About a month ago, my supervisor brainstormed an idea that I could never have thought of on my own. She not only affirmed me in the various skills with which God has given me to use to glorify His Name, but she also gave me an opportunity to stay in Uganda until the Christmas season to use these skills in various ways. In saying this, this opportunity also builds upon what I have already been a part of during my time in Uganda.

In order to fully explain this opportunity, however, I must briefly describe the education system in Uganda, as both my supervisor and I see it:

People in this country learn by rote learning, which means that they memorize information until they know it. This means that students may know lots of information, but they do not know how to think for themselves, or why 2+2=4. With this comes little room for critical thinking skills. This means that there is no tolerance for students to question teachers, or room for group discussions, or anything of the sort. Students are scared to answer questions in class because they are worried they will get beaten for answering incorrectly (even though to beat a student has been deemed illegal for five years in the country now).

Many students are also in class from 7am - 4pm, 3 hours longer than most primary school students in North America. This greatly reduces learning capabilities as the day goes on. In addition, the large homework load increases the stress on each student, especially when they have to do many chores around the house in the evening before dark. Most teachers also live by the philosophy that, "Pressure equals performance," and so they completely exhaust the students in the name of academic success and performance.

Many of these students are also traumatized children in one form or another, and most teachers never take this into account, seeing that the 'smart' ones excel and that the 'weak' ones fall behind. The teachers themselves are also generally traumatized, meaning that there is one traumatized generation teaching another, with nothing to break the cycle. This is the negative side to the education system in Uganda.

Now, I don't want to completely degrade the Ugandan school system because I come from the west, and - as we know - all western ideas are the best. (Insert sarcastic tone here). There are definitely some positive elements to the current education system. For instance, students learn to have great respect for any authority figures, they learn to be very welcoming to any visitor that comes to their class, and their strict daily schedule produces a sense of predictable routines. School uniforms also instil a sense of responsibility, orderliness, and belonging. In my opinion, however, there are many other healthier ways to instil these characteristics and thought-processes in the classroom.

What my supervisor has developed over the past four years is called The Stoplight Approach. Many schools in the USA have implemented a system called this same title, but the two are vastly different. What my supervisor's Stoplight Approach offers is a different approach to teaching than the Ugandan education system currently implements. It is not a new curriculum manual or a new way to do lesson planning. Instead, it explains - from a neuroscience point of view - that children (and adults) need ‘felt’ safety and emotionally safety in order to learn the best they can. It helps teachers (and parents) to understand that they need to actually give children a sense of safety, love, and value, which most currently do not. The Stoplight Approach helps teach teachers and parents alike how they can optimize their students’ and children’s abilities to learn. This is what the opportunity my supervisor is giving me surrounds.

If I stay here until December:

I will still be enrolled in courses from abroad, whether I do courses online, equivalencies, or independent study units here in Uganda. In this, I still plan on graduating in April.
I will be in charge of training nationals to be certified to teach The Stoplight Approach to other teachers throughout the Kampala area, in order to help spark and implement this paradigm shift in teaching throughout the country. This certification process is currently being created as I start to train nationals and schools.
I will be working alongside the head of a national school - which has only been in operation for one year - helping to create a school based on the principles of God, missions, and The Stoplight Approach, providing a safe environment for learning that will attempt to teach at an international standard of education/curriculum. In this, I will be helping to train these teachers (nationals) the basics of critical thinking skills, along with The Stoplight Approach to teaching and creating a safe environment for learning.
I will be in charge of completely designing and teaching the music classes of this school. This school (which is currently only from pre-school to grade 3) is part of the test pilot to show that The Stoplight Approach works in a Ugandan school. The hope is to communicate to the board of education that The Stoplight Approach needs to be a mandatory paradigm of teaching in all schools across the country, to help optimize every students' health and learning ability.
I will still be living a missional life, attempting to see all ministry opportunities with which God presents me not as inconveniences, but as they are: opportunities to love God and love people.

My future goal is to become an elementary school teacher (and a music teacher on the side). This whole process of going into schools and training teachers fits right into helping me see the future goal of being a teacher become a reality, though the process seems totally backwards since I have had no formal training to be an educator of any sorts. I guess it just goes to show you that God can really use anyone - even non-authors to write books and non-teachers to train teachers! Every day I’m still here, I keep wondering how I’m doing what I’m doing. Who am I to do this? Who am I to train others? I am simply that non-author and non-teacher who was given an opportunity…

And I’m taking it!

Nov 19, 2016

Sufficiently Independent

As such, the more we become aware of our insufficiencies and our dependency upon God, the more we will incline ourselves to pray unceasingly.

Sep 17, 2016

An Increased Awareness

An increased awareness of God's presence always produces an increased awareness of our sin. There is no way around it. One simply cannot look upon the true Jesus Christ and not be confounded by both the awesome holiness of God's glory and grace, and the awful sinfulness of our own hearts and minds.

Sep 10, 2016

Can I Have a Re-Do?

I apologize for not being clear. The only person I have to blame is myself.

It’s not because everyone is dumb. It’s not because Stoplight is too complex. It’s because up until now, I’ve been answering the wrong question.

Jun 17, 2016

Every. Last. One.

There, of course, are quite a number that fall on any point along this spectrum, but very few that seem to be balanced in the middle. Perhaps this is because of our human nature to dichotomize issues until we’re black and blue in the face.

May 17, 2016

Did God Change His Mind?

It was in that moment that I had done it. I had officially made up my mind: I was going to stay in Edmonton for the remainder of 2016. No one could convince me otherwise, not even myself - as much as I wanted to.

And yet, I did change my mind. Or was it God? Did God change His mind? Can God change His mind?

Jan 17, 2016

Even When I Don't Feel Like It

I started realizing that I didn't want to be here.

After having lived in the 'real world' for over half a year, and then coming back to theoretical books and work in classrooms, it felt as if there was no point. Why am I sitting in class when I could still be 'out there' doing 'better things with my life'? These are thoughts coming from a kid who loves school, and loves learning in a classroom setting.

Dec 29, 2015

Back in the Motherland (aka Canada)

As part of my re-entry assignment, I was asked to answer bunch of questions in my journal. As I answered these questions, I realized that there's no better way to help others understand where I am coming from, what I've experienced, and what I am thinking and feeling, than to share those responses.

Nov 23, 2015

DNA Transfusion

But is it true mentorship when you have to put the label of mentorship on it? I have always been discontented with the North American view of mentorship. It feels too mechanical, too impersonal. Is mentorship relegated to weekly/monthly checklist checkup meetings where only specific topics are discussed (particularly the taboo topics)? Is this the type of mentorship the Bible records? Or is mentorship something much greater?

Oct 25, 2015

Titles & Boxes

Though there were three new men, not one of them asked me this question. It did, however, come out through various conversations happening at the table that I was a Bible college student studying abroad and that I was planning on graduating in April. Boom. There was my title. No need to inquire any further. No need to ask the third important question.

Oct 12, 2015

Neither Here, Nor There

This wisdom may come from other people. It may come from using logic and my own thoughts. And it most certainly comes from understanding God's Word. But it just didn't seem spiritual enough. It didn't seem like the 'almost-graduated-Bible-college-student' way of making decisions. Balancing out pro's and con's, weighing out future regrets... This was not how I envisioned making this decision. It seemed too ordinary.