Entering February, my 2nd year students have headed off for a two month teaching practicum where they started teaching at primary schools around the province. This means I am only teaching 1st year students which means half the teaching load. Idleness as a concept has always been daunting to me, but I forget that I have become much more practiced with this as an expanse of a few hours seems like hardly enough time to truly relax/work/exercise/read.
Over the past month, I have been quite busy travelling about the country for both work and to visit friends for better and for worse as I am one who can hardly sit still. I have had an opportunity to visit and explore new places which is something I am reminded the average Cambodian does not and cannot do. My host family expresses interest in the places I see in their own country and is eager to see pictures upon my return. While Cambodia is a small country, my family says the host and difficulty of travelling with children does not allow them to travel as I do. I explain that I love to see new parts of the country, meet Khmer people in different places and try new foods. As a PCV, we are encouraged to stay at site as much as possible as leaving often gives your community the impression that you are not as interested in integrating. I fully believed in this concept and did not intend to leave more than once a month when first arriving at site. I realize now that gatherings of friends, opportunities to travel and meetings/work-related situations make it quite difficult to stay as much as I had hoped. Thinking back to my weekends and vacation time in America, I also had difficulty staying put and made the most of my free time to go somewhere else. No matter where I am in the world, I think I'll always find opportunities to see new places as I feel it is imperative to explore what I know exists beyond me. So I should probably just allow any feelings of guilt to subside...
I had an opportunity this past week to travel to Battambang for a training on Primary English for Cambodia, a new textbook created by VSO, a more international PC, that would ideally be introduced into every 4th grade classroom in Cambodia this fall as per the final decision of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport. Those of us who work at PTTCs training primary school teachers were pumped about this potential project as we would be teaching our trainees how to instruct English rather than just teaching them English from an 8th grade curriculum they should already have learned. We would be given a real applicable and focused purpose for our job which is something every PCV strives for. Prior to attending this training, we had heard the possibility of this huge curricular change but had not seen any evidence of this in our PTTCs or from PC. According to the VSO volunteer heading this project, the change seems more inevitable than we had thought and she hopes that we would start introducing the new curriculum immediately even though the change is not finalized. The possibility that Cambodian students will begin learning the basics of English at a younger age and with a more scaffolded curriculum could greatly improve their language acquisition skills. The large obstacle I foresee is that primary school teachers all over Cambodia will have to learn a new curriculum, in a foreign language they are not familiar with, to begin teaching in a matter of a few months. This requires these teachers to set aside much time to accomplish this and a very specialized training to help them become familiar with the new textbooks. In a country where teachers do not have a culture of professional development and are paid meager salaries that force them to work elsewhere to support their families, the Ministry will have to get creative to ensure the introduction of English in primary school effective and well-taught.
The training I participated in and observed was for a pilot group of primary school teachers near Battambang town. They were selected to test drive this new curriculum with their students. It was co-facilitated by a fellow PCV, a VSO volunteer and Khmer teachers from the PTTC with the purpose of leading the teachers through the teacher's manual, the student textbook and the activity book so they felt comfortable leading the pre-written lesson plans for their students. These teachers had little to no knowledge of English but tackled the lessons with excitement and a high level of participation. This was a special circumstance as they received a stipend, materials and some snacks throughout the training which most likely affected their interest. I am not sure if the majority of my trainees would show a similar vigor and confidence since they have not yet spent time in front of a classroom. Nonetheless, the possibility of training a force of teachers to teach English properly and effectively is exciting and gives me some hope for the type of work I may be able to accomplish over the next year and a half.
New pictures!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sam_wise/
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