At work and play

On the work side, I am getting some ground work done for my project. My goal is to visit schools to assess two things: first, how is globalization changing curriculum and teaching here in South Africa? second, how much of these changes are relevant and accessible to under-resourced schools? These same questions are being asked around the world and in the US. Resource-rich schools are linking up on the Internet to share lessons, accessing the wealth of resources available on the Web, developing innovative internationalized curricula, and sending students on a range of service and exchange trips. Meanwhile, many schools and students are being left out of these changes and the connections and opportunities that come with them. I am particularly interested in exploring this gap and contributing to strategies for narrowing it.

I plan to visit a range of schools here, and just this week I have been to the International School of Cape Town and to the Hector Peterson School in Wallacedene township (the school where Kristina and I worked during the Bridges workshop in 2008), with another visit planned for tomorrow to Fezeka Secondary School in the Guguletu township. My hosts will be a teacher and student who also participated in the Bridges workshop.

For play, I managed to find a couple of weekly pick-up soccer games near to the university (unfortunately, they are back-to-back on Saturdays). I had a good time playing for the first time in two months last weekend. Today, I rented a mountain bike and did a nice ride up logging roads and down some manageable single-track trails at a forest preserve about 10K (6 miles) from downtown Stellenbosch. It´s in the 90´s today, and the riding felt a lot like Eastern Washington in the summer.

I´m off to find some water to jump in!