First week in placement schools

18th - 24th July

The Global Teachers (GTs) completed their first week in their placement schools in the Dutywa District. The GTs received a profile of their schools in June to give them an idea of what to expect. The GTs are working in nine different schools, ranging from 195 to 421 pupils and 10 - 14 teachers. The main language of pupils and teachers in all the schools is Xhosa, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa. The GTs were prepared to greet the teachers and students in Xhosa, having learned some phrases in their pre-departure training, under the guidance of Gcina and Siphiwo from LCD South Africa.

Global Teacher Loraine with young learners from Reception Year at Candu Junior Secondary School.

The GTs spent their first week in the schools getting to know pupils and staff, and working with staff to identify priority areas of work that they can contribute to during their placement.
They got started by observing classes, identifying resources that schools can use to improve their teaching and learning, and giving lessons to demonstrate some teaching methodologies that the teachers may not have been familiar with.

Staff from Mtshotshisa Junior Secondary School, Siphiwo from LCD South Africa and Global Teacher Karen. 

The GTs met up together at the weekend to catch up with each other and to plan two cluster training workshops for the following week, which will bring together staff members from a number of schools in the district to participate in teacher training. The planning sessions were lead by Arlene, GT Support, and members of the LCD South Africa team.

For more information about the Global Teachers Programme, see http://www.lcd.ie/