysis of race and racism in the US, our experiences are obviously quite different, and the students were interested in those differences.<br />
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I think the meeting with the editorial board challenged some of my preconceptions about the kind of student that the Ghanaian education system might create. I have read and heard a lot about rote learning and memorization, but these young women asked lots of thoughtful, critical questions. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzubPZb8z_s-Uz1S1kJT_4s4ba4rUFtAzW08R3a3RYnC_bQ8yq5yPIhFybwpofMp_LHbds8VB42KDjm3DPdATUUNHrG6hwMqFnWKD9REabTc_Aob_z0FGyTd1sITrMTwaZCZPKkEcPuHU/s640/blogger-image--1981469895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzubPZb8z_s-Uz1S1kJT_4s4ba4rUFtAzW08R3a3RYnC_bQ8yq5yPIhFybwpofMp_LHbds8VB42KDjm3DPdATUUNHrG6hwMqFnWKD9REabTc_Aob_z0FGyTd1sITrMTwaZCZPKkEcPuHU/s640/blogger-image--1981469895.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO35HDiCRAP67uSP0Yg09k1UpZU7eBxb86rBQjh3QKR5HEyPWhlC_L5eZz8gmBeUSdyYiU8Z0xvXiY1cM_ZnLvNaGvWE8ag9jJtlitegBkKcIAkP6rXDqDT0J_cd6d8FDSTGCImA34XQI/s640/blogger-image--1546938267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO35HDiCRAP67uSP0Yg09k1UpZU7eBxb86rBQjh3QKR5HEyPWhlC_L5eZz8gmBeUSdyYiU8Z0xvXiY1cM_ZnLvNaGvWE8ag9jJtlitegBkKcIAkP6rXDqDT0J_cd6d8FDSTGCImA34XQI/s640/blogger-image--1546938267.jpg" /></a></div>Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-1139090386471404372013-03-23T14:53:00.001-07:002013-03-23T15:01:57.386-07:00Water!!On the day we arrived, APGSS had become the first secondary school in Ghana to produce its own purified water! <br />
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People all over Ghana drink water from these plastic bags--they're called sachets. Thanks to support from its Parent Teacher Association, APGSS was able to tap an already-existing well and install purification equipment. Now they will not have to buy water to serve with meals and sell in the school store. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSFZy3ty7pyUYUVuKxI2IExog-RbYAMV8UBs3fMUCd8ug6Vuwi_tKlGX1HFbm3GitmbiSBqlRnKq4lFlOCqEKQ0_q0pppQfAU6LUDWWyHD56nCC4-95LgR5BT5yj0My5IKocXm-oR0xM/s640/blogger-image-260804861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSFZy3ty7pyUYUVuKxI2IExog-RbYAMV8UBs3fMUCd8ug6Vuwi_tKlGX1HFbm3GitmbiSBqlRnKq4lFlOCqEKQ0_q0pppQfAU6LUDWWyHD56nCC4-95LgR5BT5yj0My5IKocXm-oR0xM/s640/blogger-image-260804861.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9PIejkFubRJAU1S5-hv0mDZcw_5Q2MpjUQRPalTD4ZmgQIAXkmprIxd5zz4f8rb5DHMHGSXUhsxin2GkeTRcRLLOhzdwIR2QeSOW-cubEWbaC0jI4xZdxMmTdkcUxD8YA6uz5NvZSr7k/s640/blogger-image--825902939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9PIejkFubRJAU1S5-hv0mDZcw_5Q2MpjUQRPalTD4ZmgQIAXkmprIxd5zz4f8rb5DHMHGSXUhsxin2GkeTRcRLLOhzdwIR2QeSOW-cubEWbaC0jI4xZdxMmTdkcUxD8YA6uz5NvZSr7k/s640/blogger-image--825902939.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJMAfxR2KD_PL7y2h5pO_8Jmo7RmFg63HlvRmdjFxQ924srBgprqG-mXj0krJ5y5WjZGADVEakh4QLnuZ_o5BjNBG5pbLPUDdKDHrTWfcpa3cz4z3NGxjecIwtPcsbTqggHQBytm4c74/s640/blogger-image--2143859547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJMAfxR2KD_PL7y2h5pO_8Jmo7RmFg63HlvRmdjFxQ924srBgprqG-mXj0krJ5y5WjZGADVEakh4QLnuZ_o5BjNBG5pbLPUDdKDHrTWfcpa3cz4z3NGxjecIwtPcsbTqggHQBytm4c74/s640/blogger-image--2143859547.jpg" /></a></div>Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-39733996193877032532013-03-23T14:46:00.001-07:002013-03-23T14:47:38.402-07:00The Headmistress<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7pKwm7P5Z3Ml6Hn8inoQ4X_MFFeErJxtJeTELBgGnBHs9PP62NDuVpExNC_49MnRsoy5LSMq1FW8jXwYPazDfal3YrH_GOnr7s0iRZxHMj4syOPdV2Uv59T9SnvUUTFL2fTvQFyAgrg/s640/blogger-image--651911693.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7pKwm7P5Z3Ml6Hn8inoQ4X_MFFeErJxtJeTELBgGnBHs9PP62NDuVpExNC_49MnRsoy5LSMq1FW8jXwYPazDfal3YrH_GOnr7s0iRZxHMj4syOPdV2Uv59T9SnvUUTFL2fTvQFyAgrg/s640/blogger-image--651911693.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Here we are with the headmistress of APGSS, Louisa Aggrey. She's in the middle, and we are standing in front of the large Ford pickup she is driven around in. In a way, she's more like the president of a small college than a high school principal--she has to oversee not only students' academics and discipline, but also their domestic life, as well as an extensive campus with lots of facilities.<br />
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Headmistress Aggrey is also a graduate of APGSS, and below is her class picture. I thought it was interesting because the mandated haircuts for the girls now are very,very short, as you'll see, but in the early seventies, they almost wore afros, as was the style in the US.<br />
