Celebrate World Literacy Day!

Today, September 8th, is World Literacy Day.

Please celebrate it by contributing any way, anywhere you can.

Democracy in Schools

Here's an entry from my SELI journal from twenty years ago—enjoy!

June 7, 1999  I’m teaching Second Language Methodology to ten teachers from five schools who are teaching, or have been assigned to teach, one of the indigenous languages in Sierra Leone. We start with a short dialog journal session (partners write in indigenous languages). The first session is theory, and then someone (either I or another participant or a video) teaches a lesson using one of the seven teaching methodologies we're focusing on for the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time, which we discuss.  I try to elicit an underlying concept the methodology illustrates and add it to my display board, heading for ten underlying concepts of effective second-language classrooms. We end with a writing workshop, writing our personal experiences in English.

I was nervous about today. Our topic was democracy in schools/classrooms. However, because it's important for this topic to be a discussion, drawing out the points was essential. I asked three participants to present what they thought about democracy in schools, and then asked for class reactions.  There was a great debate—more than once someone brought up that if a taxi driver drove badly in the street and you protested, he’d shout, “This is democracy!” at you. 

When it seemed everyone was agreeing that character education destroys African cultural values, and that democracy is too much freedom for overcrowded classrooms where order requires respect, I pointed out that we had already gained consensus on the concepts on the display board. And that they actually describe a democratic classroom. I reminded them that some types of learning can take place in autocratic classrooms, but not second language learning. I was delighted that someone mentioned that maybe democracy should not just be everybody-do-what-you-want, but consists of both rights and responsibilities. I presented the 7th grade class constitution in ASCD’s book, Democratic Schools[1], emphasizing that students and teachers drew it up together.  

Just last week Fourah Bay College students stormed and damaged the college principal's house in a protest over water and transport. The college closed and the principal is bringing charges against those he could identify.  One of our class participants was attacked similarly a few years ago as matron of one of the FBC hostels. She still lectures there and has been firmly against a student project underway to draw up a student rights document. She said that after our discussion today she sees the value in it but it should be a negotiated rights/responsibilities document, co-constructed by students, lecturers, and administration. Hooray!

I had a chance at the end to tie in a handout about the inequality inherent in ability grouping in schools—how it predestines one for success or failure. We take it for granted that all class six students whose mark in the public exit exam falls below a threshold, end up in the less-than-best secondary schools. And that in most secondary schools, the best students are put in JSS 1A and the worst in 1E. Can teachers do anything about that? We used another handout from Democratic Schoolsabout teachers not giving up when things are hard to fight against.

Then came a TTTV video demonstrating the problem posing method in an ESL classroom—a perfect sequel.  We evaluated the video lesson by sharing our ideas on how it was the same as, and different from, one of our class participants’ problem posing class last week. Excellent discussion. They were impressed at how the emotional impact of the "code" stimulated the students in the video to express personal opinions even though they struggled to come up with the language they needed to do it.  There was a good discussion about how and when the two teachers brought in the elements of the problem posing method.

Then in the writing workshop, we had time for two author sharings (members of the class reading aloud pieces of writing they had drafted). The first wrote about a childhood experience, how she had once told on some students who cheated in school, and although she was right, she lost all her friends.  Another told about a recent PTA meeting he attended as a parent which in his view was unusually successful because of the unifying of Sierra Leone cultures the invasion of Freetown in January had brought about.  The question was asked: did we really need a rebel invasion to teach Sierra Leoneans they need to unite?  

We ended by agreeing that both these pieces of writing were closely related to our lesson on democracy. What a class we had today!

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[1]Apple, M. & Beane, J. (1955). Democratic Schools.  Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Graduation Day

It was Friday afternoon on June 7th, 2019, and it was testing day at Dankawalie Secondary School library in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Ten adult mother-tongue-literacy learners had come to demonstrate that they had mastered level 2 of the Institute of Sierra Leone Languages' (TISLL)'s book series in Kuranko literacy.

TISLL's evaluator, Rev. Frederick Jones, was present along with the class teachers, Alusine H. Kamara and Balla Musa Kargbo. The SELI director was also there because SELI initiated the teacher training, has supported the class with materials, and brought the evaluator to the village. This was a big day for all of us.

