It Has Been A Remarkable Trip

Saturday

July 1, 2023

An hour after the close of the Our Future Green Village Competition at Maranyundo Girls School, Joni and I were on our way to the airport to begin our journey back to Boston. It was a remarkable day for a final day in Rwanda. The Competition was a partnership among the PEBL Grant funded by LEGO Foundation, The Maranyundo Girls School and the support of Tufts University. It was an opportunity for the teachers who had been trained in Novel Engineering in April and December 2022 who had been given material to start a Maker Space in their school, to show what their students had been able to do to envision a “future green village.” The task was: 1) Identify a local environmental problem; 2) develop a solution; 3) integrate the solution into a design of your community. Teachers and students from 21 schools across  Rwanda participated. The day was amazing.

 

Joni and I were up bright and early to watch the banner being hung in the Main Hall just as the first schools began to arrive. What I first noticed was how happy and proud teachers and students alike seemed as they found their demonstration space along the perimeter of the Hall and set-up their exhibits. To see the joy ad enthusiasm of the work they had done was truly inspiring.  After all the schools had set up their projects as well as other projects they had made in their maker space clubs, the teams demonstrated their projects before a team of judges. As Sister Laetitia watched the demonstrations, she comments, “The students have created wonders.” Yes, she said what so many in the Main Hall were thinking!

 

 

As the judges deliberated, the students from MGS entertained us with a traditional dance and chorus. Maranyundo graduate and former Maker Space Prefect, Leslie Isaro interviewed a panel of both teachers and students who articulated their experiences of making as a form of teaching and learning. And then SANDE Robert announced the judges decisions and the winners in each category. The atmosphere was “electric.” The excitement was well deserved as award winners were given tablets for their clubs. The grand prize was a 3-D printer. Those whose projects were not mentioned as “winners,” also received materials for their clubs. Clearly, the work of making will continue to shape the teaching and learning of these Maker Space pioneers!

As I considered what the day had taught me, I thought about how the events of the day had brought to life 3 of the quotes that shape my own teaching and learning. First, I thought of Debbie Meier’s mantra that “Schools are where we learn how public life is lived.” The students who participated in this competition had been guided by their teachers to demonstrate how their experience of school, their learning every day, can serve their communities. They can envision how education can shape the public life of their communities.

 

Second, I was reminded of Chinua Achebe and his statement to Bill Moyers of what had guided his determination to write the African story from an African perspective. He believed that if you do not see a story in which you and your dreams are reflected, if you see “a gap in the bookshelf, write your own story.” These students and teachers who were represented in this competition were, indeed, using their making to write a new story of how envisioning a “green village” can be  a hallmark of the future for communities across Rwanda. Education should help each of us to “write the story” of the future and how each of us has agency to make that future a reality

 

Third, I recall the words of Senator Aloisea Inyumba, whose vision of education is brought to life every day in the work of the Maranyundo Girls School. She always reminded us that we must believe in the grassroots people. It is the grassroots women and men who have been strong and who will guide us to make the change a nation needs. The teachers and students who have been working together in the Maker Spaces to learn how problem solving in teams, how hands on learning inspires new creations are the “grassroots” people who can build on the work of ancestors and traditions to build new initiatives.

 

These are the thoughts Joni and I had as we rode to the airport with Sister Juvenal preparing to leave Rwanda once again. Each time we leave MGS, we are already eager to return. We were so inspired by the work the teachers had accomplished under the guidance of Djamila, Robert and Clementine. We were grateful to the tufts team that included Noella, Pascal, Toyin and Noah for supporting the work of the teams as they developed and demonstrated their projects. 

 

It has been a remarkable trip. 

 

Linda V. Beardsey

 

"I Feel Like a Writer Now!"

 

 

June 30, 2023

Friday

 

 

As I mused on the last days of our December trip to Maranyundo: “Leaving Maranyundo is always a process…” This time, the process included putting closure on the. Writing Project Joni and I had come here to share with the students, to give some shape to Sister’s focus of developing a culture of writing on the MGS campus, along with a culture of reading.

