CONTEXT
2018-2019
Tarkwa Breman Girls' School
Creativity class curriculum development and teaching
REPORT TO MANAGEMENT
Our mission is to develop creative, independent thinkers that are leaders in their community.
Excerpt from September 3, 2019 Report
TEACHING WAGILABS
WagiLabs (What A Great Idea Labs) was an opportunity to introduce a creative, fun, energetic class to the rigid Ghanaian/British education system, and be graded on having divergent ideas instead of rote convergent ones. With the support from Tarkwa Breman Girls' School (TBGS) Headmistress Janet Anafo (seen above), I learned how to write lesson plans, send budgets for approval, and (kind of) manage a classroom of second graders. I had a break from administrative work each Thursday morning to teach WagiLabs class at the school, and I loved it!
School Context
I learned so, so much from the Headmistress Janet "Auntie Jane" in curriculum development for early childhood development, how to manage a school and all its responsibilities, and how to make things happen despite seemingly impossible behavior change. I cannot explain the impressive transformation her leadership brought to this rural school, which also influenced the students' families, and the entire community. She was relentless in her mission to bring up the level of education in the school, and part of that included guidance and counseling of everyone to convince them to see her vision. One example of dedication was her plan for home visits- we spent 2 fulls days traveling around to the rural homes of the girls to host "parent teacher conferences".
Curriculum Development
One of the key takeaways I wanted from WagiLabs class was providing an outlet for the students to express themselves. I knew the class had to be tailored for their environment. I also knew it provided an opportunity to develop English vocabulary and contextualize their learning with familiar topics. Activities were inspired by the WagiLabs Playbook, but stripped away a lot of the worksheets because of limited access to printing, and the difficulties of the language used in the materials. Instead, I developed activities that reinforced learning through play. For example, charades on the topics of water, farming, and home activities brought students to act out activities. Each group started with a pad of post-it notes to write out as many activities as they could on their topic. Then, the students would play charades and have the rest of the groups guess the action. Sticking to English through the excitement of guessing was just enough of a challenge for engaging learning!
WagiMusic Collaboration
WagiLabs provided a fantastic opportunity to lead the students through a masterclass in songwriting with professional musicians Cat Beach, Jason Cohen from Nashville and producer Ned Albright from L.A. With their support, we were able to write 2 original songs in English and Twi, and my friend Kate directed some amazing music videos! Despite strong technical challenges, we were also able to briefly video call them in to talk to the class, which was the students' first experience with video calling.
Everyone in the community loved seeing the videos, and we would save them on our phones to show the students' parents and watch their reactions. I don't know if we could convey the unbelievable feat that the music videos were...the Everyday Wash video was shared with international organizations and reached viewers in over 30 countries!
Early Education
I believe in the opportunities that education can provide. I believe in the quality of education at the Tarkwa Breman Girls' School is striving to achieve, and that the oldest class will be future leaders in their community. I plan to meet the girls again, hopefully at their middle or high school graduation! Hopefully some of them will remember me when they're older; I know I will never forget what I learned from them through teaching WagiLabs class!