How Simple is Life?

  Lessons from “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”

You’ve probably never heard of William Kamkwamba, but his life story is one you should know. William dropped out of school in rural Malawi when he was 14 because his family couldn’t afford to pay his fees. He then sat at home for 6 years.

One day, he found a book in the local library describing how a windmill generates electricity. Using only the pictures in the book, William figured out how to build his own windmill using scrap metal, pipes, wooden planks and an old bicycle dynamo he found in the village. People thought he had lost his mind--what on earth was he doing collecting all those scraps ?

But guess what, he managed to generate electricity from his windmill! Before you knew it, everyone in the village was coming to his house to charge their cellphones and radios, and he became the hero who transformed the lives of his fellow villagers.

Inspired by his story, we admitted WIlliam into the first ever class of African Leadership Academy 10 years ago. He could hardly speak English and was several years behind his classmates, even though he was much older. Our team at ALA helped him catch up and gain admission to an Ivy League university in the USA (Dartmouth). He’s since gone on to become a global phenomenon. He published a book (“The Boy who Harnessed the Wind”) which became an Amazon bestseller, gave a Ted Talk, and has appeared on The Daily Show, CNN and Good Morning America. He’s transformed his entire village by building a school that has over 400 students, and has brought clean drinking water and electricity to several hundred people in the village.

William  has taught me 3 key lessons  I always come back to :

1.__Use what you have until you get what you need
William is today seen as an engineering genius, but he didn’t always have what he needed to make the things he wanted to make. He didn’t have a fancy laboratory or even electricity. But he used what he had around him- scrap metal, to achieve his goal. If you want to be a photographer but can’t yet afford a camera, maybe start by taking photos with your phone. The most important thing is not the materials or equipment you have, but to practice your craft and hone your skills. The fancy labs, equipment, laptops, cameras etc will come later. 

2.__Take criticism to your head and not to your heart
Some people in William’s village  looked at him collecting scraps and thought he had gone crazy. If you have big dreams, many people will criticize you and be skeptical about whether your ideas will succeed. That’s ok---remember that if you’re doing something people have not seen before, they may not understand your vision or see what you see. Listen to criticism if it’s constructive, but avoid being discouraged by pure negativity. People will come around when they start to see the results of your work. 

3.__Innovation is right where you are if you pay attention
Look around you and observe your environment very carefully. What problems do you see? What can be improved? Many times, the things that improve our lives (what many people call innovations)  come from making simple observations and designing a solution that addresses the challenges you see. So don’t wait for others to solve the problems in your society. Use your creativity to think of solutions. You never know what exciting innovations lie in your head until you try.

What problems do you see around you? What simple things that you may take for granted can you can use to build a solution? What’s your version of William’s windmill and how will you build it?

Nyanja za ujifunzaji na mifano yake. (Robert Gagne)

This theory stipulates that there are several different types or levels of learning. The significance of these classifications is that each different type requires different types of instruction. Gagne identifies five major categories of learning: verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills and attitudes. Different internal and external conditions are necessary for each type of learning. For example, for cognitive strategies to be learned, there must be a chance to practice developing new solutions to problems; to learn attitudes, the learner must be exposed to a credible role model or persuasive arguments.

Gagne suggests that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy according to complexity: stimulus recognition, response generation, procedure following, use of terminology, discriminations, concept formation, rule application, and problem solving. The primary significance of the hierarchy is to identify prerequisites that should be completed to facilitate learning at each level. Prerequisites are identified by doing a task analysis of a learning/training task. Learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction.

In addition, the theory outlines nine instructional events and corresponding cognitive processes:

1.Gaining attention (reception)
2.Informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
3.Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
4.Presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
5.Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
6.Eliciting performance (responding)
7.Providing feedback (reinforcement)
8.Assessing performance (retrieval)
9.Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization).

These events should satisfy or provide the necessary conditions for learning and serve as the basis for designing instruction and selecting appropriate media (Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1992).

