The cities
Boundiali
Our first stop was 731 km from Abidjan. A quiet, not very
crowded city er, more like a village, Boundiali was welcoming. There were very
few cars in the city; everyone rode motorcycles or bicycles. The roads weren’t
paved, just dusty, red passageways. We stayed at a hotel called le Dala, which
was inaugurated by Houphouet-Boigny in the 1970s. It seemed like the hotel hadn’t
been repaired or upgraded since then either… upon arrival, the porter told me
there was TV in my room, but neglected to mention that there was no running
water (in all of Boundiali, apparently!). Gbon
At first, I wasn’t certain why we were visiting this town, 30
some km from Boundiali. But I later found out that it is the Minister of
Education’s native village and they wanted us to see it. We only spent the
morning and part of the afternoon here, but like Boundiali, nobody drove cars
and everything was coated in a red dust.
KorhogoThe schools
I visited the north with two colleagues: the National
Coordinator for EDHC (CND) and the CND for primary schools/CAFOP. It was
pleasant to travel with both of these gentlemen, as they were equally
enthusiastic about EDHC and went over and beyond the expected workload by
holding open sessions for teachers with complaints and questions in addition to
the class visits.
In total, we visited six schools: Two elementary schools,
three high schools, and one CAFOP (teacher training college). Each visited (with
one exception, see below) consisted of us attending an EDHC lesson with other
EDHC teachers from the school present, followed by a session of feedback and
capacity building for the teachers.
We quickly noticed a trend: most, if not all, of the
teachers had yet to receive the new curriculum, available since September. However,
we did have one principal admit that he had received the programs on a USB key,
but hadn’t distributed them to the teachers. Or administrators said they had
the program, but didn’t want to waste precious resources printing it for the
others. This complaint, that the DPFC/MEN are not directly providing materials
to teachers, was probably the most frequent. Even though they had the resource
at their fingertips, many complained that they should have been given their own
hard copy, instead of having to print it or copy it. When asked, well if you
aren’t teaching from the curriculum, what are you teaching from? Teachers
responded that they used the old ECM textbook, which doesn’t present a huge
problem, per se, because the content is similar, but it frustrated my
colleagues who have been pushing for the APC teaching methodology.
As mentioned in my post about Yamoussoukro and Bouaké, the
biggest teaching strategy problems we saw were at the middle school level. Once
again, dictation prevailed as a teaching method, despite the importance of
participation in human rights and citizenship learning. In a lesson on
entrepreneurship for 9th graders (many of whom are old enough to
start their own business!), the teacher dictated the steps necessary to
starting a business, including (but not defining) conducting a market study and
a feasibility study. Students copied down what the professor said, but when I
asked them pointedly how they thought this particular lesson would apply to
their daily lives, many said it wouldn’t/didn’t concern them. Without directly
engaging the students, they treat EDHC just as another boring lesson, which of
course won’t facilitate behavior change, the main goal of EDHC teaching.
My colleagues were frustrated, and reiterated the importance
of using interactive teaching methods, such as group work, brainstorming, field
trips, class projects, etc. Some of the teachers reacted positively, while
others crossed their arms and rolled their eyes. I told them that I understood
that they were sometimes obligated against their desires to teach EDHC and
perhaps weren’t motivated to come up with interesting teaching methods. I
suggested that they work with the other EDHC teachers to come up with lesson
plans, thus alleviating the burden of planning for EDHC on top of their other
work. I hope they will take this to heart…
There were two events that surprised me during this trip.
First, we had a bit of a conflict with one of the EDHC
teachers in Gbon. As we were visiting two schools in the city, we arrived a bit
late for the open class in the Gbon middle school. Instead of waiting for us,
which the principal told the teacher to do, the EDHC teacher released his
students AND told all of the other EDHC teachers they could go home because “we
were not coming.” Thus, when we came, there was literally no-one there. We were
shocked. We hadn’t made the trip from Abidjan for our good health; we came to
provide support to these teachers, who were constantly complaining that the MEN
was neglecting them, and instead of waiting 10 minutes, they chose to leave.
When the teacher in question was called upon, he shrugged his shoulders. The
principal called all the teachers back, many of whom sat with their arms
crossed during our session, complaining that the DPFC didn’t provide them with
the proper materials to teach the lessons. We pointed out that as teachers, it’s
part of their job to seek out interesting materials to be used creatively, and
that we provided everything they needed as far as methodology and curriculum
are concerned… what more did they need?
The second event was a positive one. At the Houphouet-Boigny
high school in Korhogo, I gave my surveys to a class of 9th graders,
but for the first time since I have been conducting it, the teacher was not
present. I think this allowed the students to feel more comfortable. When I told
them they could ask me five questions after they finished, I expected mundane,
teenage questions, such as “Where in the US are you from? Are you married? Have
you met Beyoncé?” Instead, the students floored me with their extremely thought
provoking questions directly related to EDHC: Do people who conduct awareness
raising campaigns actually practice what they preach? We talk a lot about
reconciliation, but then why is there still war in the world? How do I convince
my neighbors that respecting vulnerable persons (handicapped people was the
example) is the right thing to do? Why do we talk so much about human rights,
but when the genocide in Rwanda went down, why did no one intervene? And finally,
why do western countries talk about legalizing gay marriage?
I can’t say whether it was the doing of their EDHC professor
or just their own interests, but these kids were obviously really reflecting on
these issues. I tried to respond as best I could, but I found the whole
situation refreshing… maybe, despite our worries for the teaching methods
employed, EDHC was taking root in the students’ minds?
The adventure
To arrive up north, we took “cars” or large 60+ person
buses. I had a window seat, which wasn’t so bad as a cool breeze kept me
somewhat comfortable. Considering that the drive from Abidjan to Boundiali took
12 hours, meant that my bum was a little sore from the metal/barely-covered
seats. Under my feet were several guinea fowl in a box and they were more than
loud and obnoxious. Not to mention they kept touching me, and I found myself
wondering, when was the last case of bird flu again? On the way to Boundiali,
we were “protected” by a Dozo (traditional hunter) who was sitting just behind
the driver. Every time we drove through a checkpoint, he slowly lifted his
hand, and we were allowed to pass. Dozos are believed to have magical powers
because of their secret rituals in the sacred forests, and they played a pivotal
role in the conflict. I am thankful he kept us safe on that ride though,
especially when we would hit nasty bumps.
The road between Katiola and Korhogo was horrible. Huge pot
holes made it so that we had to literally drive on the side of the road, often
times tilted at seemingly unsafe angles. We saw some trucks that had flipped
and I was appreciative when our driver took the bumps slowly.
On both the buses there were individuals who got on at a
certain stop to sell us their cure-all medicines.
They would ask the passengers if someone amongst them had
malaria, and would give one “volunteer” a little of the medicine. They would,
of course, immediately feel better. My colleague seated next to me grumbled
about how we wanted peace and quiet on our ride home, so I figured many of the
others on the bus wouldn’t buy this stunt either. Surprisingly, though, many
people listened intently to his diatribe about how the medicine could, if you
took three bottles, cure you of paralysis, unblock fallopian tubes and
facilitate pregnancy, and cure you of fatigue. Several bottles were purchased
at a “special” low-rate just for us on this particular bus. Right.
