It was an early start this morning as we had asked to arrive earlier to the rural school and TDC to have the opportunity to visit a class prior to beginning the training. As Laura and I made our way to our location with Francis, I could feel the nerves kick in and excitement to get started and meet our colleagues.
On arrival, we were greeted by the Headteacher and taken to a few infant classrooms. I was luckily enough to visit Standard 1 and was given a seat at the back of the room. I decided it was easier to sit on the floor beside the children to see what they were doing, much to the amazement of the children.
As the teacher taught subtraction using a number line on the board, her infectious energy had all of the children engaged and listening to her every word. However, there were a few distracted by the “ white ghost” at the back of the class. I quickly made friends with the children around me who became very excited to show me all of their correct answers as the teacher went through the calculations on the board and modelled the number line. She involved the children in the lesson, asked them to stand up and explain their learning and celebrated each child who participated with a fantastic “clap myself” chant.
I later told the teacher and class I plan to take this back to our infant department with me. It was so lovely to see the smiles on the children’s faces, the love they had for learning and passion and enthusiasm the teacher has despite the huge class size and lack of space they had with the learners on the floor. It reminded me how uncomfortable some children can find assembly for just one hour a week sitting on the floor in our school back home.
As a thanked the teacher, she pulled me in for a huge warm cuddle. I felt I needed it and it was so appreciated!
After a lovely start to the morning, Laura and I shared our classroom experiences and were on a high as we got organised and got the room ready for training to begin. It was lovely to see Vincent, now a DHT and Binny who was now a PEA, who I recognised from our last leadership training visit. They made us feel so welcome and throughout were great at participating in the training. The whole session was brilliant today. There were so many Headteachers, who shared great practice going on in their schools. It was clear through discussion, group work and activities, the passion these leaders have to drive improvement in their schools.
Although obstacles that face teachers in Malawi was mentioned such as large class sizes and inadequate resources, they do not dwell on these things. I was amazed, as I was the last time, how they do not use these obstacles as an excuse and still have high standards with what they expect in their schools for high quality teaching and learning.
The session was full of optimism and solution focused ways to improve areas in their school. I particularly enjoyed our discussion of “what makes an effective teacher” which we took outside to the playground and demonstrated “Mix, Pair, Share.”
We also asked our colleagues to lead us in Malawian songs as we moved around and used this strategy. It was so lovely to see the warmth of our colleagues as we all sang and danced together. I think all CPD in Glasgow should have a section for singing and dancing…it’s good for the soul.
As we ended our training and packed up our materials, Laura and I were delighted as we read through the evaluations. It was lovely to read how useful they had all found the training and what they would take back to their own schools, with many particularly keen to take back the POLLI and lead CPD on ‘The Good Lesson Cycle’.
It was lovely to meet up with Robyn and Karen and learn they had also had a very successful first day. We came together to collate our evaluations and organise resources for tomorrow and then got ready to go for some dinner. We enjoyed a lovely dinner together but were all falling asleep into our food by 7.30. Home for an early night and looking forward to doing it all over again tomorrow.