The certificates were given out by the Regent Paramount Chief by the massive cotton tree at the center of the village. Hawa Kargbo, the only woman in the group, appealed to the women in the audience to consider joining her in the class so they could give each other confidence. This was good evidence to everyone that the "graduates" have no intention of graduating. At TISLL's urging, using their new-found literacy, the class is putting together a book of proverbs and short personal accounts for publication as a reader. Some are interested in going on to learn English.

SELI has initiated and supported this program because languages without a firm literary population tend to die out as cultural change takes place, and people ought to, by right, be given the opportunity to learn to read and write their own languages. The program is going on (another dozen or so adult learners are now working at level 1), but it needs to be funded. If you have an interest in the continuation of the Kuranko literacy class at Dankawalie, please consider making a donation to SELI for that purpose. We need your help! Please contact me at jackie@seli.co .

The Institute for Sierra Leone Languages could also use your support. While we at SELI are very pleased with TISLL's willingness to help with the Dankawalie Kuranko class, Kuranko is not currently one of the languages TISLL works with. For a Kuranko literacy program to be started up at multiple places in the Northern Province that language needs to be funded at TISLL.

All the Ways Children Learn

There is a library in a village community school two hours from Kabala in northern Sierra Leone where twice a week the Sentinel English Language Institute's Young Writers club meets. It is a setting where writing and reading happen throughout the week—a place where children learn—and it very much needed a new floor.

Just a few weeks ago, thanks to donations of money and time from friends and family, SELI made  half of this happen, and Dankawalie Secondary School's library now has a new floor. What astounded us was the other half of this effort: the perseverance and coordination of the community volunteers, who included both teachers and students. We were also delighted that some students took working with the tilers and masons as a learning project. DSS is trying to increase the variety of vocational opportunities it offers, and this was certainly one of them.

We witnessed another type of learning in Dankawalie when one evening after dark a group of much smaller children came to the house to ask our host, Kewulay Kamara, (who had come from NY to see how developments were going on at the school) if he would listen to them tell stories. He told them that it was too dark, but that they could do it the next night if during the day "tomorrow," or "sina," each one of them would bring firewood so there'd be a fire to see by.

 Here's how he told them, and as he improvised we all learned how poems can come to be.

2017 Update

The new year has been a busy one at SELI, what with visiting SELI Young Writers club schools and  giving daily Business Writing mentoring classes, an in-servicing we offer to businesses and organizations in Freetown.

In mid-March, we traveled to the Koinadugu District in the northeast of Sierra Leone on a trip made possible by support from Edward Davies & Associates Consulting Engineers Ltd. One of the things we do there is to check up on the progress of the Kuranko Karan (shown here), a mother tongue adult literacy class in Dankawalie Village. We have nothing but praise for this group, that meets three times a week from 8-9:00 pm after a full day's work and was asking for Books II and III of their text. We have been able to send them thanks to the resources of The Institute of Sierra Leone Languages (TISLL) who also trained the teachers (in the back row in orange and white shirts) and are monitoring the program. On its own, the group hopes to revise the text, as well as compile a Kuranko reader: they will soon need Kuranko books to read, and they are very hard to find!

We also go to the Northern Province to visit our writing clubs.

We found most of the schools involved in their annual sports competitions, but we talked with the teachers and delivered supplies they'd fallen short of. Here you can see Dankawalie Secondary School's red house (and supporters) heading off for the competitions.

While they had been practicing, I had been working in the school library SELI helped to set up several years ago with a grant from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives and continues to support, mentoring DSS's teacher-librarian in this very rural setting.

Happy Mother Tongue Day!

It's International Mother Language Day again! Why not spend Saturday enjoying your mother tongue—reading, singing, writing, and talking only in your mother tongue?

For several years SELI held a celebration of this important UNESCO celebration on February 1st, commemorating the diversity of mother languages that exist in Sierra Leone and helping to do what it takes to keep them and the culture and identities they carry with them, alive.

We praise the efforts of The Institute for Sierra Leone Languages in encouraging pride and literacy in our mother tongues, and the goals of PEN Sierra Leone's Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee.

Here's how an area much bigger than ours (and with substantial financial support) celebrates this important day. We all need to put our heads together to come up with a meaningful celebration of our own. 

