My name is Kharunda Rose Khisa and I am a 39-year-old teacher at Bubiita Seed Secondary School in Bududa district in the Eastern region of Uganda. I have been in this profession since 2007. I used to teach history and later switched to teaching English in 2014. Teaching is a profession that stimulates my mind and keeps me updated all the time while giving me room to associate with my learners and identify their competencies. I like to complement my teaching practice according to my students’ needs which challenges me to become a better teacher. This makes me want to dive deeper into the topics and exercise my curiosity.
Earlier I used to think children’s potential for learning is an ability that they are born with and that acquiring this talent is not possible. I didn’t have a fun, experimental teaching process and didn’t believe in praising my students’ efforts.
However, I got involved with STiR in February 2022 and learnt about the concept of a growth mindset which drastically evolved my teaching practice. The workshop content trained me on praising efforts and not the ability to learn. I also got to know and utilise innovative techniques to address my students’ doubts during my classes which have helped them immensely. With an overall positive outlook on teaching and learning, I have started to believe that every teacher can produce good results and every learner has the ability to perform excellently with proper guidance and encouragement. I have also started to practise gender responsiveness in my regular classes which have created a suitable learning environment for both boys and girls.
My teaching practice is now much more engaging and I use varied approaches like rhymes and songs to my delivery method and add fun techniques to the learning process. Students have now become more independent and use their own experiences in solving problems.
Learners have now started to enjoy their lessons and have become very participative. I have observed an increase of children reading by themselves because I have always emphasised the importance of learning regularly. I have seen that a lot has improved in their performance while they are also enjoying the subject more. Play within learning has created an excellent rapport between my learners.
I have also visited other local schools to help teachers in the facilitation of STiR training activities. I keep in touch with the headteachers as a supporter of STiR and remind them about the planned activities. I believe that with this programme every school can improve their teaching practice.
Madam Betty Tsemoyi, Head Teacher of the school says, “Ever since Madam Rose started working with STiR, motivational teaching has become part of her. I have seen Madam Rose use different strategies and tricks in her classroom, she greets learners at the door, she makes her lessons enjoyable by deliberately involving all learners using different methods, she appreciates the learners using different techniques and this makes the learners enjoy her lessons. Madam Rose has added so much value to her learners, the teachers and the school at large. Thank you STiR Education”.
She adds, “There is no day Madam Rose has gone for the STIR training at regional and district levels and she doesn’t come back to make an effort to support her fellow teachers, she is always going an extra mile to train us at school level so that we can improve our teaching in the classroom. Madam Rose is such a treasure in my school”.
When teachers like Kharunda fall in love with teaching, children start to love learning.