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Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

  • 1.  Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-20-2020 06:17 PM
    Dear Colleagues,

    Want to share ideas with colleagues in other parts of the world?   To pass ideas back and forth with new people?  

    I'm working on a project with 3 teachers in Cape Coast, Ghana (on the west coast of Africa) to talk about how they might integrate more child directed learning in their Kindergarten classrooms.  We hope to do this in a contextually appropriate way that builds on the strengths of Ghanaian culture and teachers.  I anticipate learning a lot from my colleagues in Ghana.  
    I'm wondering if anyone would like to share pictures of play based activities in their classrooms.  Pictures of other classrooms inspire new ideas for us all. 

    Activities should be ones that children choose to engage in.  Activities that have room for exploration, wonder and delight are even better.  Activities that use natural materials, or things such as cloth or paper that are available in most parts of the world are best yet.  The teachers I'm working with won't have access to a lot of materials from catalogs
    .  
    Here's a link to a google doc where you can share pictures and short descriptions.  I'll post pictures from your colleagues on this site sometime in April.   https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15s5p6eUsJYO8oukx2bpMlHgUoMfrpHidWBJAajP3xIA/edit?usp=sharing

    Please post by March 6 if you'd like to participate 

    Let me know if you have any questions.

    ------------------------------
    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    Co-facilitator for Diversity and Equity Interest Forum
    [St Paul ] [MN]
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-21-2020 12:19 AM
    Hello Meg I saw your post about collaborating with ECE teachers in Cape-Coast Ghana and it caught my attention because that is where I am from. Anyway let me know if you need any help from me I have AA ECE and I am an RBT  as well. Thanks for your help in ensuring the education of our young children. By the way,  where in Cape- Coast is the school at?

    ------------------------------
    Millie Tinkorang
    Instructional Assistant
    ECSD
    Elko NV
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-21-2020 09:16 AM
    Hi Millie,
    How delightful to meet you.  Are you from Cape Coast?  
    Dr Osafo-Acquah from the University of Cape Coast has recruited 3 kindergarten teachers for our project.  He hasn't yet told me which schools.  I'm hoping one is the primary school at UCC because that's where I went to school 51 years ago.  The year I spent in Cape Coast had a huge impact on my life and I'm so excited to go back in a meaningful way.

    ------------------------------
    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    Co-facilitator for Diversity and Equity Interest Forum
    [St Paul ] [MN]
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-21-2020 12:48 PM
    Yes Meg, I am from Cape Coast I grew up in Yamoransah and my sister lives in Ola right now. I am really happy to hear about the work you are putting in and giving back. Actually I think my sister lives closer to UCC.

    ------------------------------
    Millie Tinkorang
    Instructional Assistant
    ECSD
    Elko NV
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-21-2020 02:22 PM
    Hi Millie,
    I'm so excited to meet you.  I owe so much to people in Cape Coast.  I had a really amazing teacher there- the more I learn about teaching the more I respect what she did.  

    I have two questions for you- if you have time to answer.  

    1. If you went to primary school in Ghana, can you see places where teachers could have introduced choice, wonder and delight (sometimes known as play) without losing the strengths of schools in Ghana or their connections to the communities they are rooted in?  

    2.  If you have been there recently, where would you go for fufu and groundnut stew (that might work for my US  tummy that needs cooking to be done with sachet water and not too much pepper)? 









  • 6.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-21-2020 05:05 PM
    Hahaha you can find fufu and peanut butter soup at my house in Elko Nevada 😀😀 you're always welcome! You know,over the years while going through school especially taking ECE classes  I couldn't help but to always think about those kiddos at home and the foundation or lack thereof of their early education I was very glad to hear about those in Accra area that started those ECE programs. I still worry about those villages especially around Cape Coast rural areas like Asebu, Yamoransah where I am from, Morree and places like that.


    ------------------------------
    Millie Tinkorang
    Instructional Assistant
    ECSD
    Elko NV
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-21-2020 08:14 AM
    Hi Meg,
    The free online webinars offered by several organizations and companies are often on topics related to open-exploration of materials and play. Several examples came up when I searched just one such resource for "play" https://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/?s=play&lang=en and "nature" https://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/?s=nature&lang=en

    When I use photos from others I add a text box on the photo to make sure the source is attributed. 
    Thanks for giving us the opportunity to contribute!
    Best wishes,
    Peggy

    ------------------------------
    Peggy Ashbrook
    Early childhood science teacher
    Alexandria, VA
    NSTA The Early Years columnist, Science and Children
    Early Years blogger, www.nsta.org/earlyyears
    Author: Science Learning in the Early Years, and
    Science Is Simple
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-21-2020 09:44 AM
    Hi Peggy,
    Thanks for the idea.  I'm hoping to make this into a teacher to teacher connection but have definitely considered your idea if I don't get enough. 
    warmly,
    Meg






  • 9.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-28-2020 02:09 PM
    Thanks so much to everyone who posted pictures of play based activities for me to use in my work with teachers in Cape Coast, Ghana.  I'm sure that the teachers I'll be working with at the University Basic school and the Interdenominational school will find them interesting.  I'll leave the google slides link up for a few more days in case anyone else is interested in back and forth sharing with this set of colleagues.  . https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15s5p6eUsJYO8oukx2bpMlHgUoMfrpHidWBJAajP3xIA/edit#slide=id.g7e7f40de19_5_5.

    ------------------------------
    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    Co-facilitator for Diversity and Equity Interest Forum
    [St Paul ] [MN]
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-29-2020 04:40 AM
    Hi Margaret,
    I think it's very exciting that you are working on this sharing project with teachers in Cape Coast, Ghana! I shared a few photos this morning from my personal stash that I thought might be relevant to your project. I am excited to follow your journey and hope that you will be posting updates/progress of this project-especially if the teachers there have photos to share. It would be awesome to see what they are working with and some insight at another part of the world, that many of us may never get to visit. Best of luck!

    ------------------------------
    Meg Marchese
    Preschool Teacher
    Western Carolina University
    Senior Bachelor Candidate
    BK-Human Services-Concentration in Early Childhood
    Belmont, NC
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Collaborating with teachers in Ghana

    Posted 02-29-2020 01:18 PM
    Thanks so much Meg, These are perfect!  I've found that exact kind of shell on the beach in Cape Coast so these will be easy for our colleagues to replicate if they feel this is a good fit for their classroom.  .  
    I doubt I'll be able to post pictures from Cape Coast, because it's tough to find an internet connection that's strong enough to upload pictures but I'll post them when I get back in April. I will post more in June when I go back for a second time.   I am also going to be writing a few blogs on our work for Redleaf press and possibly for NAEYC as well.

    ------------------------------
    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    Co-facilitator for Diversity and Equity Interest Forum
    [St Paul ] [MN]
    ------------------------------