Description here
It was once again one of the happiest coincidences, which brought me to Vandong Thorn and his BSDA – Buddhism and Society Development Association, Kampong Cham.
Actually I only wanted a small, useful activity, to take a break during my bike tour. I didn’t dare to hope that it would end in such a valuable experience.
A part of the education BSDA offers is English lessons for children and adults.
In my first conversation with Vandong he explained me his idea, to improve the performance of teachers with lesson planning. Initially I had doubts, my study to become a teacher is already some years in the past. But it’s difficult to refuse Vandong. He lives his work; his energy and fascination is just stirring. By his very nice, friendly nature and his laughter, he is simply convincing and makes his projects so successful.
Expectation & curiosity
Anyway, before I finally agreed, I first wanted to have a closer look and meet some teachers. So I was shortly afterwards sitting together with 3 English teachers. Full of expectation, curiosity and interest they wanted to know much more than just a lesson plan. The basic question was generally, how can they be better teachers. I realized immediately that this will be quite a challenge, I had also just one week time. Nevertheless, I wanted to help them as much as possible. With their motivation, I hoped a big part could be developed together. At first we collected everything that was already available.
Packed
In the evening I visited different classes. After 5pm, when the normal school is finished, the teachers use the rooms in the nearby school. 40-50 students are packed in relatively small class rooms at very warm temperatures. The classes are divided into different levels of knowledge; the students are mostly in various ages. Not every child can afford a book.
Together with a 2-3 English teachers, we have developed a concept based on what is already available. At the end we had a workshop with 10 teachers to discuss different teaching methods, problems etc and finally created a lessons plan.
Learning Experience
If the teachers learned just only half of what I learned, I am very satisfied. This experience that I could make the time I could spend with them was met by friendliness and serenity.
By: Dorothee Fleck, Germany