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<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDEbc8cPxaj0S2ZTgYH397rNOygV4vezkVGFCdsdYRHx5ppAKb82jrmRFObfcx6z3hl2USucGcTzhuFk4KdI394OoiZa2GIl3frtLb9sB1GKKUzcJrRD1kTjudVGa_cFFirCelDnsdcQ/s640/blogger-image--32748342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDEbc8cPxaj0S2ZTgYH397rNOygV4vezkVGFCdsdYRHx5ppAKb82jrmRFObfcx6z3hl2USucGcTzhuFk4KdI394OoiZa2GIl3frtLb9sB1GKKUzcJrRD1kTjudVGa_cFFirCelDnsdcQ/s640/blogger-image--32748342.jpg" /></a></div>Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-58570039309395146512013-03-23T14:45:00.001-07:002013-03-23T14:47:29.664-07:00APGSS on StrikeI have just finished my second day in Takoradi, Western Region, Ghana, at the Archbishop Porter Girls Secondary School (APGSS). There was a three hour drive down the coast from Accra, followed by 36 intense hours of meeting, greeting and learning. Bonnee and I were welcomed so warmly at the school by the teachers, administrators and students. The teachers are still on strike, but, because it's a boarding school, most of them live right on campus. National service workers are administering the exams the students are taking. But other than those exams, no regular coursework is going on at the school. The girls are all there, of course, because they live there. And, while the teachers really believe in what they're fighting for, they are also worried about the students because the third and fourth form girls are about to take the exit exams that determine whether they can go on to university and where they will go. So it's an interesting situation. <br />
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Below is a picture of my host teachers union pennant hanging in his car. There are two national teachers unions--NAGRAT, the National Graduate Association of Teachers and the Ghana National Teachers Association, which appropriately comes out to be GNAT.<br />
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Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-61132083059484966232013-03-23T01:05:00.001-07:002013-03-23T01:05:53.415-07:00Internet TroublesDear readers,<br />
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My Internet situation has changed and I'm having trouble uploading photos for blog posts. Also, we are completely immersed in our experience here at Archbishop Porter Girls School. I'm going to try to get the problem solved tonight so I can continue sharing this amazing experience. Thanks for your understanding.<br />
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MeCorinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0Fijai Sekondi-Takoradi4.941555 -1.75271tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-17409667880095104392013-03-20T08:27:00.002-07:002013-03-20T08:27:25.018-07:00Katapor Junior High School<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This morning, I visited a school for the first time with several of my colleagues--Katapor Junior High School on the outskirts of Accra. The school is in an area that is still not very developed, and we rode a long way on bumpy dirt roads after leaving the paved roads of Accra. On our way there, we passed many people walking to work or school. The road was lined with tiny beauty salons and shops selling everything from clothing to groceries to windshield wipers. Here's a taste of what the road looks like:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once we got to the school, it really felt like we were out in the country. Here's the view from the front steps of the school:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8IxIie2s4b29qT1iDyC9i3fXFyeEk15fRUH56HBMtvSmNjttiH55Ske1ZaKqmqq9zXxVXy9XLokkPl0DmUD2GaYSCfg_tpcX3RrOWz2BNpGsga8IcUBQVqvpOOCcV0tueaTzIGFECM4/s1600/IMG_1232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8IxIie2s4b29qT1iDyC9i3fXFyeEk15fRUH56HBMtvSmNjttiH55Ske1ZaKqmqq9zXxVXy9XLokkPl0DmUD2GaYSCfg_tpcX3RrOWz2BNpGsga8IcUBQVqvpOOCcV0tueaTzIGFECM4/s640/IMG_1232.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOBgnfcWtD4b8lOILGMF6C1mGjeEO1zweB9MB4MInhseSU5UOOpMdVXkyVsW3c2SqnI193Ky5ateFXG-QmyJ8HaUm27BvsgTroADAm7r-2jWyPJz5ylszMkCffbnK68p14T49vtmC_Lc/s1600/IMG_1222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOBgnfcWtD4b8lOILGMF6C1mGjeEO1zweB9MB4MInhseSU5UOOpMdVXkyVsW3c2SqnI193Ky5ateFXG-QmyJ8HaUm27BvsgTroADAm7r-2jWyPJz5ylszMkCffbnK68p14T49vtmC_Lc/s320/IMG_1222.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We arrived at the school only to find out that the teachers were on strike. Go, Teachers!! But, the headmistress told us, many of the teachers were on their way into school anyway, not to teach, but to talk to us. Most of the students had also come, to attend a regular Wednesday morning worship service. The school is public, but most of the students are Christian, with only a few Muslims and traditionalists. Even though the service is not compulsory, many of the students attend. We were able to observe and participate in the service.