Professor Barbara is now into her second week of teaching at the Kigali Institute of Education. In case you are thinking I've had a meteoric career advancement, all teachers at KIE are called 'Professor' - actually, I'm a lowly assistant lecturer, but I won't quibble if anyone wants to refer to me as 'Professor'.
I have three classes : two third year ones, The Art of Public Speaking and Creative Writing, and a first year one, Linguistic Aspects of Poetry (don't ask). The students are all enrolled in a Bachelor of Education course and are hoping to become English secondary teachers after completing the four year degree.
The teaching is....different. The third year classes are HUGE - over 110 students in each - so I guess it's more like a lecture than a tutorial. Unfortunately they don't have tutorials, so it's very difficult for them, especially as for most (2/3 of them), they are working in their 3rd language, after their native Kinyawanda, then French which they learned in school, and now English. Some have English as their 2nd language, especially those who grew up in exile in Uganda or Kenya. It's hard to tell standards because of the language problems, but I suspect it's the same as in most groups of students - there are the keen ones, bright eyed and bushy tailed, who are there early to sit in the front, through to the ones who wander in 10 minutes before the 2 hour class is due to finish!
The classroom is a vast space with limited whiteboards, desks etc. The students however are delightful - very respectful, keen to learn (well, most of them) and very co-operative and helpful. About 80% of them are male. I'm not looking forward to the marking load!! The 1st year class is fun - there are less than 15 of them, so we can have lots of interaction etc.
Despite the obvious problems (no text books, no photocopying, limited library etc etc), we manage okay and they seem to be learning. We can also have some laughs too, as they enjoy a joke just like anyone the world over.
I presently have 5 hours of contact time per week, but this is due to increase as I've been asked to head up a new project aimed at offering refresher courses to current teachers of English, introducing them to current methods of English teaching. I have also been asked to help assess students on prac in schools - that should be fun too.
No photos to post yet, but I'll take my camera into class next time to get some shots
