After a leisurely breakfast we started off with a meeting together to discuss how we were getting on. I think we’re all feeling a lot clearer about the role of the SPR (School Performance Review) profile to help to focus discussions around the School Development Plan next week. We had lots of discussions around our expectations and how far they were matching reality and our impressions of the school system here so far. Lots of positive comments were made about the standard of the teaching we were seeing but like Scotland, curricular change takes time to implement.
We all enjoyed the opportunity to share professional dialogue together and share ideas about how best to use our time next week.
One thing that has struck me is the similarity between our education systems rather than the differences. We both need to involve parents in the process of educating our children and help them to be part of school development. The pupils learning is at the heart of both systems but I can see that the Ugandans are still quite a way from having the discussion about the purpose of their education system. Sitting through a lesson on how to prime factorise numbers and then record in a sub script notation does not strike me as relevant! They still have a very summative system of assessment and put their children through lots of tests. Sometimes it appears to be for tests sake as that is the expectation although despite the challenges there are lots of examples of excellent engaging practice where the children are involved, on task, working actively within groups and enjoying it. As for the dedication of teachers, I’m not sure how many Scottish teachers would put up with having their pay delayed for two months!
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