The
first part of the programme;
In the first week, October
29th to November 2nd
: focus on the similarities and differences between what I see Awatapu
College and what happens in schools in
Jambi Province.
In the second week, November
5th to 9th : focus on how teachers plan, how they
motivate their students and the classroom management strategies they use.
In the third week, November
11th to 16th : focus on assessment.
I think, this is a very
interesting time to visit because the formal national assessment for senior
students is about to begin. This begins in mid November and by this time the
teaching year is nearly over. I hope they will us to make the most of this interesting
three weeks in schools.We will be thinking very carefully about what we see and
about ideas that might be useful in our teaching at home. It is most important
that we keep a journal so that they can follow up on our observation in schools
in the second part of the programme.
The
second part of the programme;
The second part of programme
will start on November 19th and occupy the second three weeks of our
programme until December 7th. There are four main parts to this.
The first will be to review
our school observations and to provide an overview of education in New Zealand
and a summary of some of the factors that influence what happens in schools.
The second thing is to provide a clear focus what we want to take home from our
experience here. The other two parts link to our Ministry’s expectations. And
they promise, will be working with us to develop our skill and confidence in
English language and also provide some insights into working with students in
English.They will also spend some time on practically based activities and learning
in science. There may be other things we would like to add to this list if time
allows.
In this second part of the
programme, they will also all be working together and there will be many
activities for us to become involved in. While they have many ideas, they will
share with us. They have to work together to understand which ideas might
helpful in the situations we teach in. We have an important part to play here
because they have not been into schools in Jambi.
With that thought in mind,
they think it is important to remember that education and schools are not
separate from the societies in which the work. Indonesian society and New
Zealand society are very different. Also, here in New Zealand what happens in
schools is the subject of criticism and debate. Their system has many strengths
but they also have problems that they have not yet solved. Education is seldom
simple and ideas that work in one place may not always work in another because
the conditions are different.
