Pakistan Log 2014

 

10/11 June 2014

The Glasgow Emirates 777 is uncrowded and I have three seats to myself. Dinner is fine. We overfly such famous places as Mosul and Kirkuk; and eventually Doha; and then into Dubai about midnight. 5 hours to wait: then off into a beautiful dawn to Lahore. We get battered down to the runway by strong thermals.

Yacoob is there with a car and I get to the guesthouse. It was 47°C yesterday and is heading that way today.

I get a TCS cellphone (as they call them in the USA and in Pakistan). [It proves invaluable.]

 

12 June

Read BBC News. England team and malaria:  the England World Cup squad are apparently all on Malarone- that will mess them up.

“Dawn” has a story about a Turkmenistan gas field: accidentally set on fire 40 years ago, and still burning.

Into work and it is hot; but not overwhelmingly so.

We make a hotel visit to inspect tomorrow’s training venue. Potentially OK, but no breakout rooms.

Meal fine in guest house: daal and rice and spiced chicken; and chilled coke.

Do an hour of work; and read today’s downloaded Guardian.  Also live UK radio. All due to Kindle Fire and great wifi.

 

13 June

Tea and then breakfast. Off at 7.30 a.m. to training room at Savoey Hotel. 29 participants arrive on time.

First bit is long self-reflective exercise: goes OK.

A Google book exercise of which I am wary: it goes well. [Only in Karachi ironically does it not go so well, basically because their wifi is not too functional. But soon it will be.]

 Good jokey plenary: sweets as prizes for feedback – e.g. “Change comes from within”. “Some learning involves unlearning”; “consult the wider community, especially parents”. I say in response to the first “So forget external consultants like me.”

Home to a good meal.

Rewrite Day 1 for Islamabad and Karachi: and I fine-tune Day 2: mostly the graphic design.

 

14 June (Saturday)

 There is no rush today, at least not until the mains supply and the hotel generator and the UPS (that powers the computer) all go down and we have an unwanted 30 minute break.

The afternoon in particular seems to go OK and there are lots of friendly goodbyes and thanks when we finish what has been a very interactive day.

 

 

 

Sunday 15^th

I call my main contact in Northern Region. We arrange to meet in the Islamabad guest house about 5 p.m. I download yesterday’s Guardian for the journey, and pack.

I look forward to the journey, which I have done before and much of which is interesting, i.e. through irrigated plains towards what are the first foothills of the Himalayas.

Yacoob and I leave the Lahore guesthouse about 10.45 a.m. We have a very comfortable Corolla. I have the TCS cellphone (which proves useful) and my Kindle Fire keeps me entertained. As we speed out to the start of the motorway, we see a side of Pakistan that is distinctly not third world – apart from an atrophied beggar at one crossroads. Yacoob explains that the reason we have seen so few beggars is because the Lahore police began a major drive against them some three weeks ago. We make our way out beside the Lahore Branch Canal (a British achievement) and join the M2 toll motorway. Buffaloes shelter from the heat as we head along the Punjab plain; there are irrigated orchards; some rice fields (I think); and kilns (almost certainly for making bricks from the alluvial clay). We stop for a break half-way and soon the road rises spectacularly into the hills. The 200 miles of motorway cost about 290 rupees (£2) and then we are on dual carriageway into Islamabad. 4 buffaloes saunter along one carriageway, just like the sheep and cattle on Scotland’s roads.

The guesthouse, after a 4-hour drive, is welcoming: a late lunch of chicken, rice, “lady finger” (okra) and delightful fresh chapattis. There is wifi for my Kindle; but the guesthouse computer is not much use.

Shireen, the Regional Director, arrives and we talk about the teaching of teachers: “We noted that when you were Dean, Iain, you went on teaching.” I feel smug and virtuous.

We go through the business for tomorrow: 29 trainees set up in groups of 4 or 5.

With a computer that will not access my USBs or the wifi, I write up my learning log in longhand.

At dinner at 8 p.m. (chicken and some rather exquisite daal) I have left my Kindle in the living room downloading today’s Guardian. The house servant brings it in to me “There is a Skype call for you, sir.” Truly a Jeeves of the 21^st century.

 

Monday 16^th

Yacoob drives me to the training centre at 8 a.m. - new but a bit overcrowded for 29 participants, 3 tutors and assorted others (notably Taj, a recent Strathclyde masters graduate, almost certainly the last from TCS). We start with an introduction by Shireen. I run the self-reflective bits (as I did in Lahore). Shireen runs an introduction to curriculum leadership. The room gets hotter and hotter: the  outside temperature is as in Lahore; the number of people is the same; but a) the room is smaller; b) the window blinds are translucent where in Lahore they were heavy black; c) people insist on putting fans on to back up the AC (in reality, they counteract the AC).

