Gifty Konadu, one of the participants of our first cohort of PEN's online teacher training, shares the story of her experience with the workshop. She tells us how her knowledge of hands-on teaching has transformed learning into a fun experience for the students.
Gifty teaches Junior Secondary School level Biology and Agriculture at a Presbyterian school in the Ashanti region of Ghana and has been doing so for about 5 years. She is deeply invested in her students’ learning and loves to see them happy.
"Previously, I taught science using the ‘lecture method’ where I just talked and talked. We had limited teaching aids and my teaching was mainly me standing in front of the students and just talking. My headteacher recommended me for this training and I must say this training has expanded my horizon. I had a holistic experience. First, we started off learning how to use Zoom and Google classroom. This was a plus for me as I am now literate in the use of these tools," she remarked.
“My teaching mode was mainly me standing in front of the students and just talking”
"This training was more for my students than it was for me. Whenever an assignment was given for the training, I did it with my students. They were always excited and active. I guided and supervised them as they set up the experiments. I let them play around with the activities and this always brought them joy. It made them happy, and when they are happy, I am happy."
“The students were always active during science experiments”
"The students were always active during science experiments. Everyone wanted to get involved. Especially with the paper windmill. They all wanted to have a turn at spinning the paper. It was a fun, learning experience for them.
Ghana has a ‘bookish’, traditional way of learning. This means that there are more lectures than practicals. This tends to paint the picture that science is difficult, but that notion is incorrect."
"Science is fun! Science is everything around us."
"If all the science teachers will embrace a hands-on, practical way of teaching, then we can meet the global standard of education. I think it is high time we shift our attention to the in-service training of teachers on hands-on pedagogy. It would be beneficial to all of us. When we do this, then Ghana would no longer be known for the traditional method of teaching."
With the generosity and support of our friends, we are excited to work to create more stories like Gifty Konadu’s in Ghana!
If you will like to support the work we do, consider checking out this link - here.
Author: Nancy Ewurum is the Communications and Marketing Officer at PEN