Having a Ball in ENB!

Having a ball in East New Britain

I’m taking some time out from my usual work based reflective blogging to say I’m having a ball! After four weeks all told in East New Britain I have talked about the workshops and the conference, all of which was highly successful and rewarding but just this once I’m going to indulge in writing about after hours.

Four weeks of living and working together means you get to know each other pretty well warts and all and I think my wanwoks would agree that we don’t rub along too bad. You also begin to see the lecturers you’re working with in a different light as their various idiosyncrasies’ become apparent and altogether we become a team that at the end of the last week it was quite sad to see disseminate.

Anyway all in a weeks work we have, the mask festival with spirits coming in from the see at dawn, fire dance and fireworks; rugby, supporting the Gurias at a rugby league match and the Australian state of origin finale; eating out at KBR and GI hotels; taking to the dance floor with the KVR hotels’ live band; swimming in the sea from the KVR beach; BitaPaka war cemetery; Rabaul town, hotel and observatory and the chuffing volcano, hot springs, black sand and crazy kids at Matupit Island. I’m going to talk about them all!

Let’s start with a bit of culture!

Kokopo mask festival

The mask festival is all about spirits, dukduks, tumbuans  andmasalais, which is which and exactly what it all means I’m not entirely clear but I’ll do my best to give a rough idea. The whole event is a very male affair. All the spirits are men and the making of the masks and the performers themselves appear to be veiled in secrecy, women take no part in this and once a man is disguised by his mask he is no longer himself but a representative of the culture. This was evident when we went to the beach at dawn to witness the arrival of the spirits who come in by boat to mark the opening of the festival. I believe this signifies the Tolai people arriving in East New Britain from New Ireland and overcoming the Baining people who have been pushed further inland up into the hills. Although today this is becoming an invent that attracts many tourists, women were still asked to stand back when the men came ashore to respect the cultural tradition.

It was an extraordinary sight to see the boats gradually come closer and closer, all the time singing and dancing in what appeared to be one large mass until they separated out into eight separate boats of men dressed in the must incredible costumes. Lime was thrown from one boat to the other and all arrived on shore in a melee of dancing, singing, chanting and staged fighting.

Fire Dance

Part of the mask festival was the fire dance performed by the Baining people in huge masks with duck like beaks and an array of foliage. They paint their legs with an unknown substance that stops them burning themselves as they dance around, in and out of a large bonfire. The dance ends with them kicking the logs of the fire, sending embers flying until the fire dies. Another awe inspiring experience that made you feel privileged to be an observer.

BitaPaka war cemetery

Papua New Guinea had a big part to play in both world wars, something I was unaware of before coming here as the natural focus in the UK is obviously

The European war. This is the second war cemetery I’ve visited here and both have been extremely well maintained and a haven of peace and tranquility. I did somehow feel a little uncomfortable about what I felt to be the limited recognition of the amount of Papua New Guinean lives lost, as the emphasis is definitely on an Australian perspective. However I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment further and it was a moving experience.

Moving on to a bit of sport!

By far and away the biggest sport in PNG is rugby league with a strong following of both Australian and local teams. It seems fitting therefore that my first experience of a live rugby league match was in PNG. The Gurias (earthquakes) are the local East New Britain team and this was the third math I’d been to with the Gurias winning every time. Like any sporting event with a great atmosphere it was brilliant fun, replica shirts on we really got into the spirit of things, joining in with the chants – Hoo! Ha! – and cheering at shouting at all the right moments (we think!)

We also managed to fit in the last half of the Australian State of Origin series final match between the Maroons and the Blues. Lots of merriment as both sides have strong supporters in PNG and there were also a fair few Aussies around. Naturally I supported the Blues and they lost which was apparently the expected result.

