Gertrude Nkrumah
Visited the IAS in June 2023
A Report by Gertrude Nkrumah on Attending a Workshop on “Creating and Implementation of Teaching and Learning Material at Bavarian Grammar Schools on the Topic of Africa for Geography Lessons”, University of Bayreuth, from 12 to 18 June 2023.
On June 12, 2023, I participated in a workshop on the context of the power of images and post-colonialism in textbooks, at the University of Bayreuth.
The workshop took place from the 12th to the 18th of June and was mainly a two-fold event. The first part of the workshop began on the 13th through to the 14th of June 2023 and this part mainly involved teachers from Germany, South Africa, and Ghana. The educators deliberated on how to effectively utilize and interpret ‘visual images’ from multi-perspective approaches for global teaching and learning within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This was particularly useful to me as a history teacher, since the workshop gave me the necessary exposure to utilize varied forms of teaching methods and contents with a global outlook.
The second part of the workshop started on the 15th of June with several presentations addressing issues of decolonizing education and creating and implementing teaching and learning materials on the topic of Africa for Geography lessons. As a history teacher, I shared my thoughts in a presentation that focused on decolonizing and gendering the history curriculum in Ghanaian secondary schools. It was interesting to note the several related issues on both History and Geography as subjects taught in schools. The highlight of the day was the one-on-one engagement and reflection with the students who asked critical questions on Africa in general and specific questions such as the educational system, questions of appropriation, and restitution, among others.
Participating in this workshop was academically enriching and fruitful since it connected me with various educators from diverse academic disciplines such as History, Arts, and Geography Education and the sharing of experiences as teachers and students and exchanges of ideas and a rethinking of effective teaching and learning methods. Personally, the workshop has enhanced my teaching skills as a history teacher in looking out for ways to be fully engaging with students at a level that makes students comfortable and appreciated for their contributions. This workshop has provided me with the exposure to engage with seasoned academics from different universities. I found the formal and informal conversations we engaged with some members on different topics as being very useful. As a history teacher, as well as a PhD student of African Studies, the experience was indeed enlightening. I had the opportunity to engage with some of the participants in my research work, and these gave me useful insights. A visit to Nuremberg on the 17th of June to places of historical interest was another major highlight for me as a historian who is keenly interested in exploring historical places of interest around the world. It is my hope that similar workshops and related academic research be considered as part of future plans for the project.