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After the service, which included prayers, singing, drumming and a lesson from the headmistress, we sat in the headmistresses office and talked for over an hour with her and with several teachers. We found out that there are 122 students at the school in the equivalent of our grades 7 through 9. Despite the poverty in the area, and the lack of resources at the school, 100% of the students last year passed the exam that allows them to go on to senior high school. The teachers were interested in the fact that, in the U.S. system, students earn credits to move on or to graduate, rather than having to pass an exam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the office where we met, several items on the wall gave a lot of insight into how the school runs. Here's a chore chart:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOAf1ZysABSiaDfHsCMCvzvNgnUDzY6LOVDs5i3l5VS2rV737B3KiisSrOkt-toJQPADfzjQp0IyuLumVLO6lxLNGUYcMjGihO6BPlxmx_y74BPz8ZUgLyqrRjSeaKWlja5inmPmT670/s1600/IMG_1220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOAf1ZysABSiaDfHsCMCvzvNgnUDzY6LOVDs5i3l5VS2rV737B3KiisSrOkt-toJQPADfzjQp0IyuLumVLO6lxLNGUYcMjGihO6BPlxmx_y74BPz8ZUgLyqrRjSeaKWlja5inmPmT670/s640/IMG_1220.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So...no janitors. Really, no school employees besides the headmistress and the teachers. Students have responsibilities that go beyond academics. The school has no running water, as the second column tells us. These schedules are made by prefects (think Harry Potter), students elected by their class to certain positions. There's a compound prefect, a sanitation prefect, a sports prefect and a school chaplain for each grade--all students.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's the weekly schedule:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Forms 1, 2, and 3 correspond to our 7th, 8th and 9th grades. I.C.T stands for information and communication technology. The school has 24 laptops donated by an NGO. There are more than twice that many students in a class, so students have to share. And they only got these laptops recently. Before that, the ICT teacher was actually teaching computer skills without computers, and they got to travel several miles twice per term to a place where they could get their hands on computers. BDT is basic design and technology. This class includes home economics, technical skills like carpentry and wiring, and creative arts. "Ghan. Lang" is Ghanaian language. Here they teach both Ga and Ewe--we met Beatrice, the Ghanaian language teacher. Yesterday, we heard in a presentation that students don't continue studying the traditional languages in senior high, but it's a requirement at the universities. So often, students will get to the university and struggle with their literacy in their native Ghanaian language.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's their assignment timetable. This means they have homework only in certain subjects each night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We learned so much from talking to the teachers and the headmistress. They are proud of their students' success and proud of the fact that, through an enrollment drive, they've increased the junior high numbers from 49 to 122 in three years. Financial strain on families and truancy mean that some of their students are much older than the traditional junior high age--they have students up to 22 years old. While attending the school is free, students must buy notebooks, textbooks, and uniforms. We were all interested in the uniforms, of course, since most U.S. public schools don't have them. Not only do the schools here have uniforms, but they also require short haircuts. One teacher is in charge of enforcing the dress and hair code. This picture shows how the girls dress and wear their hair.