And then a bit of history and geography

Rabaul

In 1994 Rabaul was flattened by the weight of ash raining down on it after the volcano Tavurvur erupted. Nothing is left of the former town apart from the Rabaulhotel which now stands alone in a black sand, desert landscape. The town has now been relocated a few kilometers up the road. It’s a quirky little hotel with an odd mixture of features from Japan, PNG and various colonial influences. The courtyard surrounded by rooms had a Latin American feel to it to me; it put me in mind of Frida’s family house in the film about FridaKahlo. Another oddity is that the restaurant serves the best Chinese food that I have ever tasted. Wonderful oriental flavours with greens to die for! (Greens are my favourite PNG food!)

                      

Driving out of Rabaul across the black desert towards Matupit,Tavurvur looms ever closer, rumbling away and belching plumes of smoke to feed the clouds we stop for a photo shoot and almost from nowhere a hoard of children selling all kinds of tut appear. Bags and jewelry of every kind are being thrust through the window and doors of the mini bus – 5 kina! 10 kina! We all dutifully bought things, what can you do eh?

We also picked up a guide for the rest of the journey who lead us across the sand to the hot springs and the sea. It has to be one of the most inspirational landscapes I have ever witnessed, the imposing sound of Tavurvur grumbling away as a soundtrack to the Spartan, black sand, the orange sulphur of the hot springs bubbling away and the steam drifting over the water. Imagine being a child and this is your world: I can’t begin to comprehend.

Eat, drink and be merry

On a more simple pleasures front our hotel was situated right on the coast so after a long days work we would do a quick change and meet up to walk down to the beach for a swim in the sea, no better way to revitalize after a long, hot day. The food at our hotel was not so great  - bacon carbonara served with a toasted cheese sandwhich, all sauces no matter the name amounted to gravy and chunks of fruit, rice and coleslaw with everything? However nearby hotels provided a sumptuous feast, particularly seafood chow mein, which was to die for( and not expensive for those of you worried about VSO budget!) On the last night of the editing workshop our hotel put on a free buffet for us and all the lecturers which was much appreciated by everyone. This coincided with the end of the mask festival and so we were treated to a wonderful fireworks display, which added to the occasion. The grand finale was a live band at the hotel bar who improved with every drink and had us all dancing in the rain before to long. The icing on the cake came when at two o’clock in the morning someone suggested a swim in the sea; fabulous idea, let’s go! So after a little gentle persuasion to get the gate unlocked off we trooped down to the sea. Two of the lecturers came with us, one of whom had never been in the sea before in his life. A perfect end to a glorious night

Not a bad week eh!

LSP Language Conference

Little Nerd

A little recap to start. The LSP (Language Support Programme) is run jointly by the NDOE (National Dept of Education) and VSO and is the primary project on which I work, supporting lecturers in two teachers colleges in Port Moresby, PNGEI (Papua New Guinea Education Institute) and Bomana Sacred Heart Teachers College (SHTC). All the 13 teachers colleges in PNG have a volunteer attached if not in residence.

One of the outcomes of LSP is to hold a language conference every year. The first one was held at Holy Trinity teachers’ college in December 2012 before I arrived and the second has just been held in June, at Kabaleo teachers’ college, Kokopo, East New Britain.

It was a wonderful celebration of VSO facilitating and capacity building – two strategies that I must admit I have at times been dubious about although I agree with the approaches in principle I was not sure wether in reality they truly bore success.

At this conference ach teachers’ college had the responsibility of giving a presentation for 1hr 15 minutes on an aspect of speaking and listening. The responsibility of the volunteers was basically to make it happen. At the previous conference reading was the focus and all the presentations were made by VSO and other stakeholders. This was the first time the teachers’ colleges had the responsibility of giving the presentations themselves. Kabaleo teachers’ college had the added feat of hosting the conference which after losing our LSP team leader proved an exhausting task for the poor volunteers in East New Britain! (Who by the way did an amazing job!)

The vast majority of language lecturers had never before had the opportunity to present to an audience of over 100 people, including members of the department of education, college principals and university heads of department. They all did so confidently and knowledgeably, discussing aspects of language learning that a year ago were unknown to them. Due to the LSP the language lecturers were behaving like a team of professionals knowledgeable in their subject. I realise this may sound like an outrageous claim to make with hints of colonial, expatriate, patronising dribble. I will try and explain why it is not.

