Final Project

For my final project, I decided to create a curriculum, as I am planning on becoming a teacher. My focus is secondary education, so my curriculum is designed for a 12th grade classroom. I actually put a lot of time and effort into this project, and I had a lot of fun. It was encouraging to realize how much I enjoyed coming up with a book list, paper topics, a syllabus, etc. I definitely know that I am going into the correct field.

I decided to save trees and post my curriculum on a website. It can be found here.

Everything about my course, including the goals and course description, can be found on this website. Everything I could possibly write in this blog would just be a repeat of what is on the site. So go ahead, take a look, and let me know what you think!

The Education of Africa

Education in pre-colonial Africa was restricted mainly within individual tribes and consisted of equipping the youth with the knowledge and skills they would need to survive and prosper within their societies. Colonialism, of course, caused a significant change in the educational system. Now education involves much broader aspects, preparing African youth to survive not only in Africa but in the rest of the world as well. Unfortunately, the educational system in Africa is extremely underdeveloped, and many parts of the continent lack participation. The would-be staff of these African schools are often bribed away to schools in other continents with better pay and working/living conditions.

USAID is th U.S. government's organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. They support education programs in 21 African countries. Over the past decade, USAID support has focused on strengthening African education systems through the Education Sector Support approach which emphasizes support to host government-developed and led sector reforms and capacity building. Following respective national reform plans, USAID's education programs respond to country-specific needs including policy and curriculum reform, teacher and administrator professional development, community involvement supporting schools, increasing access to school for girls and other marginalized populations, and the development of learning materials.