Adult Mother-Tongue Literacy Class

The Dankawalie Secondary School Library (in Dankawalie, Sengbe Chiefdom, Koinadugu District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone) is a community library. One of its community services is offering an adult mother tongue literacy class in Kuranko.

I was glad to have the opportunity to meet with 7/10 of the class this week. Just for me, they gathered at the odd hour of 8 am on Monday morning before they headed out to their farms where they are harvesting rice and planting groundnuts. Although most of the class members have had a Koranic education (and can therefore read and write in Arabic) they have had no formal schooling so cannot read and write in the Roman script. Their days are already full with all the work they do.

Although Kuranko is not one of the mother-tongue languages The Institute of Sierra Leone Languages is currently working with, SELI arranged for two teachers from DSS to be included in TISLL's literacy-teacher training workshop in May, 2013. In June, the class began, and you can see from these short videos here that there have been results! TISLL monitors and certificates the program, and is a wonderful collaborative partner.

This SELI Heritage Writers program is expanding and needs your support. The current members keep pointing out that the materials (originally written in the '70's and revised in the '90s) are outdated and would like to revise them. New members of the community want to join the class as beginners. Some current members are ready to go on to Book Two. Although the members pay, by installment, a cost price for the books, the supplies need to be bought and brought to the village.  The two teachers have been doing this work without any stipend at all as encouragement. When class members have completed Book Two we would like to a) encourage those interested to go on to second language learning in Krio or English, and b) start them into a writing workshop where they can record their stories, which will become Kuranko readers to add to the DSS Library collection if we can pay to have them printed. The two teachers, Mr. Balla M. Kargbo and Mr. Alusine H. Kamara, would like to see the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology accept appeals for new Sierra Leonean languages to be added to the current four examination languages at junior secondary level.

If you are able to make a small contribution toward this Heritage Writers project, please click on the DONATE button to the right!

Five Writing Lessons: A New Take

SELI presented for a few hours at TISLL's (The Institute for Sierra Leonean Languages) Literacy Teacher/Facilitator Workshop, held Monday-Friday, May 27-31st in Freetown. The workshop trained people to teach literacy to nonliterate people in their mother tongue. Five different languages were represented.

On Wednesday, SELI introduced the idea that all classes are diverse: even in basic literacy classes there are always advanced learners that need to be challenged, and process writing can do this--a form of differentiated instruction. In this photo I'm presenting concepts, but then we went on to the practical: each participant drafted a personal piece of writing in his or her own language and then shared it in language groups in a content conference. It did not surprise us that many of the participants had never written a personal experience in their own language before. For nearly all Sierra Leoneans, the only road to literacy is through English. But the hardest part of the presentation was stopping the content conferences! Everyone was having such a good time being writers in their own language and having writing to share and discuss, that they didn't want to stop!

Five Writing Lessons (FWL)  Collaborating with TISLL has shown SELI how to make its Five-Writing-Lessons project work. This project been a struggle. After the first two successful units, in Kuranko and Krio, we could not seem to move forward. Even repeated radio announcements did not attract educated Sierra Leoneans to this opportunity of becoming writers (and potentially one day, authors) in their own languages.

By way of contrast, TISLL already operates literacy centers in six languages where adults and young people gain literacy in their mother tongues. TISLL also has literacy materials and the expertise to teach literacy. It is the only organization in the country that works exclusively with indigenous languages. The difference is that unlike the SELI FWL program, TISLL literacy classes teach initial, beginning literacy.  But what a great opportunity this provides us!  Literacy that is not maintained, can be lost.  What better way to empower and motivate TISLL's newly literate students than to include them in a writing workshop?

SELI is excited to be partnering with TISLL, and hope our contributors to the Five Writing Lessons project agree.

Collaborating with Five Writing Lessons

The Sentinel English Language Institute's Five Writing Lesson program has so much in common with The Institute for Sierra Leone Languages (TISSL) that the two organizations are looking into how we might collaborate and maximize our efforts. Today I visited a Limba adult literacy class conducted by TISSL's Limba coordinator, Mr. Gibrilla Kamara. It was held in a Quonset-hut building of a municipal school. Here we show a photo taken of the class (which meets five times a week) at 6 pm, and another photo taken two hours later when the lighting was provided by class members who brought LED flashlights or mobile phones. This class is one of three Limba literacy classes offered by TISSL in the Freetown area. TISSL's aim is to develop readers (who also write), while SELI's aim is to develop writers (who also read).

