“Akwaaba” to Ghana! Post #1… travel and arrival in Accra. I have to admit, I nearly cried when we landed on the African continent… a first for me. Really incredible, to say the least, and even though I love my porch swing, my gardens, my morning coffee with Mark, and a long leisurely walk with the dogs through Lippold Park, as the Ghanaian proverb says, “When you are sitting in your own house, you don’t learn anything. You must get out of your house to learn.” While Ghanaians don’t know my husband, whose philosophical considerations begin well before we leave the house in the morning, the truth of that saying remains: perspectives are challenged and deepened, renewed and changed when confronted with differences of every kind. Look around you… diversity abounds in all of creation. Cultures and continents of people follow suit… and hopefully our lives and communities are enriched as a result. My Teachers for Global Classrooms travel has begun, and so too has the comforting discomfort of leaving home… more to come…

Post #2…The above Ghanaian proverb seems appropriate for the work and legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois. It also applies to the work that teachers do every day. Sometimes years pass before the fruit of our labor takes hold in a student. That legacy of learning and investing in children was certainly the focus of today’s events, which included a visit to the W.E.B. Du Bois museum, with Ashanti Anansi Spider motifs woven throughout; a panel presentation and discussion with Ghanaian educators who are implementing their updated curriculum framework throughout their schools and teacher training programs, and acclimating to our host country through food, discussion, and driving through the neighborhoods of Accra.

Post #3 - Ghanian Education. 

For the sake of avoiding redundancies, I'm combining multiple days in this particular post.  My Teachers for Global Classrooms grant essentially identifies the purpose of my time in Ghana - to recognize the collective and collaborative efforts of all educators to train, equip, and prepare their students for the adult world. Particularly, the TGC educational exchange seeks to deepen our global competencies, to enrich our own instructional practices, and to establish a mutual understanding of our respective worlds by being cultural ambassadors through education, learning, and the sharing of ideas. 

So, three things to consider: 1) Ghanaian education is centralized and administered through collective and collaborative agencies such as the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education & Training (CTVET); The National Teaching Council; National Council for Curriculum and Assessment; T-TEL (Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning); and the National Schools Inspectorate Authority - all of which ensure that Ghana's new Educational Reforms are implemented with fidelity. Additionally, there are 46 Colleges of Education in Ghana, all of which train the next generation of teachers on the values, curriculum, and pedagogy embedded in their reforms. 2) The wider cultural values and support of education at all levels of society bolster that collective effort to educate students for the 21st century. 3) Ghanaian schools have many material challenges, especially in the more rural areas of the country, and policies to ensure that their PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) and SIPs (School Improvement Plans) are administered as planned can be frustrated by their developing infrastructure (reliable internet access, transportation and roads, etc.) However, despite challenges and shifts towards a more student-centered instruction (think hands-on, inquiry based, problem based, and STEAM based learning away from didactic, lecture based, call and response type teaching), the JOY of learning - the AFFIRMATION of learning - is what defines the Ghanaian educational focus more than anything else. 

In a nutshell - American education is all about individual advancement...Ghanaian education is about their communal, collective, and national betterment. That's an enormous difference in purpose and why Ghana as a country, already an academic power house, will no doubt reap the benefits of their educational reforms in the years to come.

Post #4: Berekum Presbyterian Senior High School #1 - the Administration and Staff. 

Mr. Ortis Kumi deserves an enormous “Thank You!" for all he did to ensure that Erica and I had an engaging and positive experience at Berekum PRESEC, as they call themselves. We were warmly welcomed by the administration, the teachers (many of whom were trying to run review sessions for their students' upcoming exams), and every support staff that makes PRESEC a Grade A senior high school. They opened their classrooms, their curriculum, and their collegial spirits to share all that they are doing to enact the country's reforms. The art teachers in particular were more than generous in showing us their spaces and their needs and sent us back to Accra with gifts the students had made while we were touring their classroom. One key to learning is a caring environment - teachers, support staff, parents, and the wider community. Berekum showed us what that looks like and reminded us of the benefits when we work in concert toward a common goal: student growth and development. Thank you, Ortis! Thank you, PRESEC!

Post #5: Berekum Presbyterian Senior High School #2 - the Students. 