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzmahZcYhcPHi4URBjD8YkXHE45xuEXozBY5iTdasyMRH80NlKNohV7FVsKNmb9RPS6SX7H2jnNgepaVjxs4P0FuUSVL5gg88lWg2GPZpj-24VZ_ftmGccFiHr9S7o9HChYopyx5Z2cA/s1600/IMG_1234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzmahZcYhcPHi4URBjD8YkXHE45xuEXozBY5iTdasyMRH80NlKNohV7FVsKNmb9RPS6SX7H2jnNgepaVjxs4P0FuUSVL5gg88lWg2GPZpj-24VZ_ftmGccFiHr9S7o9HChYopyx5Z2cA/s320/IMG_1234.jpg" width="240" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After talking to the teachers for awhile, we took a tour of the school. The junior high consists of two long single-story buildings like the one at the right, with rooms off the long porch, slatted openings for windows and doors at both the front and the back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the library at the school. Many students stayed at school after the worship service, even though there were no classes so that they could read and spend time with friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These are the bathroom facilities behind the school. The headmistress told me that many girls simply don't come to school when they have their periods because there is so little privacy. They are working with an NGO to build a more private bathroom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have lots more to say about this visit, but I'm going to post this now before I go to my next meeting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-19262845029387913442013-03-19T15:10:00.003-07:002013-03-19T15:10:41.730-07:00If It's Your First Time in Paris, You Gotta See the Eiffel Tower<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So far in Ghana, I have felt sometimes like a student and sometimes like a tourist, but not yet a real visitor. It is difficult not to feel touristy when you're traipsing around Accra with 11 other Americans. Today, we saw one of the most important sites in Accra, Kwame Nkrumah's Memorial and Mausoleum. Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana and was instrumental in gaining independence from the British.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here it is:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4b8pcrt_EYlD8HwalswA052jmI6A8FmqB0m9XFJ9rtiAcggp9NTB_S6wsA6_nKHvzoKNJ89ogimB6DShLcQJOL5Hgn2DQ2r0ih9yda2phCuCNRIiAWQGmVNtGvvCJBfFXyb3evTr5QuQ/s1600/IMG_1145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4b8pcrt_EYlD8HwalswA052jmI6A8FmqB0m9XFJ9rtiAcggp9NTB_S6wsA6_nKHvzoKNJ89ogimB6DShLcQJOL5Hgn2DQ2r0ih9yda2phCuCNRIiAWQGmVNtGvvCJBfFXyb3evTr5QuQ/s320/IMG_1145.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was designed by a Ghanaian architect, and it's made of Italian marble. Our guide told us that the shape symbolizes the trunk of a tree because many Ghanaians feel that Nkrumah laid the foundations for a strong Ghana. "He was the trunk; we are the branches," our guide said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> This statue of Nkrumah in front of the mausoleum is erected on the very spot where Nkrumah declared Ghana's independence on March 6, 1957. He chose this spot because, under the British, this was the polo grounds, where only whites were allowed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> This is part of the original statue that Nkrumah put in front of the presidential residence when he was president. It was vandalized in the 1966 coup that swept him from power. The CIA was involved in deposing him, of course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> And this is the head of the original statue. A Ghanaian woman found the head soon after the coup. She kept it in her house for 46 years, and it finally came into government hands 3 years ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Here he is. The 1966 coup forced Nkrumah into exile in Guinea, where he became a co-president. He was in Romania being treated for cancer when he died. He was first buried in Guinea, then moved to his hometown in the Western Region of Ghana, then finally brought here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> My favorite part--Nkrumah's bullet-proof cadillac. "Not even this could protect him from the CIA," said our guide. Indeed.</span>Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-50867303489458254502013-03-19T12:06:00.001-07:002013-03-19T12:36:47.540-07:00Fufu, banku, and kelewele<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As a vegetarian, I'm always a little worried when I go to an unfamiliar place. Will I find enough to eat? How flexible will I have to be? As I read about Ghana before my trip, it seemed pretty clear to me that, if I could eat fish, I'd find plenty and probably enjoy myself. And that has been true. Here's a visual tour of some of my culinary fun so far.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtA6xdIakI0CPn2bhEtVcKdh-sjiDoc8YhfTrIVaD-lSlUm55HXSN_TFl4qwV01bPB4BtKdDNDoqDllRbGmtfMAL-V9aj-M5hit34ppOZr9PwW_CbduCg3cKKxPuAOQLA4PNAjW2wN5ro/s1600/IMG_0980.