Tutors Needed in Sierra Leone Languages

On International Mother Language Day 2013 (February 21st), a meeting was held at SELI of tutors interested in teaching potential mother tongue authors to write in their own mother languages.  Here are the details:

The Sentinel English Language Institute (SELI) is resuming its Five Writing Lessons programme, in which five writing lessons are offered free of charge in each Sierra Leonean language. The students in this programme are educated adults who wish they could write stories or poems in their mother tongues but do not know the correct spelling.

SELI is seeking tutors for the Five Writing Lessons programme in all Sierra Leonean languages. If you feel that you are qualified to teach native speaking adults to write in your language and would like to participate in the Five Writing Lessons programme, please call SELI at 076 547540 or email jackie@seli.co . The students will already speak the language well; they just need to learn how to write it.

Five Writing Lessons supports mother tongue literature, whose importance is celebrated throughout the world every February 21st on International Mother Language Day. As a tutor in the Five Writing Lessons program, you will be doing a great service to your culture by enabling authors to write in your language. An honorarium will be paid to the successful tutors upon completion of the initial student interview and the five lessons.

Again, contact the Five Writing Lessons programme at 076 547540 or jackie@seli.co .

Teach Somebody (to Read and Write)!

September 8th is International Literacy Day. Here are some statistics from UNESCO's site at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/dakar/education/literacy/

·       "Learning to read and write is a fundamental right. Yet, 38 % of African adults (some 153 millions) are illiterate, two-thirds of these are women.

·       Africa is the only continent where more than half of parents are not able to help their children with homework due to illiteracy.

·       Adult literacy rates are below 50% in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

·       Only 1 % of national education budget of most African governments is earmarked to address the issue of literacy.

·       The situation is alarming as literacy is a crucial step to acquire the basic skills needed to cope with the many challenges children, youth and adults will face throughout their lives.

·       For many disadvantaged young people and adults, non-formal education is one of the main routes to learning. Non-formal education reaches people in their own context and ideally in their own local language."

SELI encourages mother-tongue literacy in Sierra Leone through its Heritage Writers program. We offer five writing lessons to formally-educated native speakers, and then try to move them toward authoring books in their own languages. Literacy isn't very useful if, once you achieve it, you can't find anything interesting to read. If you are not already teaching somebody to read and write, please support Heritage Writers by clicking on the DONATE button here!

Thank you, Lorna and Sandra!

 Because Lorna Johnson and Sandra Leigh sponsored mother-tongue writers at the International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2012, SELI, through its Heritage Writers program, was able to offer five writing lessons for mother tongue speakers of an indigenous Sierra Leonean language. Participants in these classes then formed a writing group. SELI encourages writing groups to meet regularly to stimulate each other with feedback and support.

SELI offered five writing lessons in Krio from May 5th – June 9th, 2012. The instructor was Nathaniel Pearce, who has authored textbooks on Krio.

Krio is a creole language spoken natively by the Krio people in Sierra Leone. It is also the lingua franca of many people throughout the country. Some linguists say Krio stems from a widespread prototype creole; others say its history and grammar identify it as a Niger-Congo language which has borrowed and adapted a large number of words from English and other languages. Other linguists say it's both.

The Krio Five Writing Lessons class was a mixed group of working and retired people as well as students. We soon found that half the group already had mastered writing skills in Krio. Therefore, at each meeting while the beginners worked with Mr. Pearce, the writers took part in a writing workshop with the SELI director, where they were challenged to write personal experiences, do creative reflection, and write poetry in Krio and share it with their colleagues.

 The Krio Five Writing Lessons class now meets as one writing group, the Raytin Kabudu. Members read their work aloud to the group for constructive critique to help them revise. We thank Mr. Pearce for his offer to continue to work with this group on editing and other writing skills. While the Raytin Kabudu members are working on manuscripts, SELI is seeking funds to support publication because Heritage Writers aims to encourage the written literature of all Sierra Leonean languages.

Thank you, Simone!

By sponsoring a mother tongue writer at the International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2012, Simone Anderson made it possible for SELI, through its Heritage Writers program, to offer five writing lessons for mother tongue speakers of an indigenous Sierra Leonean language. Participants in these classes then formed a writing group. SELI encourages writing groups to meet regularly to stimulate each other with feedback and support.

