Kelley takes teaching skills to Uganda

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 -

Adam Kelley learned about culturally relevant teaching in his field experiences at Lincoln and Midvale, two of the elementary schools that participate in the Madison Professional Development Schools (PDS) Partnership. Kelley (B.S. ’07 in elementary education and African-American studies) credits his PDS experience for helping him develop the skills to make the K-12 curriculum more relevant for culturally diverse students.

The 24-year-old from Madison carted that knowledge with him halfway around the world, where he now uses it in his current role, as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer training teachers in a remote region of Uganda. At the same time, he says he is gaining insights from his African experiences that will influence his teaching once he returns to the United States.

“Working in a rural village, the sense of community is immense and innate,” Kelley says in an email interview. “I clearly see how valuable it is for teachers to live in the immediate community of their students and fellow teachers. I hope to teach in an urban area upon return home but I remain committed to integrating community involvement into my life.”

He says his Peace Corps experience has strengthened his commitment to go where educators are most needed.

“Many people at home feared what I may encounter because Uganda is amidst a hostile neighborhood of countries,” he says. “To me, it has always been important to go where others fear, because, due to that isolation, misunderstandings breed. Teaching democratically, I hope to show people the possibility for greatness is endless, no matter where they come from.”

Kelley lives in Serere, a fishing village in a northeast Uganda, in a region where many people had never seen a light-skinned person.

“Living in a small community as the only white person affords plenty of opportunities to realize and reflect on identity,” he says. “There is a stereotype of Americans in my village and I focus on how I differ from the cookie-cutter definition. Having other people point out those variations every day allows me to embrace my unique identity and take pride in myself, even if it disappoints the stereotype.”

Some lessons have been surprising.

“I chose to join the Peace Corps because it afforded an opportunity to integrate into the community of my work,” he says. But he discovered that the Peace Corps emphasis on assimilating by adopting the local cultural norms, such as dress and behavior, isn’t always well-received.

“After a few months in the village, people pointed out my culturally appropriate clothing and mannerisms, questioning my authenticity,” he says. “People didn’t want to see a replica of themselves; they wanted to see my culture. They didn’t want me to mindlessly agree with everything they say and believe; they wanted discussion and questions.”

In response, he says, “I started dressing and acting more as I would at home, and my community responded with more conversation and openness. The experience reinforced the idea that I don’t have to be a mirror image of the people in my community to establish common ground and meaningful relationships. The most important facet of integrating into any community is truth and active involvement.”

Minority perspective

Kelley — known among the locals as Omoding — says he has come to understand certain facets of minority status. However, he’s quick to acknowledge that his situation — with its privilege and prestige — differs in many ways from the experiences of minorities in America.

Through his blog, Adam Leaves the Nest – http://seeadamgo.blogspot.com/  – he shares his experiences, observations and reflections with family and friends back home. He generally adds to the online journal every couple of weeks, whenever he gets to a town somewhere with Internet access.

Citing the challenge of learning the local language, Ateso, he writes in his blog, “I feel the struggle of every kid in America who speaks a language other than English. Cut them slack, because they deserve every bit of it. Language comes at different moments for different children, and they will experience their light bulb when they are ready. Appreciate their other language (especially if you don’t know it) and be patient.”

Hosted by the Soroti Primary Teacher’s College, Kelley travels by bike to rural schools in his region to help kindergarten teachers implement Uganda’s prescribed curriculum. The government produced the curriculum in English and mandates that teachers translate it into the local language.

In his blog, Kelley explains: “I’m working with my teachers to accurately translate the volume and then I’m typing it up to publish! It enhances my literacy in Ateso, which people think is crazy. Most people in my village don’t write Ateso and the white person can! However, there are English words that don’t exist in Ateso, so I go out to the community to meet with members and discuss creating words in Ateso rather than borrowing English.”

He has found his teacher training in Madison to be valuable in Africa.

“The issue of relevance is a concern,” he says. “The UW program focused on how America’s turn towards prescribed curriculum impacts teachers and diverse student populations, cultivating effective and applicable modification skills. I rely on these methods when working with teachers to relate the curriculum to their students.”

Working in a teacher-centered system, where lectures dominate the day, Kelley conducts workshops on progressive education methods and then models alternative styles in the schools.

He also runs HIV/AIDS life skills workshops to educate 14- and 15-year olds about making healthy choices.

“I took the experience-based approach to my workshop, and the students are acting as T4/8 cells, diseases, B cells, and all the other glorious players in the human body,” he reports in his blog. “Needless to say, the teachers and students have never seen anything like this style of teaching, so I know I’m modeling something right.”

Struggling with gender

Kelley also offers observations on gender issues: “Every female volunteer in Uganda will say the issue of gender is a daily struggle in her community. I bear witness to this occurrence; however, I want to flip the coin … and show how I, as a male, struggle against the strict gender canons in my small village.”

He explains: “The first reality check that my maleness was part of the Ugandan landscape came in the form of my house. When I moved in the walls were proof Pampers do not exist in the village and I could star gaze simply by looking up at my holey roof.”

His sponsoring organization told him that “men don’t need nice houses.” After fixing up his quarters, he says, “The village told me ‘it looks like you have a woman living in your house!’”

Further, he says his male friends can’t understand why he excuses himself early from evening conversations to take care of such chores as sweeping, cooking, cleaning, fetching water and washing clothes.

“The hardest part about being male in Uganda is that I can’t have female friends and at home I surrounded myself with intelligent, motivated, powerful and beautiful women,” he says. “Yes, being a male in Uganda gives me significantly more privilege than my female counterparts, … but I wanted to point out gender canons suppress certain identity characteristics in both men and women.”

In his blog, he occasionally talks about issues of identity. Last July, for instance, he says:

“To be culturally relevant, I define myself in the African context, through my reflection in other people: I see myself in the progressive education pedagogies of kindergarten teachers I mentor, the improved decision-making abilities of the 6^th-grade boys and girls I meet with to discuss life skills, the look of doubt in the girls who, at age 14, are married and pregnant but not in school, the trust in knowing that whatever happens, life will continue. Just as everything changes, I will change with that continuation.”

Halfway through his Peace Corps service, Kelley acknowledges that his experiences have shifted his perspective toward his own country. Previously, he took issue with several facets of American society, including insufficient support for the equal education of all students and the lack of representation of different ethnic groups in power, publication and other segment of society.

“A year away from America, I now appreciate the progress our country made in areas of education, civil rights and cuisine,” he says. “There is plenty of room for improvement, but our beginnings are rooted and our culture must take the necessary steps to continue forward.”

-- by Kerry G. Hill

[BREAKOUT]

Every night tells of 24 hours gone by

A time to look back and ask

“Did I try?”

Whether big or small

Effort is essential

Slash your grass or save the world

We all have infinite potential

And if you find no progress in your day

Have no fear because another try

Is one night’s sleep away.

-- Adam G. Kelley, from “24”, written to mark his 24^th birthday.

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