Application

While Gagne's theoretical framework covers all aspects of learning, the focus of the theory is on intellectual skills. The theory has been applied to the design of instruction in all domains (Gagner & Driscoll, 1988). In its original formulation (Gagne, 1 962), special attention was given to military training settings. Gagne (1987) addresses the role of instructional technology in learning.

Example

The following example illustrates a teaching sequence corresponding to the nine instructional events for the objective, Recognize an equilateral triangle:

1. Gain attention - show variety of computer generated triangles
2. Identify objective - pose question: "What is an equilateral triangle?"
3. Recall prior learning - review definitions of triangles
4. Present stimulus - give definition of equilateral triangle
5. Guide learning- show example of how to create equilateral
6. Elicit per formance - ask students to create 5 different examples
7. Provide feedback - check all examples as correct/incorrect
8. Assess performance- provide scores and remediation
9. Enhance retention/transfer - show pictures of objects and ask students to identify equilaterals

Gagne (1985, chapter 12) provides examples of events for each category of learning outcomes.

Principles

Different instruction is required for different learning outcomes.
Events of learning operate on the learner in ways that constitute the conditions of learning.
The specific operations that constitute instructional events are different for each different type of learning outcome.
Learning hierarchies define what intellectual skills are to be learned and a sequence of instruction.
References

Gagne, R. (1962). Military training and principles of learning. American Psychologist, 17, 263-276.

Gagne, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning (4th.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Gagne, R. (1987). Instructional Technology Foundations. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.

Gagne, R. & Driscoll, M. (1988). Essentials of Learning for Instruction (2nd Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Gagne, R., Briggs, L. & Wager, W. (1992). Principles of Instructional Design (4th Ed.). Fort Worth, TX: HBJ College Publishers.
Asante karibu Tena

YAJUE MAISHA YA MWANASAIKOLOJIA JEAN PIAGET @AY De Balemba

GEAN PEAGET

Jean Piaget (French: [ʒɑ̃ pjaʒɛ]; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology".



Born    9 August 1896
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died    16 September 1980 (aged 84)
Geneva, Switzerland
Fields    Developmental psychology, epistemology
Alma mater    University of Neuchâtel
Known for    Constructivism, genetic epistemology, theory of cognitive development, object permanence, egocentrism
Influences    Immanuel Kant, Henri Bergson,[1] Pierre Janet, Alfred Binet, Théodore Simon, James Mark Baldwin[2]
Influenced    Bärbel Inhelder,[3] Jerome Bruner,[4] Kenneth Kaye,[citation needed] Lawrence Kohlberg,[5] Robert Kegan,[6] Howard Gardner,[7] Thomas Kuhn,[8] Seymour Papert,[9] Lev Vygotsky[10][11]
Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual."[12] Piaget's theory and research influenced several people. His theory of child development is studied in pre-service education programs. Educators continue to incorporate constructionist-based strategies.

Piaget created the International Center for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 while on the faculty of the University of Geneva and directed the Center until his death in 1980.[13] The number of collaborations that its founding made possible, and their impact, ultimately led to the Center being referred to in the scholarly literature as "Piaget's factory".[14]

According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget was "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing."[15] However, his ideas did not become widely popularized until the 1960s.[16] This then led to the emergence of the study of development as a major sub-discipline in psychology.[17] By the end of the 20th century, Piaget was second only to B. F. Skinner as the most cited psychologist of that era.[18]

Personal life   

Piaget was born in 1896 in Neuchâtel, in the Francophone region of Switzerland. He was the oldest son of Arthur Piaget (Swiss), a professor of medieval literature at the University of Neuchâtel, and Rebecca Jackson (French). Piaget was a precocious child who developed an interest in biology and the natural world. His early interest in zoology earned him a reputation among those in the field after he had published several articles on mollusks by the age of 15.[19]