Because Simone helped, SELI offered five writing lessons in Kuranko from April 6th – 21st, 2012.

Kuranko is a Mande language spoken by approximately 268,000 people in Sierra Leone with additional speakers in the region, particularly in Guinea. The language has a strong history of oral literature. Missionary organizations have taught literacy in the language but it is not widespread. The language itself thrives more fully in rural than urban settings, but many children are sent to cities for education. Children in urban areas understand some Kuranko but are more likely to respond in the lingua franca, Krio.

The Kuranko Five Writing Lessons class was a mixed group of working people with strong village oral language skills and secondary school students, some of whom joined under their own initiative and others whose parents saw this as an opportunity for them to get a firmer grounding in their family's language. I found it an exciting class with good, inclusive strategies. Some members have since met as the writing group, Tanyar°, where they are exposed to the writing-craft skills of free writing; of reading work aloud to the group for constructive critique; and of revision. The group was lucky to be visited by a Kuranko traditional poet and performer from New York, Kewulay Kamara, who challenged the members with the promise of an award for documenting Kuranko language traditions.

While the Tanyar° members continue to work on manuscripts with the occasional editing support of their Five Writing Lesson teacher, Saio Marah, SELI is seeking funds to support publication. Heritage Writers would like to see a stronger role played by Kuranko in Sierra Leone's written national literature.

Five Writing Lessons

Five Writing Lessons, a program of the Heritage Writers project, has begun at SELI! The opening unit is Kuranko, and the first of the five lessons took place today at SELI. Thanks to sponsorship from individuals from many parts of the world, we plan to conduct a unit of five writing lessons in as many Sierra Leone languages as possible.

Each class has up to sixteen participants. All should be primary language speakers of the language of any age who have reached or completed junior secondary school, and who are interested in authoring books in their language. The class is offered free of charge.

We are seeking funding for the next stage in the Heritage Writers project, which will support the writing efforts of these would-be mother-tongue authors, and take them onto publication. Exciting, no? Be a part of it by contributing at www.seli.co. Click on "DONATE" to make your payment through PayPal.

Heritage Writers is on the move!

Twice as many people as last year attended SELI's International Mother Language Day 2012 event on February 21st. About half were students, making very serious efforts to write in their mother tongues as these two girls are, writing in Kono and Krio.

Keep checking back for updates! Many participants were interested in the tutoring lessons for which we have been able to gain sponsorship. That program will be underway soon.

Sponsor a Writer! (a Heritage Writers initiative)

Let's Write in our Mother Languages

It is said that there are some eighteen indigenous languages spoken in Sierra Leone. Orthographies have been approved for four of these: Mende, Themne, Limba and Krio. Some junior secondary schools offer one or more of these languages as elective subjects, so there is a chance that a fortunate child might learn to read and write his/her mother tongue while in junior secondary school.

But what if that mother tongue is one of the many "unwritten" languages in Sierra Leone? What do children burning to write in their mother tongues do when educators tell them that writing programs cannot be established for languages that lack approved orthographies?

Read our article advocating for writing in mother languages: http://www.seli.co/seli-forum/seli-editorials

International Mother Language Day 2011

On Sunday, February 20th, 2011 at 4:00 pm, SELI celebrated International Mother Language Day 2011. Anyone who wants to stretch his or her writing life and support those Sierra Leonean languages that are not being taught in schools is welcome to come and write! This is the 12th year of this UNESCO day, which actually falls on the 21st of February each year. It was established to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, particularly encouraging the development of literatures in endangered languages.

This year most of the participants wrote poems, and we all sat in one group to read our work aloud. Can you read this poem by Annie Moses that was written and read on that day? SELI's celebration is part of its larger Heritage Writers program. Participants spend the first 45 minutes writing a poem, story, or nonfiction narrative in their primary language. They then gather in language groups to read their work aloud for appreciative feedback and comments. Tutors from the Writing Tutors Registry are always present in case any participant would like to make an arrangement for lessons to improve their writing skills in their language.

The students on the cover of the book, Fostering Young Writers in Sierra Leone, which you see here, are writing on International Mother Language Day.