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You
are here: The Work Before the Work
First Reflections
October, 2003The second in a series of journal reports from Cambodia on a new school leadership professional development project
We arrived in Phnom Penh on September 9th and have settled in to a small apartment. We have both been hard at work. Kathy has been studying the Khmer language and begins teaching October 6th. I am preparing for work with the school directors.
Reaksmay is the translator that I hired for the year. He was recommended by a friend and I see why. He is very fluent in both languages AND he is a bright, sensitive and hard working young man. I hired him in August (he had just finished translating for the UN election observers in the national elections) and sent him 40 or 50 documents to translate. He finished them all and has also translated all of the documents I brought with me. I had several colleagues look at the translations to ensure that he is accurately grasping what I mean by certain words etc. They all say he is exceptionally good. My confidence in his skill just keeps growing and, quite frankly, I am in awe of his facility with languages.
Reaksmay and I have spent a great deal of time together, getting to know each other and learning to work together. He accompanies me to all of the meetings, translates when I am in conversation with Khmer educators and advises me on Khmer culture, customs, language and so much more. I tell him that I know I will step in many mud puddles this year, that is normal. But some mud puddles can be avoided if I know where they are located. He helps me see them!!
I have had numerous meetings with Ministry of Education staff, education volunteers from a number of INGO's (International Nongovernmental Organizations) and Khmer educators. I have been a questioner, a listener, a learner and have been trying to absorb as much of the current reality for schooling in general and school teachers and directors in particular. As in life, it is both encouraging and discouraging. Schools in the EQIP project have been making slow but steady progress in educational improvements. But there is so much farther to go. Conditions are truly difficult in most schools from the lack of potable water to teachers having a very difficult time implementing what little training they are getting. Children in far too many schools fall quickly behind in grade 1 and drop out by grades 4 or 5. Children having to pay the teachers is more the norm than I thought. I was originally led to believe that it was a problem only in Phnom Penh, but now it is clear that it is a nationwide problem. In one way or another, almost all children are confronted with having to pay extra. This obviously creates an insurmountable barrier for poor children. The drop out rate is staggering for them. And many never even begin, their families knowing they can't afford it.
Amidst all of that, there is great hope. More children are in school than 5 years ago and there is a sense among all of the educators I have encountered that real progress is happening. And there is keen interest in leadership development. The national Ministry of Education has created a curriculum for leadership development and is currently training all of the school directors in the country. The curriculum is in Khmer, so when I obtained a copy, Reaksmay translated the table of contents for me and then translated the sections that I wanted to read. Most of the emphasis is on management of "stuff," like books, supplies, scheduling, reporting, budgeting etc. But some is devoted to issues like supervising instruction, running effective meetings and leadership. The section on leadership strongly states that school directors must be honest, not take corruption money, not hire their relatives and must include the teachers in decision making. This helps me think through what I want to cover in my workshops with them. The word on the street, however, about these trainings is that they are being delivered exclusively in lecture mode. While this mode of instruction is very familiar, it is not particularly motivating or inspiring.
Mr. Ou Eng, the director of the EQIP project gave me the list of the 40 directors that have signed up to attend. They apparently really are the young (relatively), eager and hard working. They will meet at a school site for the workshops that is midpoint for the three provinces. It is called Ang Tasom and is about 50 km from Phnom Penh. The school does not have electricity, but a generator will be set up so that I can use an overhead projector (loaned to me by the Ministry.) In addition to the 40 directors (actually, 33 directors and 7 deputy directors) there have been requests from the Ministry to take a few additional "highly motivated" ones who want to come even though they would not be paid per diem. Of course I said yes, and now I wonder how large it will actually be. Several of the Ministry staff have also told me that they are coming. I said that I welcome them, but they cannot come as observers, they must participate. They blink, and then say OK. I am not sure how many will actually show up.
After so much input, both last February and this past month, I have been a bit nervous about how to approach the first workshop, both in terms of process and content. Input from people has ranged from truly discouraging views of the directors' capacity and motivation to guarded optimism for their enthusiasm.
Last week, my final scheduled interview for input was with a man (a foreigner) who has been working with Cambodian education since 1990. He is deeply respectful of the Khmer people and has an honest and appreciative view of the current situation facing school directors. He said to me, "Do what you do best. School directors are desperately hungry for inspiration and learning opportunities that are lively, engaging and motivating. Focus on leadership, because that is what they truly need and, most importantly, be yourself. Be the kind of authentic leader you want to inspire them to be. You are successful in the US, why should it be any different here in Cambodia?" At that moment, it all made sense. The purpose of my listening, watching and learning has been to build my sensitivity, knowledge of current reality, and appreciation for the directors' joys and pains. The workshops must be done in the ways that I know work for adult learning (engagement, meaning, application, fun, reflection and more,) the content will focus deeply around leadership and how that applies to their lives in their schools. Since that conversation, plans for the October 16th first workshop have been evolving with ease.
I look forward to sharing with you how the first workshop goes and how my initial mentoring visits to schools unfold. I'll write again in a few weeks.
You may email John Morefield at jmore44@yahoo.com.
© October 2003 New Horizons for Learning
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