Break time!


My HDP group in action


(l to r) Elias, Aklilu and Mitiku


(l to r) Tesfaye, Mesfin, Regassa, Gobeize (white shirt) and Abayneh


Most of my HDP group

Sometimes the best moments when you are teaching or training are the moments when you ignore the plan and go with the flow. Today’s HDP session was supposed to be an opportunity to work in groups on an Action Research project they started two weeks ago. I wanted to spend some time working with them as a group, so I started by asking for any questions they have about English words or phrases. In the previous session on Monday, I had put together an activity to discuss some common mistakes in English usage I’ve noticed so far, the classic being the widespread use of “as to me” instead of “as for me” or “to me”. After the usual pause where nobody wanted to put themselves forward, somebody asked about the phrase “it’s a small world”. This started the ball rolling and was followed by “brainwashing”, “pulling your leg” and “flirting”. A fabulous half hour followed discussing what these phrases mean and when they would be used. The laughter about flirting really made my day. I took some photos of my group during our session and was reminded about how much I like them. Working with them can be frustrating as hell when their concept of deadlines and punctuality conflict with mine, but they are a great bunch of people who are always tolerant, patient and good humoured.

Our HDP session lifted my spirits after another day of back-to-back observations. Highlights of the last two days were observing Anteneh and Gobeize. They both had that special ingredient of conviction when they taught their lessons. They clearly knew what they wanted to achieve and how the students were going to achieve it. Gobeize really showed how to do group work with students, during a lesson on how different countries have influenced the Ethiopian education system. Not only did I enjoy it as an observer, but I also learned more about Ethiopian history. I felt very conspicuous when one group of students presented to the class about the influence Britain has had on Ethiopian education (not that a Ferenji lesson observer could be inconspicuous!). His manner and well thought-out use of a variety of active learning methods was very impressive. Inspirational stuff.