He was educated at the University of Neuchâtel, and studied briefly at the University of Zürich. During this time, he published two philosophical papers that showed the direction of his thinking at the time, but which he later dismissed as adolescent thought.[20] His interest in psychoanalysis, at the time a burgeoning strain of psychology, can also be dated to this period. Piaget moved from Switzerland to Paris, France after his graduation and he taught at the Grange-Aux-Belles Street School for Boys. The school was run by Alfred Binet, the developer of the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales, and Piaget assisted in the marking of Binet's intelligence tests. It was while he was helping to mark some of these tests that Piaget noticed that young children consistently gave wrong answers to certain questions. Piaget did not focus so much on the fact of the children's answers being wrong, but that young children consistently made types of mistakes that older children and adults did not. This led him to the theory that young children's cognitive processes are inherently different from those of adults. Ultimately, he was to propose a global theory of cognitive developmental stages in which individuals exhibit certain common patterns of cognition in each period of development. In 1921, Piaget returned to Switzerland as director of the Rousseau Institute in Geneva. At this time, the institute was directed by Édouard Claparède. Piaget was familiar with many of Claparède's ideas including that of the psychological concept 'groping' which was closely associated with "trials and errors" observed in human mental patterns.[21]

In 1923, he married Valentine Châtenay; the couple had three children, whom Piaget studied from infancy. From 1925 to 1929 Piaget was professor of psychology, sociology, and the philosophy of science at the University of Neuchatel.[22] In 1929, Jean Piaget accepted the post of Director of the International Bureau of Education and remained the head of this international organization until 1968. Every year, he drafted his "Director's Speeches" for the IBE Council and for the International Conference on Public Education in which he explicitly addressed his educational creduo.

Having taught at the University of Geneva and at the University of Paris, in 1964, Piaget was invited to serve as chief consultant at two conferences at Cornell University (March 11–13) and University of California, Berkeley (March 16–18). The conferences addressed the relationship of cognitive studies and curriculum development and strived to conceive implications of recent investigations of children's cognitive development for curricula.[23]

In 1979 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for Social and Political Sciences.

He was buried with his family in an unmarked grave in the Cimetière des Rois (Cemetery of Kings) in Geneva. This was as per his request
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LITAMBUE SIKIO LAKO NA JINSI YA KUTIBU MATATIZO YA SIKIO @AY, Abas

Sikio  limegawika katika sehemu tatu kuu. Sehemu ya nje ya sikio, sehemu ya kati ya sikio na sehemu ya ndani ya sikio.

Kuna aina mbili ya matatizo ya masikio nayo ni:
i. Otitis media : ambayo hutokea katika sehemu ya kati ya sikio na mara nyingi huwatokea watoto wachanga na watoto wadogo.
ii. Otitis externa: ambayo hutokea katika sehemu ya ndani ya sikio na mara nyingi huwatokea waogeleaji, na hutokea zaidi wakati wa baridi.
Ishara za Matatizo ya masikio kwa Otitis media:
i. Kuumwa na kuchomwa kwa sikio
ii. Kutokwa na uchafu ndani ya sikio
iii. Kutosikia kwa ghafla
iv. Homa
Sababu za Otitis media:
Sababu kubwa ya maradhi hayo ni kuziba kwa bomba la sikio(Eustachiantube), kutokana na baridi, allergy pamoja na kuingia takataka. Hii inababisha maji maji ya sikio kujaa maji hayo nayo husababisha uvimbaji wa (ear drum) sikio.
Sababu za Otitis externa:
Hii husababishwa na baketeria au fungi, maji maji yanayoingia ndani ya sikio ndio sababu kuu ya kufanya bakteria na fungi kuzaana pia Skin allegies husababisha maradhi hayo.
Na sababu nyengine ni ulaji mbovu wa chakula pamoja na upungufu wa usafi wa mwili .

