I love technology and resources as much as any teacher. Having spent the last year deep undercover as a supply teacher, my big bag of resources has saved me on many occasions (especially when my only guidance has been a scribbled post it). But what if I had to teach with nothing?
WWEP are closely linked to Independent Thinking and are committed to improving the life chances of young people all over the world through education. Independent Thinking have committed to a programme of sending associates to “dangerous places for no money” to support WWEP in their work. WWEP doesn’t do one off drop in sessions. They are in it for the long haul.
In October of this year, myself and Crista Hazell will be continuing the work of Nina Jackson in Ghana and our work will not be the end of the story either. Nina started this work with her “something from nothing” techniques. Some schools do not have the luxury of a stock cupboard. If you watch this video, taken during Nina’s visit, you can see that only a handful of these children have books and that teacher’s resource is chalk and a board.
YOU CAN READ HER FULL STORY HERE
We want to strip back teaching and learning. Crista and I hope to create something from nothing before we go by hosting a special #nakedteachingday on September 30th 2016. We hope you will want to get involved! By hosting this day, we will raise awareness, ideas and funds for the SOS villages in Ghana and the surrounding schools that have even less. If we can raise £2000 before we go, we can take over a container of school supplies to help create better school environments for the children out there. Thanks to the generosity of so many friends and colleagues, we are almost half way to our goal already! Knowing that there are over one million orphaned children in Ghana, if we surpass our target of one container, we will still not be doing enough. However, in the words of Ian Gilbert, “If you can do something, you should.” so we are!
How can you get involved?
Whole School:
Perhaps your school would agree to having a #nakedteachingday on September 30th, where staff turn off their whiteboards and turn on their idea generating. What amazing lessons can be taught using little more than imaginations and subject knowledge? This day would raise awareness of the difference between our privileged education and countries that educate with very little. Make sure that you take photos, upload videos and write up your best ideas on #nakedteachingday. Tweet them out and we will turn any online ideas into a resource that we can share with the teachers of Ghana (and beyond).
Any funds generated can be donated here
Individual Teachers:
Even if your whole school are not up for laying down their teaching tools, you might be up for going it alone. Perhaps you are interested in researching independence, questioning, group work or something else that can be taught without physical resources. Why not blog your journey and share it with us on #nakedteachingday? We want all ideas to be blogged, filmed and shared so that the teachers of Ghana can benefit from the generosity of your ideas. If you do not have a blog of your own, you can use pedagoo.org an online community blog that thrives in sharing great classroom practice by teachers, for teachers. Just make sure that you use the hashtag #nakedteachingday so we can collate your excellent ideas.
Any funds generated can be donated here
Not a Teacher?
The children of your school may want to get involved too. As well as #nakedteachingday, we have been encouraging our friends and colleagues to go #Naked4Ghana (no nudity involved). My children went without their technology and my husband was sponsored by workmates to give up his taste buds in a hot sauce challenge (video here). It all raised money and awareness (as well as laughs) for the cause. Perhaps they would go #Naked4Ghana without their mobile phones or sponsor their parents to give up their possessions. Do you are to challenge your daughter to go #Naked4Ghana without make up? Or your granddad to give up his biscuits? Get as creative as you like and share your journey with the hashtag #Naked4Ghana. There are three ways to get involved in #Naked4Ghana, explained on the Just Giving page below; you don’t have to be a teacher to help out. Any money raised can be donated using the link below:
#Naked4Ghana Link to Just Giving Page
Post #Nakedteachingday
During our trip, we will be keeping video diaries and writing up our experiences. You will be able to follow how your ideas have supported the teachers of Ghana. Later in 2017, we will also be hosting an actual Independent Thinking #nakedteachingday for the teachers of the UK to gather and learn from the WWEP projects around the world.
Struggling with ideas?
The following blogs are a great starting point to get your ideas flowing:
Dirty Teaching
I sincerely hope that as many people as possible will get on board and celebrate #nakedteachingday with us in the hopes that we can take far more than just our own ideas out there to Ghana.
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