I wish I could convey the genuine and respectful nature of a Ghanaian student. The societal expectation of respect for everyone, especially your elders, marks every interaction, every conversation, and every question asked. Students are genuinely polite, and if one should decide not to be, the entire community gets involved because that behavior affects everyone.  Still, students are remarkably the same regardless of place and culture. They love their phones (I got asked a lot if phones are allowed in my classroom because they are not allowed in Ghanaian classrooms!); they love video games; they love singing, dancing and all things musical; they love football (not American football); they love taking pictures; they bully each other and call each other names; they strut and preen and are concerned with their external appearance; they long for successful careers and to make their families proud; they question - “What was the hardest day you've ever had as an educator?" and “How do you build those robots in the picture you showed from your school?" and “What happened to your eye, Miss Heidi?" ( I popped a blood vessel in my right eye the night I arrived in Ghana, and I indeed looked like Smaug - or a devil lady - or both!) They love their communities, their tribes, their friends, their families, their country; and they work hard - really hard - to be academically successful. They are teenagers...below are a three poetic responses to my lesson that convey what it means to be a Ghanaian teenager. 

I am from a continent Hi! My name in Linda I have moved from place to place -
Blessed with all of nature's best resources. I am from a rich home, From cool, marshy, wet places to rocky, sloppy places.
The humanitarian values are our symbol of I always help the poor people The rattling of the cocoa leaves, cock crows, song from the weaver birds.
unity, love, and hope. in my society. Cool breeze at night and warmth during day time.
I am part of a country which is considered as I always get close to them in terms Marsh plantains (Eto) with peanuts and palm oil make my mouth water.
the best in the world, of any situation. Classical music, novels, cartoons, horror movies make my leisure perfect.
Although not stable in so many ways, When I see the poor people Warm hugs from dad, mom's sweet voice, and siblings playing around
But one day it will be a wonderland. I have pity for them, Makes the house full of laughter.
It is my dream that one day And I always help the widows I am from a noisy house. full of kids who love to argue out of curiosity.
All of the people in my continent And orphans in the society. This makes me who I am: curious, funny, and naughty.
Will realize their potentials Linda, Age 17 Kwarteng Lawrencia Adomah, Age 17
And rise to greater heights.
Henry, Age 17

Post #6 - Return to Accra and Reflections on our Host Community visit. 

The last few days of our exchange saw our Fulbright cohort debriefing our host community experiences and then visiting educational systems that are directing (The Educational Minister - a former L.A. Charter School teacher and administrator) and supporting (National Teaching Council, Accra College of Education, and Perbi Cubs Library Services) the country's ambitious educational reforms. Regardless of school status (private, public, or charter) everyone is mandated to implement the new reforms, many of which mirror and reflect American educational reforms. Having seen numerous rural schools, our cohort had lots of questions about implementation of those reforms. Policy and practice require a commitment of time, consistency, and money, and while - as a developing nation - Ghana has many challenges, they understand implicitly that Education is the key to strengthening their country from within. W.E.B. Du Bois' statement that “Time is long," became all the more prescient: One has to take the long view when changing foundational structures. The needs are immediate; the cultivation processes are complex; and the fruits of that labor can take generations...What a privilege to have witnessed Ghana's educational reforms in process and with such unity of purpose, implementation, and focus. 

Post #7: Cultural Sites and Reflections

Many folks have asked me upon my return home, “How was your trip?" and honestly, I'm not really sure what to say. Perhaps I need more time to unpack and reflect on the experience as a whole, or maybe my perspective (which is one of the main global competencies addressed in this whole Fulbright Grant) has been challenged and stretched well beyond the borders of my understanding. I don't have a quick, neatly packaged response to the question, nor should I given the complex, dynamic nature of cultures, education, and personal expression. So, instead, I'm going to present the cultural moments that have stayed with me the longest, and which I hear myself reflecting on when talking about my time in Ghana.

The Cultural Moments: Joyful Teaching and Learning; The roads and developing infrastructure; Cape Coast Castle & the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, Global Mamas Cooking Class (on my 55th birthday!), the communal and social dynamic of their lives, and goats!

