Sunday, July 25, 2010

Tanzania, Day 7

July 23, 2010

I have been sitting here for 10 minutes, staring at the computer screen, examining my fingernails, contemplating the pattern on the carpet (is it a fleur de lis?). Not hard to guess that it is the end of a busy day at the end of a very full week.

For those of you who are educators & interested in this sort of thing: our workshop lessons went more or less as planned. We started with a discussion of gap analysis, of using the occupational profile to identify gaps in program curriculum. We did a rough gap analysis comparing the DACUM charts they made yesterday with the modules (courses) they deliver at level 6. After tea-break, we looked at assessing prior learning (PLAR) & how that might work for MRI. Actually, the larger question is IF that might work for them since the government regulation of curriculum is, in some ways, much more restrictive than it is for us. You'd think PLAR would be a great idea: after all, Tanzania is desperate for skilled labour & a prior learning recognition program enables already-competent people to be fast-tracked for credentialling. But things will have to change at the national level before MRI can implement such a program of their own.

And we talked a bit about rubrics & about teaching strategies & that ran us into (again) what teaching strategy do you use to teach about complicated equipment when there is no equipment to teach with? And I talked a bit about using a good rubric to enable assessment by a non-educator on the worksite & I talked a bit about the Jamaican bobsled team who learned how to do Olympic bobsledding without snow. But it all sounds a bit lame, I admit.

And then we ALL went for lunch, our treat this time. We were taken to Jicama, which is sort of along the same lines as Chako ni Chako but this time with pork. The menu at Jicama is very simple: dishes of barbecued or roasted pork pieces, a few semi-dried, roasted plaintains, & dishes of raw vegetable relish. Hm. For a vegetarian such as myself with a fragile North American digestive system it is not a lot of choice. But I was able to nibble on the plantains (which were good) & even gnaw away at a couple of pork pieces. And they bring you beer. You sit outside at tables covered with plastic tablecloths, under giant spreading locust trees, listen to African music (Congo music but sung in Swahili for some reason) & you shout to each other above the sound of the music & have a wonderful time.

Now we are done the post-workday debriefing session, a little walk around the block during the 5 minutes between dusk & full night, a little supper, a half-hour of internet time just before closing.

Tomorrow we head for Mikumi National Park! Should be good.

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