Opportunities for professional development in PNG are extremely rare. All language lecturers have degrees and most have masters qualifications from either PNG, Australian or New Zealand universities but very few have experience of teaching in primary schools and their knowledge is extremely theoretical. Hence their love of Blooms Taxonomy for example! The in-service training we take for granted in the UK is by and large nonexistent.

What the LSP has done is given the opportunity for language lecturers to get together to share experience, ideas and concerns. A wealth of teaching and learning strategies combined with many years of experience in primary school teaching in a variety of settings have been presented by VSO volunteers from across the English speaking countries of the world. There is a consistent approach in methodology as language lecturers have been brought together from all regions of PNG and when back in their colleges across the country continue to be drip fed, slowly but surely with the same messages by the volunteers. This access to current teaching and learning strategies combined with the theoretical knowledge and invaluable cultural understanding that the language lecturers already have has undoubtedly led to changes, all be it small changes, in practice.

All the VSO volunteers are chosen for their expertise in their field but perhaps the greatest impact they make is in providing the platform and giving the opportunities for the people who know the most about education in their country to make a difference.

Getting meetings together, providing morning tea, organising transport, making phone calls or providing the credit for phone calls to be made, sending and receiving emails on behalf of others, putting toner in the printer, writing up and distributing minutes and many other simple, taken for granted tasks in our world make an immense difference to the development and progression of ideas in this world. This is successful facilitation.

Capacity building I believe is very much a two way street. I most certainly would say that I have contributed to language lecturers in PNG having a greater capacity to teach student teachers in the last six months. I would also say that my capacity to operate effectively in PNG would be zero without the constant support of lecturers in my college who guide me through the maze of protocols and procedures necessary to make things happen. It is and has to be a partnership.

So in a roundabout way I have explained to myself and hopefully to other perhaps doubting souls how facilitation and capacity building do work. The LSP language conference provided the evidence needed for me to see this and accept that the incredible feeling of frustration all of us suffer from time to time is worth it.

I’m going on to give an example of how facilitation and capacity building worked (or didn’t!) at SHTC and PNGEI. If I’ve bored you to tears already now might be a good place to stop reading!

The plan for the facilitation/ capacity building process for lecturers at SHTC and PNGEI was:

Ø  Meeting 1: Both colleges together discuss areas of interest within the given themes and come up with a working title and research question for each presentation. Provide initial background materials for lecturers around the themes and ask them to come to the next meeting with an abstract draft.

Ø  Meeting 2: Question and review abstracts, rewriting where necessary, confirm understanding and agree. Establish outcomes ‘What do we want the participants to learn?’ (each college separately)

Ø  Meeting 3: Create a power point together: question, check for mutual understanding, write, confirm. Suggest activity ideas: teaching strategies, groupings, resources. Give a session outline scaffold. Hand over the writing process and support the writing of the writing of the session outline referring back the power point. (each college separately)

Ø  Meeting 4: Talk me through the presentation: who’s leading which activity/ check resources/ timings/ space (both colleges together)

Ø  Conference: each college presents their presentation whilst I control the power point and help with activity organisation.

Lessons learned from this process were that scaffolding and confirming understanding are essential. Explain everything, no assumptions should be made at any point. It is easy to forget that everyone you are speaking to is working in their second or in a lot of cases third language and on top of that the version of English they are working with is not necessarily UK English. I have always been a firm believer in the simpler the better; if you can’t explain it without academic jargon then you don’t really know what you are trying to say. However this is not a popular approach here where the more academic and ‘sophisticated’ the language is the more respect it will command; never mind if anyone understands or not.

As could easily be imagined things didn’t always go exactly to plan! But we did get there , the presentations went ahead, everyone felt empowered and good about themselves with an eye to next time we will…A change in perception has been made.