just past the halfway point!

a week or so ago i sat in on a second level junior high social studies class. the topic of the lesson was how ghana cooperates with other nations. first, i should explain that this is a private school and that children start at various ages, so grade levels as we have them do not exist. kids from various ages are in the same class based on knowledge level. books are shared amongst the students and are passed out at the beginning and collected at the end of class. there seems to be no formal lesson plan and the teaching style here is much more laid back and informal (much like all of ghanaian culture). the teacher was very tangential and easily distracted off topic by the students and took 30 extra minutes to get though the reading. there were also several interruptions from other teachers, the school office collecting fees (those who didn't pay were sent home) and even the reverend (who owns the school). the teacher has only been teaching for 6 months and went to technical college for training. he was enthusiastic but seemed to lack the experience and training as to how to command the classroom. yesterday and today i sat in on school again - this time to proctor mock exams (end of level exams before the students move on to high school). like all things ghanaian, it didn't start on time. for each section the teacher was supposed to allot the students a certain amount of time which he only seemed t6o be sort of following. the students really didn't need us there as the teacher was in the room most of the time, but more than that i doubt any of these children would have cheated even if they had the chance. here in school you can get caned for simple infractions like being tardy so i don't imagine the punishment for cheating would be much fun! the first exam was social studies and the question topics covered very random bits of knowledge like the earth's rotation, who the permanent members of the UN are and specifics about various regions of ghana. in talking to another teacher he explained that despite ghana being a small country the children's knowledge outside of their region is quite limited. this i'm sure is due in no small part to the lack of TV, newspapers, etc. social studies serves to cover a broad range of information about ghana and how it functions in the global community - a seemingly tall order for a country where come of the standardized exams have glaring grammatical and spelling errors! the science exam was an equal hodgepodge, questions covered the function of incisor teeth, basic units of length and measure, and the systematic name for FeS. my overall impression of the school system here is one of disorganization and lack of structure. i do believe that the teachers and children want learning to take place to improve their lives and lift ghana into prosperity but as i am seeing with everything here progress is very slow and inconsistent!

a quick note about my weekend - i traveled to cape coast with a group of volunteers and saw the slave castle (fort) used as a holding cell before the slaves were sent to england. after that we camped in the rainforest (not much sleeping involved) in open air structures on dirty mattresses. more fun than it sounds i promise! we got early the next AM and did the canopy walk - no other tourists which was cool though we didn't see any wildlife (but we certainly heard a LOT). this weekend a bunch of us are heading to the volta lake (largest artificial lake in the world) to see the dam and hang out. i've decided to forgo my trip to togo in favor of something closer and cheaper - as well as giving me the chance to further explore Ghana!