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtA6xdIakI0CPn2bhEtVcKdh-sjiDoc8YhfTrIVaD-lSlUm55HXSN_TFl4qwV01bPB4BtKdDNDoqDllRbGmtfMAL-V9aj-M5hit34ppOZr9PwW_CbduCg3cKKxPuAOQLA4PNAjW2wN5ro/s320/IMG_0980.jpg" width="320" /></a> <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"> You've seen this before. It's red-red, the black-eyed pea stew, with fried plantains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The white stuff here is banku--a dough made of mashed cassava and corn and then boiled until it's very thick. And that's tilapia, the whole thing--head to tail. This dish is eaten with the hands. You tear off a bit of banku, roll it around in your hand, and then tear off a bit of fish and salad to eat with it. Yes, I tore apart an animal and pulled meat off its bones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, here's finally some proof that I'm here, or that I'm at least somewhere warm drinking coconut juice/water. There are lots of vendors on the side of the road selling coconut water. It's refreshing, and when I was finished drinking, the man split the coconut and cut out the coconut meat for me to eat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> My new favorite!!! Kelewele. Fun to say and delicious to eat. It's fried plantains, but better. They're fried to some crispiness on the outside and seasoned with something quite spicy. The combination of the spice with the sweetness of the plantain is amazing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ground-nut soup. Peanuts are called ground nuts here, so basically this is peanut butter soup, but with lots of tingly spices. That's a piece of cabbage you see lurking in there, but they'll put meat in it as well. </span>Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-88860007010035053782013-03-18T16:03:00.001-07:002013-03-18T16:03:24.744-07:00Ethnicity in Ghana, Day 1<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last night, our first in Ghana, we heard a presentation from Ekem Amonoo-Lartson, who works for an NGO that partners with the U.S. State Department, and who is one of our guides during our time here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ekem lived in the United States for more than 20 years, where he went to school at the University of Tennessee and taught in the area around Knoxville. For part of his career there, he worked with the Highlander Folk School, setting up educational programs for migrant farm workers in the South. I was so excited to hear about this, and he was happy to find an American who knew about the Highlander Folk School.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We heard from Ekem about the history of Ghana, the geography and the many ethnic groups that live in Ghana. We asked lots of questions, and I got to really begin to explore my essential question about ethnicity in Ghana. I wrote about this question in my first post, and here it is again:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">What role do ethnicity and connection to traditional cultures play in a united Ghana? Does emphasis on a unified Ghanaian identity repress or celebrate connection to indigenous religions and cultures?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Ekem confirmed much of what I had already read about the relationship of Ghana, the nation, to the various cultures within it. He told us that, even after independence, the current territory of Ghana was a long time in the making. For instance, the Volta region in the east, where most of the people are Ewe, almost went to Togo, where many people also live. The population of that region voted to be part of Ghana.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">There are four big categories of ethnic groups in Ghana: the Akan, which includes the Ashanti, Fante, and the Akyem and inhabit the central and western regions in the southern half of Ghana; the Ewe, who live mainly in the eastern region, near Togo; the Ga-Adgandbe, who are said to have migrated from Nigeria long ago and who live in the area around Accra, and the Mole-Dagbani, who occupy the northern regions of Ghana. Historically, the north in Ghana has been economically disadvantaged. Each of these categories of ethnicity has many sub-groups. More than 50 languages are spoken in Ghana. When I go to my school placement in Takoradi, I'll be getting language lessons in Fante.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Religious differences are also present, of course. Much of the country is Christian, while there is a substantial Muslim population in the north. Ekem told us that there are no conflicts in Ghana connected to religion, but that there are ethnic conflicts, mainly chieftaincies that compete with one another. Interestingly, though, he also said that intermarriage among ethnic groups is quite common, but most Ghanaians either won't marry outside their religion. In cases where Ghanaians do marry outside their religion, one partner (usually the wife) converts to her spouse's religion.