Vision Plan

This is an assignment from the beginning of the semester: February 4th, 2012

My Vision Plan for this semester includes four goals. My first goal is to bridge the gap between the American perception of Africa and the African perception of America. I realize that this is a broad goal and is virtually impossible to accomplish but I hope that through various conversations, projects, and adjustments I will be able to facilitate dialogue about bridging the gap that exists. I think that it’s important for people back home to see a different view of Africa, of Ghana, then that which is portrayed in the media and vice versa for the Ghanaians that see an image of America being rich.

My second goal is to work with the education system that is in place here and become a member of it so that I can participate in a different form of education. From what I have already seen of the education system I realize that it is vastly different from the American education system. I do not intend to try and change any part of the education system here because that would require me to go against what the Ghanaians know, what they understand, and what they want for their children. Instead, I will attempt to connect what the students know with meaning. I’ve found that many of the children know nursery rhymes and can tell you the five senses when they sing the rhyme but if you ask them a question about it they can’t answer the question. As a future educator I hope to use what I’ve learned in the U.S. to accomplish this goal as well as learn from the Ghanaians how to be a teacher here.

My third goal is to make a Ghanaian friend. I have found myself to be more outgoing here than I am back home but I have yet to make a Ghanaian friend at the University. I would like to get to know someone my age, a girl, that I can talk with, ask questions to, and have fun with. I think friendships are important in learning about a new culture and thus far my Ghanaian family has been my link to learning about Ghana but I would like to continue to explore and make friends.

My fourth goal is to learn Twi and be able to converse with Ghanaians by the time I leave in May. I’m not very good at learning new languages so this will take my time and patience. I think it’s important to learn this language to try and connect with others. Although I didn’t come to Ghana to learn Twi, now that I am here I would like to be practicing and working on this new language in order to facilitate conversations.

Goals, Plans, and Anticipated Obstacles:

1. Bridge the gap between perceptions of Africa and America. I’m going to do this by keeping my blog that has already begun to accomplish part of this goal. The people that are reading it, family and friends, are seeing my view of Africa, as a young American girl in Ghana. Although we will all have different experiences I think even just reading about one view can begin to change our preconceived notions and force us to realize that there is more. The second way in which I hope to accomplish this goal is to do a multimedia project on the 38 CIEE students that have come to Ghana. This will take the form of a DVD that students can take back with them to America and that can be dispersed of in Africa as well. I will ask the students questions about Ghana as well as asking their Ghanaian friends, colleagues, and family members similar questions. I think this could be a medium through which conversation can begin. Possible obstacles: Not everyone may be receptive of this. I may need to adjust the multimedia presentation if others are not willing to work with me. Also, language could become a barrier of sorts but I hope that I will be able to overcome this by learning some Twi. Measurement: I don’t think there’s an easy way to measure this because it’s such a broad goal but I think that it will be based on people’s reactions. Perhaps I will conduct a short survey with the DVD.

2. Work with the Ghanaian education system. I am going to accomplish this goal by working at Tot To Teen and also the nursery school that my host mother runs. I hope that through these two schools I can begin to understand the way in which the children here learn. I’ve already seen that the teachers mostly ask questions and the children also learn nursery rhymes. I’d like to connect meaning to these questions and to the nursery rhymes with the students that I will be working with. Possible obstacles: I think the hardest part of accomplishing this goal will be the resources that are available. There do not appear to be many resources so this may be challenging and force me to become creative. Another obstacle will be the language barrier. Although the students are learning English, my English is different from theirs. Measurement: By the end of the semester I hope that the students will have made some connections between words and objects. I also will measure this by my own interaction with the schools and whether I am able to accept the differences that exist.

3. Make a Ghanaian friend. Through University classes I hope that I will be able to meet someone that I can build a friendship with. Possible obstacles: The challenging aspect of this is that I am in only one class with mostly Ghanaians and in addition there are four or five CIEE students in this class. I hope that I can branch out from the CIEE students and ask questions of the other students in the class in hopes of making a friend. However, there are also other people outside of the University that I may be able to make friends with, such as the teachers at Tot To Teen or Felix’s friends. Measurement: Hopefully by the end of the semester I will have a Ghanaian friend that I can keep in touch with when I return home.

4. Learn Twi. Being enrolled in a Twi class will help me accomplish this goal. Possible Obstacles: Although I will need to force myself to practice and learn the language on my own time. Also, my host family does not speak Twi, they speak Krobo, and so I will need to practice with other Ghanaians and the other CIEE students. Measurement: I hope by the end of the semester I will be able to carry on a conversation for a few minutes with a Ghanaian in Twi.