Workin' for the Man....

“Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.”

The other day I had a most interesting conversation with my friend, Ameyaw. He is a Ghanaian, 33 years old, has lived here his entire life and has never traveled outside of this nation. Our topic of discussion was work ethic. He is here at the college as a mentee, meaning he is completing his training to become a Twi teacher at the college level. So essentially, he is completing what America refers to as “student teaching”, but at a higher level. While he is teaching his lessons, one of the teachers at the college is supposed to be in the classroom with him to observe, guide, and provide feedback. Unfortunately though, he is often sent to teach lessons and grade papers all on his own without that supervision or guidance that he should be receiving. The teachers who are supposed to be his “mentors” are sometimes sitting in the staff common room chatting and taking advantage of the fact that someone is around to do their work for them. Ameyaw thinks this is wrong, and I totally agree! The same is happening at the demonstration school here on the college campus. Third year students from this training college are completing their version of “student teaching” and should have someone in the classroom with them. However, when I went to this school, I saw the teachers in the staff room, and the student teachers in the classrooms alone, left to fend for themselves. I’ve heard time and time again that the “quality” of teaching is a problem here. Sure, kids are going to schools, but with practices such as this one just described, of course the teachers are not of high-quality because they have not been properly trained. Mentors are chatting and snacking, while teachers-in-training are attempting to learn the craft of teaching with essentially no one to guide them. But with the deeply rooted practice of absolutely respecting and obeying elders, it is difficult for the teachers-in-training that actually care, such as Ameyaw, to approach the subject or come to any sort of resolution.

Ameyaw flat out said that Ghanaians don’t like to work. He went on to say that before Ghana’s independence in 1957, when the British were in control, more work got done, because in his opinion, whites have a stronger work ethic. In addition, he said that at a school with a white person as the principal, the teachers would not be nearly as happy because the work would be more demanding and the principal has higher expectations. Interestingly, he said he believes that this is why Ghana is not developing at a greater rate. I have discussed with him how it’s difficult for me here because in America I am used to working a lot. Sure, the relaxation is nice and the laid-back lifestyle seems fine and dandy, but like Ameyaw expressed, the result is lack of development, and restlessness for me. Sure, Accra (the capital) is developed, but what about the rest of the country? He acknowledged the reason that I am having a hard time is this difference in beliefs about work, and he totally gets it! It was comforting to have a Ghanaian understand my point of view here, and not just label me as the worrisome American.

I'm in the midst of month 2 away from home, and my feelings of homesickness have reached great heights unfortunately. My internet research says that this is normal, or at least according to the random other folks who have blogged online about living abroad. I know that in a few months I will look back on this entry and laugh, because at that point I will have completely settled in and won't ever want to leave! But at this exact moment, I miss my people.