This post has taken me a long time, because I can just not put my feelings and experiences into words that do it justice. I’ve done my best, and for those of you really interested in my time here I hope to share with you stories and photos in person.
Out Of My Mind Global Mindedness
During my weekly visits to my practicum class in British Columbia they were participating in Global Read Aloud and were reading the book “Out Of My Mind”. “Out Of My Mind” is about a student named Melody who has cerebral palsy and has only just been placed in an inclusive class after having spent her education in a class for students with disabilities. In the book she begins to use a speech board to communicate. Reading this book allowed the students to realize that it is not always the norm for students with disabilities to be included within the classroom, and to think about the challenges they face, as well as modifications that can be made to make things more equal. I didn’t realize what a personal connection I would make between that book and my experience here at Little Rock Academy, but it has been very interesting to make some of those connections and share them with my practicum class via their kid blog. It has really resonated with me how I can share worldly experiences with my students and how they can make global connections through people and the internet.
My education degree is focused on French Language and Global Studies, and I thought coming to Kenya would be a wonderful way of fulfilling that global component. I have wanted to visit Africa for years. I’m not sure what originally interested me in the country, but for a long time I have been wanting to travel here. Perhaps it has been the set of wooden animals, brought back from Africa from a family friend, that have sat on my shelf since I was one year old that caught my curiousity. Or perhaps it was the Lion King movie that I would watch over and over as a child. Either way, the past few years have taken me to many other exciting locations, but it was only a matter of time before I found a reason to voyage to the continent of Africa.
Anyways, for those of you who have made it this far, I’ll get to the point! The school I am volunteering is called Little Rock Academy Inclusive Early Childhood Development Centre. It is located outside of Nairobi near the Kibera slum. People have been asking me “What are you teaching?”, but honestly, what is happening is that I am LEARNING far more than I am teaching. I can only hope I am offering them something, but each day I feel I have grown and learnt so much from their staff, students and school.
Little Rock Academy is a school for the vulnerable and disabled children from the slum of Kibera. They have approximately 360 students. There are daycare classes, but the majority of the students are in preschool or kindergarten programs. After completing kindergarten, students go on to attend primary school. However, most students with disabilities are not accepted to primary school, so they remain at Little Rock Academy for their education. At Little Rock there is a focus on being inclusive and having mixed classes.
Students at Little Rock receive a porridge in the morning and a hot meal at lunch. Throughout the week there are various assemblies. On Fridays there are school wide sports. The students receive sign language lessons and have a music block. Many of them attend therapy located at the school. There is one room dedicated to income generating activities where parents help fundraise for the school.
Each evening, Little Rock graduates come to the school library to study and have a dinner meal. Currently the school is fundraising to stock their library with course books as the students do not have their own. Right now each book is shared between 3 students. They have a global giving account set up which can be accessed from their website littlerockkenya.org. They also come on Saturday to take part in various clubs.
I spent my first three days in a class of 28 students, 22 of whom had disabilities. The disabilities included: autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, and more, The class had two wonderful teachers. The ages ranged from 3-11, and the students were grouped together primarily on a developmental level. All work was tailored to each individual student and there was a definite focus on life skills. It was a strong and successful combination of both inclusion and personalization at the same time. For me it was amazing to see the great lengths these teachers went to and the amount of work they put in, to run a classroom the way they do.
On Thursday and Friday I helped out in the daycare for 19 babies under 2 years old. To those of you who work in this line of work, way to go. I don’t think I could make it through a week! They were all incredibly cute and fun, but it was certainly exhausting!
In closing:
If I could use only one word to describe Little Rock Academy it would be: INSPIRING. This applies to the spirit and smiles of the students, teachers and other adults who work there, as well as the use of space and supplies. For example, rather than copying worksheets we write each child’s work in their book individually, and instead of buying posters we create them.
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