WGS students swap UK classroom for opportunity to teach in Morocco
Wolverhampton Grammar School have partnered with educational charity Association Aghbalou to teach children at L鈥櫭塩ole de Douar Shib, a primary school near Marrakech.
An exciting new partnership with Association Aghbalou, an educational charity, offered students at Wolverhampton Grammar School the opportunity to teach young Moroccans in a school in the countryside outside Marrakech over the Spring half-term break.
The project came about following a reconnaissance visit last year by Wolverhampton Grammar School Head, Alex Frazer, who was seeking an opportunity for his students to volunteer overseas. A partnership was formed and back in the UK, the chance to teach abroad was presented to Lower Sixth students. With many keen to take advantage there was a rush of applications before the final ten students were selected. These students then undertook weekly training sessions after school with Modern Languages teacher Mrs Petra Grigat-Bradley, learning useful skills which would enable them to teach English and interact with pupils.
Six weeks later, the party of 10 students and 3 teachers set off for Marrakech. After a day to acclimatize and experience some local culture it was soon time to visit L’École de Douar Shib, a primary school, 15 miles outside the city. The school is typical of many set up to serve a local rural population but is receiving the benefit of some investment thanks to Association Aghbalou, and the improvements to what would otherwise be very basic classroom facilities and resources was evident. The school now has its own toilet block, paved playground and the outward structure has been significantly improved. The inward delegation from Wolverhampton was also to serve as good publicity for the inspiring work that is happening at L’École de Douar Shib, embedding additional educational programmes which will have a measurable impact on pupils’ academic and pastoral development. It is believed that this is the first time that anyone has brought school students from overseas to teach and as a result the project has attracted the interest of the Moroccan 看片狂人 Minister and local press.
The programme for the week consisted of 3 hours of English tuition every morning with other subjects such as Art, Music and Sport taught in the afternoon. WGS students were supported by students from L’École Normale Supérieure de Marrakech (part of the Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech) who are currently studying for teaching degrees. As well as observing teaching practice, they helped by interpreting in Arabic and French.
Saâd Baddou of Association Aghbalou said, “The visit by Wolverhampton Grammar students and teachers has had an enormous impact; our parents and children have been so pleased to welcome them. We took the opportunity to also involve pupils from an urban school in Marrakech, as well as a secondary school from the rural outskirts, in this way we have been able to establish a co-operation between different levels of schooling and to help establish English teaching now and for the future.”
WGS student, Abdul, (17), commented, “I am from Iraq and was interested to visit Morocco, another Muslim country. It was wonderful to visit the Koutoubia mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakech, and to experience prayer time there, as well as to discover more about this country. On top of this I was able to do something impactful and make a difference to the lives of local children.”
Maisie (16) who is interested in becoming a teacher found her interests in education were furthered by her time in Morocco. She says, “The children in my class didn’t speak any English but they were able to learn from us and start using words and phrases both inside and outside the classroom. It was rewarding to see the growth in their use of language by the end of the week. It has certainly made me even more determined to pursue a career in teaching.”
Despite their UK training, the reality of teaching in a rural school on a different continent inevitably brought with it a few challenges. The students were surprised for find themselves teaching teenagers as well as primary age children in the same class and tougher than anticipated barriers to communication required interpreters in both Arabic and French; but this seminal opportunity has made a truly memorable impression on all the students involved.They were all very enthusiastic about their experiences. “I would highly recommend this once in a lifetime experience to others,” said Lexie (16).
Head, Alex Frazer, concluded, “We thank L’École de Douar Shib for their warm welcome. It has been a great pleasure to work with Association Aghbalou to create opportunities in the local community and to give our students a unique experience. The cultural activities which included a visit to a mountain village has enabled them to learn more about the challenges of living and receiving schooling in rural communities where families live a simple existence. We hope this will be the start of a long and successful partnership and many more students will benefit from these visits.”
10.03.23