Training of Teachers in Rural Botswana

The SASB project organised a teacher training and stargazing event at Kanye and Machana in Botswana from 6–9 June 2023. Teachers from rural areas and primary schools students from poor socio-economic backgrounds were targeted. The training covered an introduction to Astronomy and the history of Astronomy, definitions of celestial objects, overview of the solar system and planet Earth, history of exploration of the solar system, cosmology, ongoing space projects in Botswana and how to use/read astronomical coordinates. The team presented science gadgets, paper microscopes and organised a star gazing night for pupils and families alike.

Activities:

  • Training of primary school teachers from Southern Botswana with frontal lectures on topics of general science, geology and astronomy.
  • hands-on experience with Galileoscope (including assembly and astronomical coordinates use)
  • Scientific activities and experiments of microscopy with 90 primary school pupils in Machana.
  • Star gazing night in Machana

The week began with preparations at both Machana Primary School and the Kanye Education Centre on June 5th, 2023, by both Diamonds in the Sky staff members and Education Centre officials. 

Tuesday morning started with welcoming remarks and introductions by both DITS and Government officers, with the official opening for the SASB event made by the Director of Education for the South Region, Mr. Acro News Maseko. This was followed by welcoming remarks by Dr. Franchi followed by the first lesson of the day presented by Dr. Ulusoy on the principles of astronomy. After our first tea break, Dr. Fulvio presented teachers with a needs analysis questionnaire to be filled out by each of the 12 (10 teachers and two education officers) participants. The day progressed according to the planned schedule.

During the morning session the following day (Wednesday) Dr. Tshipa arrived just in time to field questions from the teachers after Dr. Ulusoy’s lesson on the solar system. The change in the level of participation and exchange from the teachers was noticed immediately, and Tshipa’s presence had a clear multiplier effect for the remainder of the training. The final day of training wrapped up with the whole afternoon being spent on assembling the Galileoscopes. This activity was led by Mr. Tomlinson and involved assembling the first telescope with the teachers in a circle around Mr. Tomlinson’s desk watching and listening carefully during the assembly process. There was a free exchange during the process, and upon completion of the first scope teachers were given their own Galileoscopes which they proceeded to assemble on their own with assistance from Mr. Tomlinson and Dr. Tshipa. I believe it was an excellent ending after three days of classroom style lessons.

On Friday morning, Dr. Franchi made the trip out to Machana accompanied by Dr. Tshipa. They unpacked and demonstrated the foldable microscopes with about 50 students ranging in age from 10 – 14 years. The Diamonds in the Sky entourage arrived during the microscope session and took some photos while getting their gear offloaded at the nearby football pitch where the evening stargazing event was to take place. The grounds were flat and very far from lights, which made for perfect stargazing later that day. DITS also donated a classroom microscope to the Machana school which Dr. Franchi demonstrated for the students and teachers. They all got a chance to look at some of the various prepared slides that were part of the merchandise supplied to all the participating schools. The chemistry experiment kits, also supplied to each of the schools, were left for the teachers to explore with their students upon return to their schools as we found them to be quite well described in the accompanying instruction manuals.

In the evening, the stargazing event began with welcome remarks from the tribal Chief of Machana, the school head, and one of the PEO’s (principal education officers). Dr. Tshipa addressed the crowd and gave a small talk after the Kgosi linking ethnoastronomy (Tswana astronomy) with scientific (‘modern’) astronomy expounding on galaxies, stars and their evolution interlaced with Tswana proverbs and riddles. 

Coverage by the national TV station, BTV, of the stargazing event at Machana appeared on the evening news, and the Government newspaper, the Daily News, also covered the event.

Overall, the SASB event was a successful cooperative effort between all parties involved and paved the way towards another training. From August 21-23, Diamonds in the Sky conducted a similar event, facilitated by 4 members of staff from the Botswana University of Science and Technology, along with Dr. Tshipa from the University of Botswana, with three days of teacher training at Mphuthe JSS in Letlhakeng. This was followed by an evening of stargazing at a pan near Metsibotlhoko. This event was sponsored by the Ministry of Research, Knowledge and Technology, together with BIUST, and was largely a result of the response to the first event. 

A questionnaire will be sent to the participants in order to evaluate the impact of the activities and materials provided by the project.