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I asked Ekem to what extent Ghanaians maintain their connections to traditional spiritual practices, and he said that most Ghanaians who are very religious (by which he meant Christian) are also the biggest believers in traditional, indigenous religions.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Ekem spoke positively about the move toward a more "hybrid Ghanaian culture." "Ghanaians are becoming Ghanaian," he said. But he also told us that this means there is some loss among individuals of their traditional cultural practices. And he acknowledged that some of the efforts to create a national Ghanaian culture have served to repress indigenous cultures. For instance, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana in the 1950's and 1960's, passed the Avoidance of Discrimination Act, which banned organizations or programs that were focused on particular tribal or ethnic groups.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">According to Ekem, one of the places where ethnicity still asserts itself in Ghana is in electoral politics. the two major parties are largely associated with particular ethnic groups: the National Patriotic Party with the Ashanti and the National Democratic Congress with the Ewe. He said that he feels that people's political affiliation often has more to do with ethnicity than with beliefs and values. </span></span><br />
<br />Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-18113447525996710982013-03-18T15:01:00.000-07:002013-03-18T15:01:35.756-07:00First Sights, First ThoughtsWrote this yesterday, and ran out of power before I could post it:<br />
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I've got 18 minutes of power left on my computer, and an adapter that works perfectly in Ghanaian outlets, but won't accommodate my grounded computer cord. So this will be quick.<br />
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We arrived in Ghana at about 11:15 this morning after an overnight flight from JFK. After a brief trip to the Accra Mall to exchange money, we arrived at our hotel, where I've been ever since--eating my first Ghanaian meal and listening to a lecture on the history of Ghana. Here are some images:<br />
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Even nicer than so-called Minnesota Nice.</div>
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Kotoka International Airport</div>
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Lots of vendors selling water, food and other items at traffic lights.</div>
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This is the view from the balcony off my hotel room at the Highgate Hotel. By pure chance, I got the "Presidential Suite," which has room for a dance party...in the bathroom.<br />
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Our first dinner at the hotel. At the end of the table is Ekem, who is one of our Ghanaian hosts and gave an amazing presentation on Ghana's history and politics after the meal.<br />
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This is my first meal in Ghana--vegetarian red-red, a black-eyed pea stew and fried plantains. Super duper yummy.Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-65779654339173906552013-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:002013-03-16T13:17:55.977-07:00The Things She Carried (with apologies to Tim O'Brien)I am a little proud of the fact that I've managed to pack a whole suitcase full of gifts from Minnesota without buying anything connected to Garrison Keillor or the Mall of America.<br />
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Here's what I'm taking:<br />
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Lots of Minnesota postcards, including a whole bunch by a local graphic artist<br />
5 wooden eagle feathers, carved by an artist at White Earth<br />
3 dream catchers made by local Anishanaabe artists<br />
4 children's books written and illustrated by Minnesota artists<br />
4 1/2-pound bags of hand-harvested wild rice<br />
A whole bunch of books: <i>Mni Sota Makoce</i>, <i>What Does Justice Look Like? </i>by Waziyatawin, <i>Through Dakota Eyes</i>, and a few other books on the history of the Dakota in Minnesota<br />
About 25 copies of <i>The Southerner</i>, South's school newspaper<br />
A whole bunch of South High pencils (thank you, you-know-who!)<br />
44 wooden South High keychains, made by South engineering students in their fancy laser engraving machine (thanks Jesse Sirovy!)<br />
