In case the title of this blog post wasn’t clear, I will be talking about the differences I see between Ghanian schools and Wisconsin schools. For those of your who read this to hear about all the fun things I’m doing you might want to skip this one.
Teacher’s Responsibilities
I touched on this topic a bit before, but I have a whole new appreciation for teachers in Ghana now that I have experienced the day to day routine for 7 weeks now. Prep time doesn’t exist here. There are about 3 hours a week where my cooperating teacher and I don’t have to worry about the students, and only one hour the students actually leave the classroom. We also are in charge of students during lunch time and stay late to teach extra classes and help students with homework. Some students don’t leave the compound until 6 pm.
In Wisconsin schools at least a few times a week teachers have a prep time or a break from students when they go to specials such as gym, art, and music. There are teachers that stay later to work on things, but don’t have to try to get things done with students running around waiting for their parents or drivers to come pick them up. If the students do stay later for extra programs or after school programs there are specific people that come in to teach those classes.
Lesson Planning and Attendance
At first I thought the teacher just taught from the book, because I didn’t ever really see her looking at any sort of plans. However, since I have been here longer I have noticed and learned how they do lesson planning. There is a large book that the teacher has that is turned into the headmistress one a week with all of the lessons in them. The teacher writes her lesson plans and example problems. Then afterwards the teacher writes a reflection on what she taught and how the lesson went. The teacher also has an attendance book that is brought to the office every day. The gate to the compound is locked, so students don’t really come late or leave early, the students are either in school all day or not at all. There are some occasions where students will come late or leave early the students pass through the office.
In Wisconsin the lesson planning is similar, but it is all electronic. You submit your lesson plans the Friday before the week the lessons are for. You then make notes on how the lesson went in order to know how to teach the subject better. Again technology is used for attendance. The teacher marks in the student is in school or absent for the day. The students who come late or leave early also pass through the office and the attendance change is noted there in the office.
Lunch and Snack
The way that money for lunch is taken is very different. In our school here the students go to the bookstore to buy coupons for lunch. Then they bring the coupon to the teacher to hold on to for them (well at least for the younger grades) until lunch time. While this system is pretty good, it can get confusing because students can decide to only buy one coupon for the day, five coupons for the week, or any number in between. This means that every morning you are collecting coupons from students, and have to be organized so you know which students have given you enough coupons for the week or have yet to give you a coupon, so they should not take one for the day. In the lower grades is can be hard sometimes because if the students have an other sibling they are in charge of buying the coupons for all of the siblings and sometimes the older students will just come whenever they want to deliver the coupons. Snack time is also an interesting event. Some students bring their own snacks, but some go to the canteen (lunch room) to buy their snacks. The snack includes something to eat and something to drink. Snack time is combined with recess, so it is common to see students running around with food in their hands.
Lunch money in Wisconsin all goes through the office. Parents pay a certain amount and then are given a notice when they need to pay money towards the account. The students have a number that they say or type in, so the school can record who has eaten and then the money is removed from the account for the meal. Snack time can be seen a few different ways in Wisconsin. Depending on the SES of the families that attend the school, the state may provide snacks for the students in the school. The students can choose to take these snacks, but are also welcome to bring their own snacks to school. There are some schools where the students bring their own snacks each day, too.The school that I went to as a child did snacks a little differently. Parents would buy snacks such as a box of cookies or crackers that the teacher would then share with the whole class for a few days until the snack is gone. We were also able to take a milk from the lunch room and it was recorded who took milk and what kind you too. (P.S. I miss milk)
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