"What Does a Typical Day Look Like for You?"

What does a typical day look like for me?  Well, the truth is, there is NO typical day.  I do have an office I work from – sometimes I spend all day there while other times I don’t make it to my office at all.  Here is a breakdown of a few different things that you might see me doing...

1)   Trainings  - I am available to do trainings on different aspect of Christian Education.  I will go to individual schools, or bring schools together to train – in "What is Christian Education?" and related topics as to how it practically applies in the classroom – discipline, teaching to read, relationships with students, curriculum, etc..

2)    School Visits – I will go to see individuals in various schools for whatever reasons.  To see teachers I have trained in action and give them feedback or encouragement.  To inform schools of programs or membership of ACSI.  I will chat informally with teachers and staff about their joys and challenges.  I will chat with students too.  Sometimes I do model teaching for a teacher – giving them an opportunity to see different teaching approaches in action.

3)      Running around working on repairs – plumber, electrician, internet, bank.  Things don’t always work as they should here, and much time is spent repairing air conditioners and freezers, leaky taps, etc.  Last week I made about 15 phone calls and 2 personal visits to our internet providers before service was finally restored...for now.


      4) Meetings – I meet with a group of trainers interested in training others.  I meet with the organizing committee who plans conferences and workshops in Abuja.  On a given day I might have a whole variety of people stopping by the office to talk about a school they are starting,  people wanting more information about Christian Education or what I do and how I might be able to work with them.   


           5) Mentoring – There are 4-5 people I have identified as having great passion and potential in terms of being a leading force in Christian Education in Nigeria. I spend as much time as I can with them, dialoguing about what they are learning and how I can help build their capacities to offer quality Christian Education in their various spheres.

Segun

Tosin

 

      6) Resource provider/Linker/connector – I have a resource library here at the office for teachers to come and borrow books and resources on Education.  Teachers will come looking for advice or information on a particular aspect of teaching, and I work with them to find out where they can get this information.  Others come into my office looking for jobs or teachers and sometimes I am able to make matches.  

In the office

 

ri    7) Writing prayer letters, reports, budgets, etc.. – I also spend time doing just what I am doing right now – writing to you!  I am also expected to do paperwork types of functions – like quarterly reports and budgets, answering emails, etc..

     8) Travel – Since my position is across West Africa – I also spend time “on the road” (or in the air).  I will go to other parts of Nigeria and West Africa to do trainings, have meetings with Christian Educators, and help to build capacity wherever  I can.

Educational Care: French West Africa

As promised in my prayer letter, here are more details and pictures on the training.  For those who might not have read my prayer letter here is a quick summary below:

Educational Care Manuals

The first “Pour Une Education Responsable” Module 1 FRENCH training was held from Sept-24-28, 2012.  We had a fabulous time together!  There was good participation and participants learned a lot and were excited to go back and apply what they had learned, and eager to plan for the next training as well.  “Pour Une Education Responsable” is the French translation for “Educational Care” a curriculum for training Christian School teachers developed by Christian Reformed World Missions and now being distributed through Worldwide Christian Schools USA.  The curriculum has modules on topics such as “What is a Biblical Worldview?”, “How do students learn?”, “What is a biblical view of discipline?” etc..  

Participants showing off their action plans

Group discussion

In the evaluation of the training and the week spent together, the following comments were made:

-          The training and integration of action plans helped me to be organized in what I’m presently doing.

-          I appreciated the rigour and intensity of the training.

-          I appreciated having the manuals to work through, and that we spent time working on our own in group discussion. 

The group was eager to continue and be trained.  They did not want to wait for another year to do the next module, and they also wished that two modules could be done at one time!  I explained the need for the time in between – as the application of the concepts is as important as the training itself.

Testimonial written by Pastor Samuel (the man in the green t-shirt in the discussion photo above). I am leaving it in French - but you can ask me for the translation if you like :)  

Je suis content de pouvoir enfin t'écrire et surtout te donner de mes nouvelles. Je vais bien par la grâce de Dieu. Ce fut vraiment une bénédiction pour nous: ma famille, mon église et moi, ton dernier passage en (pays Afrique de L'Ouest Francophone).  L'enseignement reçu de toi et surtout la méthode d'enseignement sont des choses qui nous ont marquées et continuent de nous édifier.

A ce jour, les membres de ma famille sont en train de concevoir eux-mêmes leurs plans d'action journalier et hebdomadaire. Je loue le Seigneur pour cela. Nous croyons que cet enseignement sera aussi utile pour beaucoup d'autres personnes, dont les fidèles de mon église. Puisse Dieu vous bénir.

Nous espérons te revoir très bientôt.

Teacher training after the Educational Care training during a school visit

 





Teachers had to come up with SMART Action Plans.  (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Oriented) Examples of some of their plans:

-         

-       *   150 of my students will engage in the protection of God’s creation.

o   I will know this change has occurred by the students building a fence around the school courtyard and planting trees around it.

-       *   80% of my students in the “college” (junior high) will better understand God’s intention for the world and know they are created to live lives that honour God at school.

o   I will know this change has occurred by the classrooms being neat and well taken care of.  The number of discipline cases reported in the discipline book will reduce by a minimum of 50%. There will be a reduction of cheating to pass exams.

-       

       *     I want my students to be able to describe at least 2 ways sin affects them and the world they live in. 

-      

-       *   I want 80% of my students to understand a biblical view of work and its benefits.

-      *    I want my teachers to be able to improve their classroom practices and evaluation of students (by being just and transparent) through their understanding of a biblical worldview.

-   *      5 of my Christian teachers will understand and apply the biblical worldview at least once a day after 3 months.

-    *      I want my students to know the importance of forgiveness and that they will forgive each other when offended.

Samuel is a school head - implementing "the Biblical view of work" into one of the classes in his school

After the trainings I visited a few of the schools the teachers in my training work in.  It was rewarding to see them in their own environment and dialogue with them about their unique situations and challenges.  I had the opportunity to visit classes as well as visit and encourage other teachers in the school.  Below are a few snapshots of different classrooms.
Most of the pictures are taken in a school run by Samuel.  As he attended the Educational Care, he struck me as someone who is articulate and engaged well with materials and action plans.  As I visited his school he shared what he was already putting into practice - just a few days later!  He had incorporated the biblical view of work into a secondary school study skills class.  He was also showing me the result of an "inductive teaching" lesson he tried that the students LOVED.  He was very excited to see that the students actually came up with all the answers on their own based on the passage he gave them, instead of him lecturing and giving them a note to write on it instead. Our training was done using the inductive teaching method.
I praise God for seeing changes ALREADY in the classrooms of this school.