1 kitschy MN license plate keychain with my host teacher's name on it.Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-45253386091797883962013-03-14T04:54:00.001-07:002013-03-14T04:54:56.366-07:00South High Mural Tour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of our amazing students gave me a video tour of South's most recent student mural to show to students in Ghana. The mural was painted last summer and focuses on the promises in the preamble to the Constitution. Watch the video--the mural is a lot cooler than my description makes it sound.Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8856823949640253545.post-70943087395539385432013-03-13T09:19:00.000-07:002013-03-13T09:19:34.487-07:00Situating MyselfIn three days, I'll be flying to Ghana to meet my host teacher at the Archbishop Porter School for Girls in Takoradi and exchange ideas about education with teachers and students there. <br />
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My trip is part of a program sponsored by the U.S. State Department called Teachers for a Global Classroom. The aim of the program is to spread ideas about global education throughout American schools by training teachers to globalize their curricula. There are 80 teachers involved from across the U.S. We all participated in an online course last fall, and we'll all be going on international field experiences this spring and summer. Twelve of us are going to Ghana this weekend.<br />
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As I've prepared for this trip, I find myself thinking more about where I'm coming from than where I'm going. At the beginning of the program, the idea that teachers would need to be pushed to globalize their classroom seemed absurd to me. Here at South, the globe has come to us, in the form of students with a huge range of geographical, cultural and religious backgrounds. Globalization is a fact of life, not a distant idea that might "enrich" our curriculum.<br />
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But we've had a rough winter here at South. Several events, planned and unplanned have confirmed what we already know: bringing many cultures, languages, histories together in a building does not automatically create a truly integrated and diverse environment. What we need and what we're working toward is real cross-cultural competence on the part of our staff and our students, as well as an honest understanding of the way race and racism have shaped history in this country and still impact all of our lives.<br />
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The shining stars at South as we work through these issues are definitely the students. When I go to Ghana on Saturday, I will carry with me the most recent issue of our student newspaper, The Southerner, which features articles about the many ways students are confronting important issues: the All Nations student walkout on March 11, demanding more culturally relevant curriculum and less isolation; and the efforts by student allies for racial trust (s.t.a.r.t), aimed at creating cross-cultural understanding among students.<br />
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I'm creating a video to take with me to Ghana that will attempt to capture some of the complexity that is South High School. I'll post it here when I'm done. As I've asked people to speak on camera about the most positive and most challenging features about South, our cultural diversity comes up in both categories.<br />
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Teachers for a Global Classroom asked me to develop an essential question to focus on while I'm in Ghana. I wrote the question several weeks ago, and in the time since then, it has become more and more relevant to both my home and my travel destination. <br />
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Like much of Africa, the current boundaries of Ghana were drawn by European colonial powers without the input of the people living in the area. As a result, the country today contains dozens of different ethnic groups. English is the official language, but Ghanaians speak more than 50 languages. Since independence from Great Britain in 1959, one goal of the education system has been to create a sense of Ghanaian identity across people from different tribes. So here's my essential question:<br />
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What role do ethnicity and connection to traditional cultures play in a united Ghana? Does emphasis on a unified Ghanaian identity repress or celebrate connection to indigenous religions and cultures?<br />
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This is the group of teachers I will be traveling with to Ghana. Bonnee (on the far left) and I will be paired with the same host teacher in Takoradi.</div>
<br />Corinth Materahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390864375772945321noreply@blogger.com2