DAWA ZA KUJITIBU MARADHI YA MASIKIO:
i. Nyunyiza juisi ya Kitunguu saumu katika sikio linalouma
ii.v Nenda Hospitali ukapigwe bomba ili maji na uchafu upate kutoka
iii. Pasha moto mafuta ya Zaituni (Olive oil) na yasubiri yapowe na ujitie drops mbili hadi 3
iv. Na usafishe masikio yako kila baada ya kutoka kukoga.

KUTOKWA NA USAHA SIKIONI:
Ikiwa utaweka kitu kama ujiti wa kiberiti au mfano wake sikioni, unaweza kusababisha jeraha kwenye sikio na damu kuanza kutoka. Baadae usaha unaweza kutungwa sehemu ya jeraha na kutoka kidogokidogo. Lakini pia mashambulizi ya bacteria sikioni yanaweza kusababisha kutokwa na usaha.
TIBA ZA MAUMIVU YA MASIKIO NA KUTOKWA NA USAHA:
Kanuni ya kwanza:
Chukua maji masafi ujazo wa kijiko kimoja cha chai halafu uchukue chumvi kidogo kiasi cha vidole viwili uchanganye ndani ya maji hayo kisha hayo maji uchanganye na asali kijiko kimoja kidogo cha chai. Weka tone moja ya dawa hii ndani ya sikio lenye kuuma au kutokwa na usaha kutwa mara tatu.
Kanuni ya pili:
Dondoshea tone moja ya mafuta ya kitunguu saumu ndani ya sikio ambalo linauma au kutokwa na usaha kutwa mara tatu..
Kanuni ya tatu:
Chukua mafuta ya habat soda na ufanye kama kanuni ya pili.
Kanuni ya nne:
Ikiwa maradhi ya sikio ni kwa ajili ya bacteria, kunywa antibayotiki asilia kama vile juisi ya Aloe vera, kitunguu saumu,
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@AY, Abas Yusuph: De BALEMBA

HATUA ZA MAKUZI YA MTOTO. @AY, Abas

Hivi umeshawahi kujiuliza hata siku moja, kwa nini watu wengine ni walevi? Wengine waongeaji sana? Wengine wakimya sana? Wengine waongo sana? Wengine wana tamaa ya ngono kupita kiasi na kadhalika? Lakini pengine una maswali mengi ya namna hii ambayo yanaonyesha jinsi wanadamu wanavyotofautiana.
Kuna hatua 5 muhimu ambazo mtoto lazima afanye mambo ambayo yanastahili kufanyika katika hatua husika. Na iwapo hayatafanyika, hali hizo huhifadhiwa katika mawazo yake ya kina na hivyo kumsababishia matatizo makubwa ukubwani.
Hatua hizo ni kama ifuatavyo:-
 1.Hatua ya kwanza – oral stage: Hatua hii huwahusu watoto wa kuanzia siku moja mpaka miaka miwili. Katika hatua hii ya kwanza, furaha na raha ya mtoto huwa imejificha mdomoni. Utakuta mtoto kila wakati anafurahia kunyonya maziwa ya mama yake, vidole au midoli. Mtoto anatakiwa atumie mdomo wake mpaka ile hamu yake yote iishe. Kama ni kunyonya basi aendelee kufanya hivyo mpaka pale utakapofika wakati mzuri wa kumwachisha ziwa. Kumnyanyasa mtoto wakati ananyonya au kumfanyia vitendo ambavyo si vya kiungwana ikiwa ni pamoja na kumwachisha ziwa mapema, husababisha hamu yake ya kuutumia mdomo ibaki na hivyo kuhifadhiwa kwenye mawazo yake ya kina. Anapokuwa mtu mkubwa hulipa kisasi bila kujua kwa kuutumia mdomo kwa kadri anavyoweza. Hivyo anapokuwa mtu mkubwa anaweza akawa muongo sana, mlevi kupindukia, mvuta sigara sana, muongeaji sana, au mmbeya sana. Kama kuna watu unawafahamu wenye tabia hizi, jaribu kupeleleza kama walinyonyeshwa bila kunyanyaswa au kama hamu yao ya kunyonya iliisha.