 

In December when we came and now in June, the students are studying for the school’s end of term exams. The S-6 students are also preparing for the National Exams. Their time is filled with prep times. So Joni and I were not sure how many final essay drafts would be in the folder we had left on Nadine’s counter. We asked students to put their drafts in the folder before Thursday morning.  Sister wanted to have the collection copied and given to each student who had participated in the Writing Project. But they had had so many exams to prepare for! So when I walked up to the Administration building to get the folder, I was unsure of what I would find. Yet when I picked up the folder I was amazed that 23 girls had managed to find time to edit and copy their essays! The remaining girls gave us their essays later that afternoon…with apologies.

 

Our writing prompt entitled “I am Learning: Writing about Becoming Educated” asked the students to consider 5 aspects of learning a lesson in their courses.

·      First describe the lesson.

·      Was the lesson easy or challenging?

·      What helped you to understand the lesson?

·      How did this lesson help you to understand how you are becoming an educated young woman?

·      Did you also learn something about yourself?

The students wrote thoughtfully about lessons in their classes and what they had learned. They also shared what they had learned about themselves in their classes. As teachers, Joni and I found these reflections interesting as they give a reader some insight into how students are processing both the content they are learning as well as how they are becoming thoughtful about using what they learn. Here are some examples of the students’ writing:

 

·      “Computer science is all about programming and it requires full focus and attention…I learnt the only thing you have got to do to achieve something is putting your whole heart in it, stay focused on your goals.”

·      The lesson that I learnt was being on the basketball team…I learnt every obstacle Kobe Bryant met he didn’t give up. Instead, he found a way…to improve on his skills.”

·      My favorite subject is Geography which is the science about the Earth…One day we were learning about pollution and the teacher was talking about how industries pollute…and also how we are the cause of pollution…I came to know that I can also destroy the environment …and must think of ways to conserve it.”

·      “It was a very challenging lesson in math on linear inequalities…I started getting discouraged, started crying…But I told myself never lose hope. I kept spending my preps on the lesson and I started making it!...I learned to stay calm in a stressful situation…Now, whenever a linear inequality is prepared on a math exam, I do it very gladly…glad that I never lose hope.”

·      “General studies and Communication is my favorite course…I can express myself…share my point of view on…what happens in the country.”

·      “I love when [something] gets hard but you manage to surpass it and win. I feel the same in math class.”

·      “Sometimes we learn and face different challenges. When I first came to secondary school I faced new subjects in class which were very complicated. Physics was one of those…I tried to follow physics in class and also making my own research…This really showed me that I am becoming an educated young woman.”

·      “Mathematics is the study of calculations, solving problems, equations…it is complicated if a learner doesn’t understand what he/she is learning…Then this day we were studying about vectors …each vector has an origin and a arrow shows the direction…That made me think that everything in life has a beginning and an end.”

·      “Education is something you are always doing…Education is not just sitting in class, face to face…listening to a teacher. We also get an education or learn from our mistakes, our experiences and all things that revolve around us all day.”

 

Partnering together and learning from discussion is working for them. The students often mentioned that they left a class with new information they did not fully grasp. When they had an opportunity to talk to classmates about the lesson, they found they understood material much better. This way of discussing lessons and concepts with one another builds on Sister Laetitia’s idea of collaborative learning, discussion prep and lifting each other up. Here are some examples of student writing on learning by discussion:

 

·      I am a huge fan of makerspace! I love all the activities we do in there…One day my friend and I were trying to design a game. We had to program microbit using some codes. But the game did not work out. I started getting frustrated…We told our problem to the senior student and she helped us. Our game was working…I learned I don’t always have to come up with solutions on my own…I gained so much knowledge interacting with the senior.

·      The lesson [about the Genocide against the Tutsis] was easy because I am interested more about my culture and country. The things that helped me understand the lesson was a discussion with the teacher as well as my classmates.”

 

 

Our final Writing Project meeting with the students included giving them a stapled copy of “The Collection.” The students took time to read each other's essays and comment on what they had learned from these lessons and writing conferences about their drafts. (Several students commented that they had also learned from Kaelen’s essay and her presentation.) A comment that captured the essence of the experience says it all. Picking up her packet of The Collection a student smiled and proclaimed, “I feel like a writer now!”

 

Yes, indeed!

 

Linda V Beardsley