Internships in VVOBprogrammes

2016

Attachment as a teacher at KG6, a special needs school.

1. Location
Country / Zimbabwe
Town / Bulawayo (second largest city; 430 km from the capital Harare)
Partner / Institute / King George VI
Department / Early childhood education, primary and/or secondary school[SF1]
2. Period
  • Preferably three (Mid January to March) but can be flexible; based on requirements of the Belgian University-College.
  • Please note that Zimbabwean school holiday periods fall in April, August and December/beginning January;teaching practice is not possible in these months (see also 6: leave days/days off).
  • Since the VVOB support team is based in Harare, there will not be daily face-to-face contact with VVOB staff. Contact with Belgians during this attachment will be limited; therefore we would prefer two students who can come during the same period; they do not need to know each other beforehand.

3. Terms of Reference
Objectives of the Traineeship / Background:
King George VI (KG6) is a Special Needs School, located in Bulawayo and providing rehabilitation and boarding facilities to children from age 3 to 18 with physical disabilities, hearing impairments and learning disabilities (but one third of the children with no disabilities also attend the lessons). It has a primary and secondary school for disabled children. The school offers academic training, preparing children for higher education and also trade-oriented programs for those unprepared to pursue higher education. The school has some rehabilitation technicians that offer psychotherapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy with mentorship and assistance from international volunteers. KG6 operates 10 independent living houses where graduates live in a group setting with assistance from house parents. The school puts a lot of emphasis on creativity and several forms of expressive and visual arts.
Objectives:
During the attachment, the student will:
  • work directly with the children;
  • build the capacity of staff and volunteers who work with the children at the school;
  • interact with United College of Education, UCE, the only college in Zimbabwe that offers a teacher training programme in Special Needs Education;
  • support the planned activities of the SchoolLink (Scholenband) with KOCA, a school in Flanders.

Expected Results /
  • Interesting learning experience for the student(s) on attachment.
  • Report of a capacity development initiative with KG6 staff members and volunteers.
  • Interaction with teacher education college(s) and VVOB support team to contribute to the VVOB-programme in which inclusivity issues are also focused on.
  • Strengthening of the SchoolLink with KOCA.
  • Internship report.

Planned activities and time frame / Activity / M1 / M2 / M3
Direct work (teaching) with the pupils of KG6. / v / v / v
Interaction with the teachers, technicians, volunteers and para-professionals of KG6; and based upon the student’s strengths and the needs of KG6 community, capacity building of KG6 staff and volunteers. / v / v / v
Interaction with lecturers and student teachers of the nearby teacher education colleges; especially UCE. / v / v / v
Interaction with the VVOB team. / v / v / v
Activities to strengthen the SchoolLink of KG6 with KOCA in Flanders. / v / v
Equity component of internship /
  • Children with and without special needs attend the lessons together.
  • Children have different mother tongue languages (although mostly Ndebele).
  • Many children come from disadvantaged backgrounds. A lot of families are struggling to pay school fees.
  • Preparation for an awareness raising activity on equity (to be prepared whilst at KG6; to be implemented in Flanders after the attachment)

4. Support
Working environment / You will be working in a school for children with hearing impairments, physical and learning disabilities.
Position in the program/institution / The school is keen to provide a practical learning environment for students training in education, special needs education. The school has qualified staff that will be able to mentor the student(s). At the same time, the school hopes that the student will be able to share his/her knowledge and skills with other staff and volunteers at the school, in turn building the capacity of the school.
Name Supervisor / KG6 will assign a mentor who is qualified or experienced in your field. You will also be visited by a VVOB staff member and you will be able to contact this person with any challenges you may be facing during your attachment. The Belgian staff of VVOB is based in Harare and will be able to have face-to-face contact with the student upon arrival in the country as well as upon departure. It is unlikely that they will be visiting the student often during the attachment.
5. Minimum requirements
Expertise / Students training in early childhood, primary, secondary orspecial needs education.
Good conversational knowledge of English is needed.
Profile / Socially motivated, eager to work in groups, comfortable in team-work, interested in and aware of local culture, honest, open, dynamic, eager to learn, not afraid of learning sign language.
As contact with expatriate VVOB staff will be limited, students should be relatively independent.
Required / Preferred preparation / Practice speaking English, as it is the language used in education. In early childhood education (up to grade 3 of primary education) children are taught in Ndebele, with gradually more English.
Contact details of students who have been on attachment in previous years can be made available.
Duo-attachment possible? / Yes (preferably one teacher and one psychologist – see other internship proposal).
Preference to assign the attachment to a student of a specific college (in case of partnership with a Flemish college) / No
6. Working conditions
Workload / Full-time practice at the school. Holidays will need to be taken during the periods that the school is closed.
Leave days / days off / Saturdays, Sundays, local public holidays and 2,5 leave days per month (not the full school holiday period).
The leave days need to be taken during the school holiday period or when the school is closed.
If your attachment period overlaps extensively with the holiday period of the center, you will need to discuss possibilities of other useful engagements with support of VVOB and KG6.
Required language skills / English.
Be aware that Ndebele is the mother tongue of almost all children. Language will be an – interesting - barrier to cope with.
Transport / Public transport.
Possibilities accomodation / King George VI tries to provide the students with fully equipped self-catering accommodation in a hostel at the school (1 single bed, 1 lavabo, a build-in closet, a little desk). You will have the chance to eat there for free although there is not much variety. You will be charged +/- 20 dollars per month plus the costs for electricity/water to stay in the hostel. This amount is subject to change at the beginning of each year.
When room in hostel is not available, accommodation can be found in town.
Estimated general costs / Approximately 10USD per day (or less) when staying in the hostel. When private accommodation is needed: 350$/month for accommodation and 10US$/day for food and transport. (holiday trips not included). When staying in the hostel, the student will be required to take up afternoon and evening duties on some days (to be negotiated) at the hostel with the children.
7. Comments
The school can accommodate two students at the same time. We find students offer each other a lot of support in dealing with new experiences. We therefore prefer that two students come in the same period. It is not essential that they know each other from beforehand.

Stagefiche1/4

[SF1]KG6 would prefer at least 1 teacher. Ideally the second intern is a therapist. If a therapist is not found, than 2 teachers are of course OK.

Altough our programme is in ECD, KG6 would also like a teacher in secondary education (if the second intern is a teacher, than this is possible).