2.Hatua ya pili – anal stage: Hatua hii humhusu mtoto wa miaka miwili au mitatu. Matumizi ya mdomo huwa yamekwisha na raha huhamia sehemu za haja. Katika hatua hii, mtoto hupendelea zaidi kutumia sehemu zake za haja kwa kukojoa au kwenda haja kubwa mara kwa mara. Katika kipindi hiki wazazi wengi hufanya makosa. Mzazi anashauriwa kuwa makini kwa kutoa mafunzo mazuri kwa mtoto wake, kumfundisha jinsi ya kujisaidia au jinsi ya kutumia choo. Kinyume na hivyo ni kumfanya mtoto awe na tabia ya kujifanyisha na hivyo kuwa na hali mbaya ukubwani. Mtoto aliyenyimwa huduma hii akiwa katika hatua hiyo hubakiwa na deni, anapokuwa mkubwa anaweza kupata matatizo ya kiakili. Watoto waliokosa huduma hiyo wanapokuwa wakubwa, mara nyingi huwa mashoga, na wengine huwa waoga kufanya mapenzi, lakini mbaya zaidi ni kukosa kabisa hamu ya mapenzi, wengine huwa wazembe na huwa na tabia fulani fulani ambazo zinahitaji msaada mkubwa wa wengine.

3.Hatua ya tatu – phallic stage: Hatua hii huwahusu watoto wenye umri wa miaka minne. Ni katika hatua hii ambapo mtoto huanza kutambua jinsia yake na hivyo kuwa karibu na mama yake au baba yake. Mtoto wa kiume hupenda kulala na mama yake na mtoto wa kike pia huwa hivyo hivyo hupenda kulala na baba yake (interest of opposite sex). Mtoto wa kiume humchukia baba yake bila kujua na kumuonea wivu mama yake na kuona kama anamfaidi baba yake jambo ambalo hulitaka liwe kwake, pia mtoto wa kike humchukia baba yake na kumuonea wivu baba yake na kuona kama anamfaidi mama yake jambo ambalo hulitaka liwe kwake. Watoto waliokosa kuwa karibu na wazazi wao wa jinsia tofauti katika hatua hii, wengi hupata matatizo, lakini hulipiza kisasi kwa sababu hawakuwa karibu na jinsia tofauti wanapohitaji kufanya hivyo. Usishangae kumkuta binti akiwa kwenye kundi la wavulana au mvulana akiwa kwenye kundi la wasichana.

4.Hatua ya nne – latency stage: Hatua hii huwahusu watoto wa miaka sita, minane na wakati mwigine mpaka miaka 12, ambapo mtoto macho yake yote huwa katika michezo ya kawaida na kwenda shule. Hakuna kitu cha ajabu kinachotokea katika hatua hii kati ya jinsia ya kike na ya kiume.

5.Hatua ya tano - genital stage: Hatua hii huwahusu watoto wa kuanzia miaka 13. katika kipindi hiki vijana wengi huanza kubalehe na kuvunja ungo. Katika hatua hii ndipo mtu hukabiliwa na vitu vingi katika maisha yake yote. Huanza kujishuhulisha na kutafuta maisha yake mwenyewe na ndipo hatua nyingine zote huanza kujirudia tena kama hazikufanywa vizuri katika umri huo. Raha ya mwanadamu yoyote katika kipindi hiki huwa ni mapenzi, lakini hutofautiana kiwango cha kupenda au kutamani kutokana na jinsi alivyolelewa katika hatua nne za mwanzo. Nakuomba sana kila unapokutana na watu waongo, wambeya, wakimya, wapenda ngono kupita kiasi n.k. waulize maisha yao ya utZAIDI. @AY, De Bakemba
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