Teaching Internship

We have started our teaching internships at a local school.  I will be teaching English to Form I students--equivalent to high school freshmen.  It is a different experience from teaching in the U.S. in several significant ways.

The first difference strikes a teacher the moment he or she walks into the room.  The students all rise and say, "Good Morning, Teacher!" in unison.  The teacher responds, "Good Morning.  How are you today?"  The response is "We are fine, Teacher."  The teacher then says, "I am fine, too.  You may be seated."  The students do not behave perfectly, of course.  In many ways they are just like young teenagers the world over, but they do seem to have more respect for teachers and adults in general than students in the U.S.

The school itself is only 4 years old, but the classrooms we teach in have dirt floors.  The windows do not have glass or screens and there are no doors in most doorways.  The roof of the building is tin, and the rooms are open to the rafters.  It's the dry season, now, but I'll bet that the noise is deafening when it rains. There is a large chalkboard in each classroom that covers one wall.  The students' desks are wooden, with attached benches.  The class I teach has about 55 students, but the two other Form I classes have 80.  There are apparently only 10 Form I English textbooks in the school, so the teachers have to write everything--including reading assignments--on the board.  There is one permanent English teacher at the school, so he is more than happy to get Peace Corps trainees or student teachers from local universities to help out for a few weeks.

This is a government-funded school in what could be called a suburban area of a mid-sized city.  Mark and I will most likely be placed in a school in a rural village.  The country does not have nearly enough government resources to fund its growing education needs, and that is part of why we are here.