Our first school visits!

On our last day of orientation in Dakar, we visited two schools in the same neighborhood, Mermoz.

The Ecoles Les Hirondelles is a private elementary school that has one class at each grade level from 3-year-old PreK to 5th grade. They even have special education students integrated in the general education classes, something that is unheard of in public schools here.

We were welcomed by the 3 Pre-K class dancing as their teacher played a djembe and sang!

We then visited each classroom in the school, and were welcomed by quiet, smiling students.

At Les Hirondelles, French is the language of instruction and students are not allowed to use Wolof -- their home language --- even during breaks or amongst themselves. I wonder if this will change as the pendulum begins to swing back to national languages as the cornerstone to literacy? (There are many African languages spoken in Senegal, but Wolof is the most widely spoken.) I have a lot of thoughts about using home language to teach a new language!

Despite their home languages being banned, it seemed that students were having success under a traditional French system. They are learning to write (in cursive! in first grade!)

...and read and do math!

In the afternoon, we visited Lycée Galandou Diouf. We were welcomed by several administrators, including the principal. Many of the teachers in Senegal are on strike right now (a story for another post) and so the school was rather empty.

However! There were still some classes being held. It wasn’t clear why some teachers were and others were not participating the strike, but you aren’t paid if you don’t work; I imagine that’s part of it.

We were able to observe several science classes (in French).

We also had the privilege of visiting the Portuguese Club.

Extracurricular languages clubs are really popular among high schools here! Although the Portuguese teacher was on strike, the students had all decided amongst themselves to get together at school. They were rehearsing for a performance the following week. We watched them sing, dance, and perform a skit.

[video credit: Ben Dotson]

Later on, we got to talk with a panel of Senegalese students who study English. Some of the panelist students also study Portuguese as a third foreign language! I expressed my admiration that they came to school, despite their teacher’s absence and several students expressed how much they love learning because they love their teacher. “She is like mother to us,” one said. “She is so dynamic and kind,” said another. They love learning the language because their teacher makes it fun.

When asked what they would like to do in the future, one student’s answer stands out:

“I would like to create a festival that celebrates all the cultures of Africa.”

She doesn’t see English or Portuguese as a way to escape where she’s from -- she sees it as a means to bring Senegal to the world.

Here are some the questions that the Senegalese students had for us as American teachers:

How can we improve?

What advice do you have for us?

Would we be welcome in the US?