Congratulations to CLL student, Julie Turley. She has been selected to spend this summer teaching in Tanzania with Warwick in Africa. Julie is currently completing our Postgraduate Diploma in Education (FE and Skills).

We asked Julie what inspired her to apply for Warwick in Africa, and how she feels the PGDE course has helped to prepare her for this challenge:

How does it feel to be selected to teach in Tanzania with Warwick in Africa?

I am absolutely thrilled to be selected to go to Africa. I feel really humbled to know that I will have the opportunity to teach English to the young people in Mtwara, Tanzania and to be a small part of the work that opens up doors for them. I am one of the oldest people that will be going to Africa as the cohort is mainly young people in their early twenties. However I have now met with the other volunteers and they are an amazing bunch of people full of enthusiasm and ideas and I feel truly privileged to be among them.

My other feeling is utter trepidation. I have not travelled very much in my life and am terrified of flying. Going off in to an unknown environment without my partner, Peter, is actually quite scary but at the same time a real adventure.

What inspired you to apply?

I worked for many years as a lawyer and left that arena to work with young homeless people in the West Midlands. One of the things that struck me about these amazing youngsters was the difference that education can make to their lives. Once they were settled with a safe roof over their heads and food in the cupboards the next important thing was to get them in to education or training. Many of them changed their lives just by attending school or college and getting a good education. That is why I decided to take a change of direction and study to become a teacher.

I am aware that we are so lucky in this country to have an accessible and free education system and it did make me wonder about other countries where that is not so easy to access. When a friend of mine sent me the Warwick in Africa flyer it immediately struck a chord with me and made me consider the opportunity to stretch my passion for education to this project. I didn't apply immediately but lots of little things kept reminding me of the project, programmes on television, photographs in magazines and books and after talking to Peter and a few friends I decided to take the plunge. My children were pretty blase about it all and now tell me that they weren't concerned as they didn't really think I would get selected!

Do you feel that your PGDE studies have encouraged you to take on this challenge?

It is only students from Warwick who can apply for WIA so I would not have been able to apply f I were not on the course. I have always wanted to be able to volunteer abroad but teaching is a skill all of its own. The support and training that I have had at Warwick have given me a level of confidence in my teaching that helped me to believe that I could get up in front of a class in Africa and teach. Ann and Bally are patient, informative and inspiring. They have taught me a lot about how to be a teacher just by teaching me!

It is this new found confidence and the support that I have received on the PGDE at Warwick that have made it possible for me to believe in myself and to believe in my ability to teach, anywhere.

Your planned trip to Tanzania sounds fantastic. Can you tell us a little more about what you will be doing there?

Whilst in Tanzania I will be teaching English to classes of up to 120. Resources and technology are scant so I think that one of the main skills will be to be imaginative with the teaching. There will be no power point to help me out. Teachers in Tanzania typically teach for just 5 hours a week, this doesn't seem a lot but imagine the marking that they have to do!

As well as the regular teaching my colleagues and I will try to run some extra-curricular activities. Schools in Tanzania are boarding schools so the learners have plenty of time in the evening to do some extra study or perhaps something a little more fun.

We will get some free time and in the past groups have gone on trips to the Mozambique border to see the hippo's in the wild, have been on Safari and gone snorkelling on the coral reef which is in the shallow waters of the coast on which the town stands. So it sounds as if I will be coming home with plenty of memories.

I will be taking lots of photographs and keeping a journal. I already have at least one presentation lined up for when I get back.

Between now and the end of June I will be fundraising. Although my trip is fully funded I have pledged to raise £1000 for the charity to ensure that they can continue with the work they do in the future. This year is certainly going to be a busy year for me.

The CLL team wish Julie the best of luck with her trip and we look forward to hearing all about it!

About Warwick in Africa

Warwick in Africa run a multi-layered programme teaching English and Maths in schools across South Africa, Tanzania and Ghana. They believe that ‘enhancing education in Africa is a direct route to liberation from poverty’. Since it began ten years ago, Warwick in Africa has reached more than 280,000 learners.