Details, details, details

So I just received the final details for my trip to Uganda. I will be leaving on Thursday February 12th to Philadelphia to meet up with all of the other volunteers for staging. It is basically just a day or two that the Peace Corps spends giving us information about safety, etc. Then, on Friday the 13th I fly to Brussels and finally land in Entebbe, Uganda something like 20 hours later.

A lot of people have been asking me what exactly I will be doing there, so here is a fairly detailed excerpt sent from the Peace Corps:

" As a teacher trainer, you will be posted to a primary school or primary teachers' college in a rural area. The Ministry of Education will assign you to work with a trained counterpart, a Coordinating Center Tutor or a College Tutor. If working at a coordinating center, you and your counterpart will work together to develop and implement plans focusing on key areas of school improvement which surroudn the coordinating center. In order to read and support these schools, you will be required to ride a bicycle over relatively long distances and difficult terrain.

The work plans you develop with your counterpart may include:

1. Improving the technical skills f primary school teachers by introducing participatory learning activities for young children aimed at developing basic skills in mathematics, literacy, and life skills. You will also observe and evaluate student teachers, and most likely be asked to help teachers plan lessons and use local and recycled materials to make instructional aids, educational toys, and games.

2. Working with school administrators through onsite coaching and group trainings to improve their leadership skills and their ability to support their teachers' ongoing professional development.

3. Strenghthening home-school-community connections through joint school improvement activities and projects. To assist in developing these organiations and positive relations, you will work with PTAs, head teachers, and school management committees to develop and implement school improvement plans and projects."

The Peace Corps has also informed me that I will be working with a local counterpart and will be assigned to anywhere  12-60 schools.  I will work with these schools over the course of two years.   As you can see, a majority of my job will be in educational development, not in manning an actual classroom as many had thought (including myself) in the first place.  I am excited at the prospect of educational development through teacher training because I can see myself doing graduate work in that field.  It will be an amazing opportunity to be able to do some field work previous to any theory.  

Thanks for reading

Amber