Post #8: Civics Education and Democratic values. As mentioned above, a number of non-partisan bodies and commissions ensure that Ghana's educational reforms are supported throughout the many regions of the country. Likewise, ensuring that the values of democracy and civic engagement are preserved for future generations falls not only on educators but on administrative support through Ghana's National Commission for Civics Education (NCCE), a governing body set up under Article 231 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the National Commission for Civic Education Act, 1993, Act 452 of the Parliament of Ghana. Their goal is to educate Ghanaians of the principles of democracy, to raise awareness of their civil liberties granted to them by the constitution, to deepen their citizens' civic engagement and sense of responsibility as free people to participate in their democracy, and to address “existing inequalities between different strata of the population and make recommendations for re-dressing these inequalities." The Commission has sixteen Regional Offices headed by Directors who coordinate their work in 268 District offices throughout Ghana, which includes working with educators to ensure those democratic values are embedded into their Civics and Social Studies curriculum. Additionally, in coordination with local communities and schools across the country, NCCE ensures that their democratic values of civic engagement are implemented and supported with fidelity, specifically through their flagship programs, which include the Annual Constitution Week; Annual Citizenship Week; Annual Democracy Lecture; Ghana Constitution Game/Quiz Competition; Social Auditing Program; Community Durbars; a Dialogue series; and Civic Education Clubs. Topics covered in those events include educating on the constitution and democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms, civic and voter rights, global citizenship, and democratic development; their work also includes promoting peace building and conflict resolution, political and religious toleration, inclusiveness and participation of marginalized groups including women, children, persons with disabilities, etc., and educating citizens on sustainable management of the environment in addition to their National Anti-corruption Action Plan (NACAP). 

As an American Social Studies teacher, I can speak to the success of the Commission's work as seen in Berekum as a city and at Berekum PRESEC. Students, teachers, and community members at large seem very much involved in and knowledgeable of their government, their politics, and their democracy. Conversations about the government at the local, regional, and national levels occurred frequently; political advertisements for their upcoming elections, which occur on December 7, 2024, are evident everywhere and in impressive size and display; students' knowledge of history, of their local policies, and their desire to be active participants in their communities proved to be both inspiring and complicated: there's a tremendous hope for the future that's coupled with a wary uneasiness - not unlike our own American experience with an election cycle. Ortis Kumi - Mr. International Man and our host in Berekum - regularly and emphatically reminded me of the “gift your founding fathers gave you" while also debating the merits of our American two-party system. Ghana's Social Studies curriculum is replete with civics and government. Those values and topics are embedded into the environment itself - democracy, government, social development - in addition to specific courses.

While Ghanaian communities, especially in the more rural areas, may struggle with reliable internet and challenging roads, their tight social connections - physically in their streets, markets, schools, and places of work and digitally via WhatsApp and Facebook - ensure that their citizens' democratic knowledge and civic engagement are as dynamic, vibrant, active, and sometimes as heated as their American counterparts. What has stayed with me is the truth that when you leave home and you see your country from the outside - from someone else's perspective - the democracy gifted to us by our founding fathers seems all the more precious if not more fragile. The myriad of ways that democracies in history have failed or - in our current world - are stressed and challenged should be a reminder that the teaching and learning of Civics is a fundamental Need for a democratic country's survival. Ghana's independent republic is currently 67 years old; America's republic is nearly 250 years old - about the shelf-life for democracies historically speaking. Social Studies, Civics, Government, History both global and national - are not optional or elective subjects. That truth remains as well.

Post #9: How to put a life-changing experience into a sentence or two...

My time in Ghana was beautiful and hard; I count it a privilege to have seen and met so many warm, genuine, and joyful students and teachers; I witnessed on-going economic growth and a focused, ambitious attempt to strengthen teaching and learning for the sake of Ghana's own self determination. I observed teachers who are working collaboratively to implement lofty reforms despite material challenges, and students who are eager to contribute to their communities through active, civic minded projects in order to gain the experience necessary to address their country's economic, political, and social needs. I witnessed the complexities of Ghana's tribal and cultural identities, which mixed (seemingly) seamlessly into their religious and individual identities, and I found myself both befuddled and amazed at the way those identities layer and define Ghanaian society. Their rich social networks and the strength of their extended families and friends were enviable...Americans are individual and largely isolated by comparison, and I couldn't help but wonder, especially when I first arrived home and found myself alone more often than not, if our own social maladies aren't exacerbated by our insistence on independence, putting on a “stiff upper lip," and following the cult of “rugged individualism." I don't really know, but what I am certain of is that my life has been immeasurably altered because I glimpsed a world altogether different from mine. The value of exchanges - of investigating the world, understanding perspectives, communicating effectively, and taking action - do indeed affect the lives of those willing to take the risk to leave the comfort of home...It's hard...really hard... especially when you pop a blood vessel in your eye the night you arrive and you walk around for two weeks looking like a devil lady... or when you have to rely on strangers for protection, security, safety, and a warm meal... or when you don't have the conveniences that define your life back home...or when you look out at a room full of teenagers waiting for you to teach (or hoping you won't!)...okay...that (sometimes) panic is the same no matter the continent! 

I count it a privilege and an experience of a lifetime to have been part of the 2024 Ghana TGC cohort.

Thank you for following along...