My advisor is my saving grace. I have an office with an air conditioner. I have a proposal that has just been submitted to the Office of Research and Development. When (if) they approve it, I will be able to officially do research in schools in Botswana - well in the areas I asked permission for. I will also be able to extend my visa past the 85 days I have been allotted here. I have visited two schools and a teacher training school. She has held me accountable for everything, pushed my limits, and made me shape my research. She is going to hold me to designing workshops for reception (4 turning 5 year olds) teachers which I am excited about, and she is going to make sure I spend as much time observing schools as possible. It. is. happening.
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| Hanging out in my 'cool' office... literally! |
I feel like by May I will be tired. And that's a good thing.
So about this research...
I am researching how teachers integrate local culture into the everyday curriculum. My school district makes me want to scream because it pats itself on the back when teachers do a two week whale unit or a unit on patterns for a parka. While these units are great, culture is not something to be integrated for two weeks here and two weeks there. Culture is a living, breathing, everyday thing, and it should be recognized as such: everyday.
I have been reading a lot about culturally relevant pedagogy and Gloria Ladson-Billings. She wrote a paper titled something like 'But That's Just Good Teaching,' and after studying African American teachers and students, she identified best practices that many teachers would say 'well yeah...' too. But these practices are the practices teachers often are forced to overlook due to teaching to the test or the pressure to meet the 90 minutes of literature and 60 minutes of math time mandated by school districts.
I have a feeling that is what's going to happen with my research. Nothing life-altering will be discovered, but I will be forced to recognize and remember the best practices that great teachers put into place (thankfully!). Bringing the culture of the children in the classroom to life through various way like singing, dancing, etc. I am not sure, but as I gather more thoughts and read more research (not practice yet - that starts Monday!), this is my prediction. We will see what happens... I hope to spend Feb/March/April gathering the research and May analyzing it and seeing how it would look in classrooms throughout rural Alaska.
Let the research begin!
And here's some pics:
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| All dressed up for dinner at the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy's house. Forgot to take a real pic of course... |
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| My first springbok shot! (I only took 1 I promise!) |
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| Even Batswana loves Kanye like Kanye loves Kanye |
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| I'm ALL OUT! Already looking forward to June and placing my next order. So delicious! If you are need of some downright deliciousness, ask me about this granola. It's in-cred-ible. So incredible it had to come with me here :) |
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| Bringing back the '80s. My typical look these days... |
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| Still missing this crazy dog so much. Love her and all of her craziness :) |
