It was another early rise this morning as Gill and I headed back to Limbe TDC. We were greeted warmly by our friend, Moses. After setting up for our session, Moses very kindly took us to Standard 7. The P7 learners in my school back home had written some letters to their friends at Limbe, and today was the day I collected the letters to bring them home.
The learners were so excited to hear about Scotland and I was even more excited when I met Loveness, a teacher whom I worked with at Kapeni many years ago. What a wonderful surprise!
We then took a short walk back to the ASN class. Learners were engaged in their task and the teacher was doing an incredible job of supporting them before they returned to their main class at 10am. As we walked around, we could hear the school bell ringing. I picked up a small rock and started to help out the two tiny learners who were hitting the piece of metal to alert their friends that classes were about to start.
Finally, Moses asked us if he could take a quick picture of Gill and I and his daughter, Favour. We then headed back to the TDC for round four!
Wiskess (PEA for Blantyre Urban) joined us for today’s session and what an incredible leader he is. He spoke so highly of the dedicated teachers in his zone and how despite the challenges they face, they aim to deliver high quality learning experiences.
This group of colleagues certainly had lots of personality and it wasn’t long before I was learning some new Chichewa and Gill and I were in full swing of our leadership session. One DHT (Tendai) spoke of well planned lessons and the importance of being eager and excited as a teacher and as a leader. She certainly showed lots of excitement as she contributed so well during today’s session,. Gift (DHT from Blantyre Urban) spoke about the importance of self evaluation during lesson delivery and supervisions.
We discussed how this was highlighted in the Malawian standards and how we also do this in Scotland. The detail and delivery of our poster task was just incredible and we were having so much rich dialogue that our break ran on slightly.
We were clearly having too much fun!
The focus on high quality teaching and learning continued as colleagues shared how they were adapting to and developing their inclusive practice through exploring different methodologies. Again, I shared how this was a similarity in Scotland. Matthews (DHT in Blantyre Urban) shared how as a leader, he would be looking for teachers to use images and texts within lessons. This merited a large ‘Woooooosh!!’, especially as we shared our colleagues were in Blantyre Rural and delivering sessions with teachers on the importance of the use of texts and the library to support and enhance learner experiences.
Wiskess (PEA) supported this and shared how as a PEA, he would be looking for teachers to be taking their learners outside during e.g. Agriculture lessons. Learning which has a real context and creativity - something we share in Scotland.
As we moved on to exploring quality assurance, colleagues engaged well in the Diamond activity. They discussed their school priority, with many mentioning quality assurance or the use of the MNES as their highest priority. Wiskess shared the toolkit that the PEAs use to conduct their supervisions and also talked through the model of support they offer for any ‘sketchy lesson plans.’
The focus was very much on ‘improving’ and not ‘proving’ . Our heads were already buzzing with how we could use this document as a stimulus for discussion at our Friday meeting as we round up our training.
We want to continue to move forward and ensure aspects of the training are sustained and maintained in between our February and September annual trips.
With leaders like Wiskess, I’m feeling hopeful.
No leadership session is complete without our usual Mix Pair Share - Moto Mpiri Moto and for the first time since Monday, we were finally able to ‘scatter’ before ‘wazima!’. We shared the values and actions of an effective leader with values being mentioned first. Kindness, compassion, hard working, dedicated and a role model. We then headed in out of the sun and back to the TDC, not before one of the DHTs stopped to buy a new pair of shows before joining us again for our POLLI input.
We were delighted to see ‘Begin to use the POLLI’ and ‘Ensure joyful learning and teaching.’ in amongst our Practice Pledges. Today’s group of leaders engaged so well in the activities and professional dialogue. This was supported by their incredible PEA, Wiskess.
After our fourth session drew to a close, we headed off for a quick Shoprite run before popping in to visit Godknows, Helen and all of the STEKA family.
Visiting STEKA is always emotional and every time I see Godknows and the children I just feel so grateful that there are people like him and Helen in this world. He’s now a proud father of 110 children. Some are at university and at work, whilst some continue to engage in their studies at school. Godknows youngest child is 3 years old and he told us how had recently taken in twins . He shared how many continue to leave their children at the gates of STEKA. Godknows continues to bring them into his family, with little to no support from the government. You would think being a dad to 110 children would keep you busy enough, but he then shared how he continues to promote the importance of men’s mental health.
He informed us that the suicide rate in men in Malawi is incredibly high. He’s since set up support groups with a direct line to Godknows should they wish to seek support or even just someone to talk to.
The team were desperate for some cuddles, games and laughter and we soon made our way down to see some of the children. There was a fascination with my Malawi nails and the enthusiasm for Duck Duck Goose was high! The older children watched from afar as they got on with hanging the washing out and mopping the floors. Godknows also showed us a new addition to the STEKA grounds, a small grotto where he can sit and talk to the children, particularly those who have experienced significant trauma in their lives. As the rain started to come down, we said our goodbyes and our thank yous.
Such a special family who are making the world a better place with their kindness and love.
Zikomo x
