The search for Gregory
Once a teacher, always a teacher
Kololo Secondary School which is based in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, stirs up fond memories for hundreds of Ugandan Asians who went to study there from the mid 1950s to late 1972, when the Asian community was expelled from that country. The school was recognised as a centre of excellence, as an achieving school and a source of immense pride not only for students who went there but also for their parents. Many former Ugandan Asians who went to Kololo have formed affiliated groups and organised fundraising dinners for the benefit of the school. Groups have organised reunions and meetings in the United Kingdom, USA and Canada.
One subject that invariably comes up at Kololo 'oldboys' or 'oldgirls' networks is teachers. What happened to them? Where did they go? How did they survive? Such was the impact of the Asian exodus that students lost contact with each other and lost contacts with their teachers.
The name of Mr Greg Gregory came up a few weeks ago on various chatlines. A number of former Kololians persevered and someone produced enough information to help me trace him to England. A search engine provided a link and I wrote to him saying, " Are you the Mr Gregory who......". This morning, Mr Gregory's reply was waiting for me and he said, "Yes, I am that teacher" or words to that effect. Mr Gregory is the inventor of the Block system, a system of education and learning that places the responsibility for learning on the student. It encourages the student to develop ideas, plan and carry out research and to complete assignments related to subjects identified by the curriculum. That is my understanding 40 years after working in a block. Further information is available from Mr Grefory's website www.rggregory.com.
Mr Gregory was an innovator by any standards and the challenge that faces people who break from tradition is that they have to defend themselves and their vision. This is even more so when a teacher is seen to take radical action which unsettles the traditionalists in a school. Mr Gregory had no problem dealing with his critics. He won the support of the Head Teacher, the late Mr Raval. It was not until my own children started to work on projects during their secondary school education that I realised how much Mr Gregory had done to offer to me the skills for research and learning, even if they may not be too evident in this blog!
Former Kololo school students will be celebrating the successful 'search for Gregory' and I know many chatlines and meetings will be talking about the old block system. I hope to interview Mr Gregory in the next few weeks. I hope that my description of the Block system, as summarised above, will withstand Mr. Gregory's scrutiny. Once a teacher, always a teacher.
Kololo Secondary School which is based in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, stirs up fond memories for hundreds of Ugandan Asians who went to study there from the mid 1950s to late 1972, when the Asian community was expelled from that country. The school was recognised as a centre of excellence, as an achieving school and a source of immense pride not only for students who went there but also for their parents. Many former Ugandan Asians who went to Kololo have formed affiliated groups and organised fundraising dinners for the benefit of the school. Groups have organised reunions and meetings in the United Kingdom, USA and Canada.
One subject that invariably comes up at Kololo 'oldboys' or 'oldgirls' networks is teachers. What happened to them? Where did they go? How did they survive? Such was the impact of the Asian exodus that students lost contact with each other and lost contacts with their teachers.
The name of Mr Greg Gregory came up a few weeks ago on various chatlines. A number of former Kololians persevered and someone produced enough information to help me trace him to England. A search engine provided a link and I wrote to him saying, " Are you the Mr Gregory who......". This morning, Mr Gregory's reply was waiting for me and he said, "Yes, I am that teacher" or words to that effect. Mr Gregory is the inventor of the Block system, a system of education and learning that places the responsibility for learning on the student. It encourages the student to develop ideas, plan and carry out research and to complete assignments related to subjects identified by the curriculum. That is my understanding 40 years after working in a block. Further information is available from Mr Grefory's website www.rggregory.com.
Mr Gregory was an innovator by any standards and the challenge that faces people who break from tradition is that they have to defend themselves and their vision. This is even more so when a teacher is seen to take radical action which unsettles the traditionalists in a school. Mr Gregory had no problem dealing with his critics. He won the support of the Head Teacher, the late Mr Raval. It was not until my own children started to work on projects during their secondary school education that I realised how much Mr Gregory had done to offer to me the skills for research and learning, even if they may not be too evident in this blog!
Former Kololo school students will be celebrating the successful 'search for Gregory' and I know many chatlines and meetings will be talking about the old block system. I hope to interview Mr Gregory in the next few weeks. I hope that my description of the Block system, as summarised above, will withstand Mr. Gregory's scrutiny. Once a teacher, always a teacher.
posted by K Singh Ajimal at
12:18 am
1 Comments:
Hello,
I have also been taught by Mr. Gregory. Often wondered just like others as to the where abouts of other students and teachers from Kololo School.
Would like to get in touch with other fellow students, namely Jagjit Singh and Jasbir Singh who would heve come out of the o levels in 1968.
By
bharat patel, at 6:07 pm
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