Who - What - When - Where - Why

Teaching & Learning in Ghana 2011: Teachers' Stories - Children's Lives

A 2011-2012 Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program

The School of Education at Charleston Southern University (CSU) in collaboration with the CSU Department of English and the CSU Office of International Programs has been awarded funding from the U. S. Department of Education for a group of 16 to travel to Ghana, West Africa during the summer of 2011. The group will be comprised of in-service and pre-service teachers and undergraduate education majors. The primary activity of the Teaching and Learning in Ghana (TLG) Group Projects Abroad Program is a five-week program of classroom teaching experiences, Fante language learning, cultural writing projects, and field visits to historic locations. Participants will work in two-person teams teaching in two rural elementary-middle schools working directly with Ghanaian educators in their classrooms. Participants will have daily Fante language instruction and practice. The TLG teams will develop “life stories” (both print and visual) of six teachers and six students in each of the schools and a general description of the two villages as a means of providing American teachers and students a unique and personal look at those who teach and those who learn in Ghana.

The project design has three phases: (1) pre-departure training at CSU: (2) five weeks of teaching, language learning and cultural study in Ghana; (3) follow-up and dissemination of the village, teacher and student narratives and project evaluation. Publication of the completed materials will be via print and electronic means. A comprehensive program of activities and experiences has been developed to ensure that participants acquire knowledge of and sensitivity to the cultural, linguistic, educational and aesthetic aspects of Ghanaian life. In addition, participants will acquire an enhanced knowledge of the significant historic and cultural connections between Ghana and South Carolina. Dr. Don Clerico, Professor of Education has directed undergraduate and graduate programs in Ghana for ten years and will serve as Project Director. Dr. Celeste Pottier, Assistant Professor of English, will serve as Curriculum Coordinator & Writing Instructor.

Project Director: Donald Clerico, PhD
Professor of Education
dclerico@csuniv.edu