The day seems to run OK

Nauman and I have a debriefing meeting

1.                          Tomorrow we shall provide more drinking water [They do]

2.                          Otherwise run to set plan

Shireen, Nauman and I go to a very good Italian-style restaurant.  I have a steak; and we share bread and butter pudding and cream. It may be almost 70 years since we exited from what was then Imperial India  but we Brits sure have left some legacies: irrigation canals; a (now decrepit) railway system; sweet tea; and bread and butter pudding.

Tuesday 17th June

This morning is cooler, but not for long. We wheel along to the I-11 campus, the space-rocket spires of the Faisal mosque gleaming in the distance.

We start at 8.30 with the obligatory class photograph. 10 minutes outside for this has sweat pouring off faces; and there are complaints about the damage to make-up. An inspiring slogan at the school door has lost an “L” and now reads “EARNING IS FUN”.  Indeed.

This morning, unlike yesterday, there is a good supply of chilled drinking water; and the leap in morale is perceptible.

My flight ticket for Karachi has arrived. So I ask staff to contact Karachi,   to get the name of the driver who is to meet me; and to ask him to carry ID at the airport. Karachi can at times be bandit country, including kidnappers of Westerners.

Nauman co-tutors with me: he is one of the best teacher tutors in TCS – that makes him very good indeed.

Day 2 ends. Probably the 2 days were OK. About 15 (out of 29) insist on being photographed with me: usually a good sign in Pakistan.

At 4.30 p.m. we take the 10-minute drive from the I-11 campus; and find our way to the Regional Office. For the first time since arrival I have the combination of free time, a computer outside the course that works properly (i.e. working keyboard, functional USB ports and internet access). So I download the pitiful learning log notes I have made to date on the (hopeless) keyboard in the Lahore guest house; and set to writing notes from today.

We skirt along the edge of Islamabad, the hills sharp in the early evening air – and donkey carts, goats and goatherds process less than 20 minutes away from the centre of this capital city.  

 

Wednesday 18^th June

Yacoob drives me out through an overcast but hot morning to Islamabad (Benazir Bhutto) Airport. A strange place: international airport of a capital city, yet small enough to have one departure lounge with only one departure gate. Security is light: the bogus “wand”- a conman, now in gaol, scooped several million pounds by selling these divining rods for explosives -has been in evidence outside; and I settle in the lounge with a (40p) cup of tea and my Kindle. The Shaheen flight to Karachi is good (A320) and only a little late. Karachi Airport is as quiet and calm as I have seen it (with no evidence of the carnage of 10 days ago that killed 36 people) and two uniformed guys await me (with plenty of ID). At 40 Centigrade and with a stiff breeze, it is notably cooler than Islamabad.

I do three hours of work with my co-tutors for tomorrow; and go to the guest house, spacious and well-appointed and well-staffed.  Good food and good service. And a functioning computer with wifi.

 

Thursday 19^th

Two fried eggs for breakfast and an 8 a.m. drive to the nearby training centre – in a newish A-level school. And very safe: in the Clifton area of Defence, where the Bhuttos were reared and where camels stroll along the beach.

There are technical (i.e. electrical and IT) problems in abundance; but we surmount them.

And there are moments of magic. Before we even start I spot a familiar face, one of perhaps 10 or more familiar faces out of 33 participants.

“We have met before.”

“Yes, I was on one of your AFL workshops two years ago in Karachi.”

“I hope you enjoyed it”

“It changed my life; and it changed the lives of my teachers.”

 

(Later she elaborates to the other 32: “I began to run workshops for my teachers; and the teachers began to do new things with the students. These once new things are now part of the everyday culture of the teachers – and of the students.”)

There are 33 participants; in a room with heavy front-facing desks- entirely unsuitable for group work. But we also have access to the school computer lab and the school library, each of which comfortably takes 10-12 people. So, unlike Lahore and Islamabad, we run all the major group work with teams of 10+ people i.e. 3 groups spread across three rooms.

In the evening Zeeba visits me from the small apartment she retains in this her ex-house. She kicked off this ongoing show back in April 1996: she and the famous John Proctor.

 

At 9 p.m. I am working at the computer in the hallway. Two of the Quetta delegates interrupt me: “Sir we should have waited until midnight but we thought you might want to sleep before then.” They have a bouquet of flowers for my birthday. Facebook strikes again.

