IC Teacher Exchange Teaching and Learning Conference

On Friday and Saturday morning, we participated in the 4th Annual Invisible Children Teaching and Learning Conference. The theme of the conference was KOBS (Knowledge of Behaviour and Self), a curriculum developed by Invisible Children to work on the emotional wellbeing of secondary students. It is currently taught in the 11 partner schools to S1 and S2 students.
It was a full day of information. Stevan Radoja, the creator of the curriculum, gave a presentation on the evolution of the curriculum. He gave some sobering statistics, and it reminded me that even though the war has moved out of Ugandan borders in the last couple of years, the effects are still very real. He showed us some saddening statistics about the effects of what people had witnessed. It is connected to PTSD, which is what we think of with soldiers in war like situations. However here, we are talking about children. Children who have witnessed events that most of us can’t even fathom. These same children are still expected to attend school, concentrate in school, and be successful in school. Can you imagine seeing a family member killed and then attend school to study math? These are the effects of war that will take much longer to heal, but in fact, it is the most important aspect of rebuilding a war torn country. However it is often overlooked. Organizations come in, rebuild the physical aspects and then leave, and the country is not healed. This KOBS curriculum is one step closer to meeting the needs of the future generations. The Ugandan teachers who are administering the curriculum like it very much. It opens dialogue in a very safe way, and it builds relationships among the students as well as between the teacher and the student. We modeled a couple of lessons; they are student driven, active and engaging. Most importantly, they are personal and reach the student in a way that the Ugandan academic curriculum can’t.
All in all, the conference was successful, and it was a great time to share with our Ugandan colleagues. The Keyo teachers are so wonderful, and we all have a good time together. We come from very different worlds, but at the end of the day, we are not so different. Experiences like this make me realize that hate is simply a lack of understanding.