Today's the day! I'm very excited, but also tentative about leaving my family and students for over 2 weeks. In the past few days I asked my students, fellow teachers and parents to pose questions that they'd like me to investigate while in Ghana. I didn't get many, but in addition to my own guiding questions concerning diseases, here's what I'll be investigating: What are the funeral rites/ceremonies/traditions that are unique to Ghana? Do the schools in Ghana have school nurses? If so, what role do they play in the bigger health care system? How does the presence of HIV affect the lives of young people in school? How do people access clean, healthy water for consumption? If clean water is difficult to obtain, are people empowered to make changes? What resources do teachers have available to deliver classroom instruction? What role does technology play in classroom instruction? What seems to be the effect of "western" or "American" culture on the lives of teens in Ghana? How much value do young people put on education - and how is that reflected in how teens act? Do students have extracurricular or sports teams? Does it seem that people in Ghana are proud to be Ghanaian and want to stay and build lives there or does it seem that everyone's trying to move elsewhere for a better/different life? Does everyone have a television? What do people do for fun?
I'm not sure how or when I'll get to all of these questions but I promise to keep my eyes and ears open and reflect back on them throughout the next two weeks. If you have new ideas as the time goes along, please post them here.
Great idea to solicit questions from students and family! I'll be going in the summer, but I think I'll ask World Lit students at the end of the school year. A good question = 1 extra point on the final exam. That will get their attention!
ReplyDeleteTina Bessias (TGC India group)