 

20^th June

I am up early and the day looks benign. I open a birthday card from Joan; and see two on my e-mail system. One is from my long-term friend and co-tutor earlier this week in Islamabad:

 

“Birthday Wishes to the best teacher in the world!

Nauman”

Thanks, Nauman: that will do nicely.

Water is off this morning: a planned “outage”, for the house servant warned me about it last night and put a very large bucket of water in the bathroom. “Outages” of electricity, judging by yesterday, are less common than in Lahore or Islamabad. Just as well: our main computer yesterday was a PC – hence no battery back-up and it had no UPS. Today we had it replaced with a laptop.

Overnight, the training room windows have been covered with black paper; and this does indeed reduce the inside temperature and raise spirits.

We have a lot of fun analysing the strengths (and weaknesses) of some past TCS courses (The booby prize must go to the past external trainer who had a group of headteachers (HMs) crawling around the floor and role-playing little puppies.)

And I am reminded how long some people’s memories can be: “I was on the PGCC course. I was afraid of the tutor. One day I had not slept the night before because of domestic difficulties. There was a 30-minute reading exercise. But every time I tried to read, I began to fall asleep. The tutor told me to go outside, to wash my face and to relax. I have never forgotten that tutor: his name was Mr. Macdonald.” I tell her that I will pass on that story to Mr. Macdonald. For I can place the story: Karachi in July 2000. [Two days later Mr. Macdonald is thrilled by the story].

At lunchtime, the little group from Quetta, brokered by the great Afzal, want a private session with me. They have been working on “sharing learning objectives with students”. So, in their isolated mountain fastness, they are well ahead of most teachers in the world.

By 3.45, we are finished; and I have people quietly writing up their learning reviews. Nudrat, the ever-exuberant and effervescent Regional Director, glides in. Two birthday cakes; and bags of presents. We have fun for minutes. I sign autographs, about 10 or more: that is a first for me.

Off to Regional Office: I hand in my cell-phone and print off my boarding passes for Emirates. I confirm that I have a passport.

Back at the guesthouse (still with my driver and security man), the hot water is now on. I pack presents I have received: three new kurtas, one new shirt, two tablecloths, two new handbags (for Gillian and Joan); I shower; and I eat some plov, that most universal of Central Asian dishes. Then off to the airport.

The airport is quiet and civilized. Security guards have smiles. The bookshop includes works by Chomsky, Hawking, Blair, Brown and William Dalrymple. Much better than Heathrow.

Into Dubai around midnight.

21^st June

(TCS paid for my days to date. I personally paid for today, with a cheap upgrade to business class.)

The lounge in Dubai is very large.  I while my time away with a shower and shave; some smoked salmon and scrambled eggs at 5 a.m. Boarding at 8 a.m. I turn left. A simple breakfast, three hours sleep on a flat bed, a great lunch and we make Glasgow around midday. It has been good.

Iain

Glasgow

Postscript

Two days later, TCS asks me for a short story for their website. I write:-

“The Diploma in the Leadership of Learning (DLL) is a course designed mainly for school heads and senior staff. Its eight days of tutor-led input ran for the first time this June in Lahore, in Islamabad, in Karachi and in Hyderabad, with over 100 HMs and SMs [depute heads] taking part. They now move into several months of school-based implementation of some of the course ideas.

“I had the pleasure of taking part in the first two days of the course at three of the venues.  As the name suggests, the course is centrally about two ideas: in the most effective schools headteachers and senior staff a) focus on student learning and b) lead their teachers to concentrate on classroom learning. The Department of Professional Development-designed course adds new material to some of the best elements of past courses and programmes and uses some of the most skilled and experienced of TCS co-tutors.

“It was Dr Farzana who twenty years ago had the (then revolutionary) idea that TCS staff needed rather more professional development than the occasional one-day workshop. DLL is but the latest result of that vision: an extended opportunity to learn what is world-leading in classroom methods and how best to induct classroom teachers into these methods.

“The Diploma course is tutor-led but not tutor dominated. There were many opportunities for activity and participants prepared presentations addressed to their colleagues.  They practised training and coaching skills; and they reflected on “state-of-the-art” classroom techniques: mastery learning, target setting, learning reviews, formative feedback and so on.

“In a Pakistan June at up to 45°C, it was hot for me and my co-tutors and the participants. But we had great fun; and we taught each other a lot. I was sad to leave.

“Iain Smith was formerly the Dean of Education in the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. He has been visiting The City School as a trainer and consultant for some 18 years now.”