Mercy Mercy
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Good day, all, Mercy Ezeala here.
Forgive my wordiness and use of an anecdote!
I often considered the touted changes or need for changes in African curricula/teaching-learning practice mere rhetoric swallowed in abstraction, without concretization. However, when I devoted myself to ‘seek and search out by wisdom'(Ecclesiastes 1:13) ways of enlivening interactions with the students, motivating them to learn and develop positive attitudes toward their learning, and being a better me, I decided to employ some of the student-centered strategies such as video-based and small group learning in a group I taught last year(246 students in a class). I made a list of topics and activities relating to the course content and trending topics in society and their program, grouped the students into between 4 and 15 and requested they submit their responses as videos. Each group had to comment on what it found challenging and means of improvement. These videos were shared to the class who commented on the submissions. One group provided misleading responses to their questions. I raised up questions in the discussion forum for the group and other students to understand the fallacious conclusions.
Now, this might seem an aimless story but I want to use it to respond to some of the questions raised by Prof. Oyewole. I had to engage in studying how best to make the teacher-student encounters relevant at an affordable rate and a continuous learning process to meet up with my internet savvy Gen Z students. Therefore, the change in Africa HE begins with me – the teacher, the participant in a training program like this, and one willing to continually engage in learning -.
