Return to my home country, Benin

More than three weeks that I left Kent to return back to my home country Benin to perform the data collection of my dissertation. After being away for more than a year, it was hard for me to adjust quickly. Indeed, it was snowing hard on Kent when I left on January 22, 2008 in the morning. I landed in Cotonou, Benin the next day at 1:50 PM (local time) in a hot and humid climate. The temperature was around 40oC. Because of that heat and the ambient pollution, I have been sick for a week. I know this is strange. Being a native of Benin which is located in West Africa, with a tropical climate, I can hardly stand the heat. Sometimes, I wish I could wear a short and T-shirt; but this is not our common clothing, especially grown people’s outfit. Now that I am recovered and that I started my research, I could send a few words every now and then related to my research and talked about some issues concerning my home country. Quickly, let me explain why I chose “Squirrel in Benin.” First, squirrel is an animal found everywhere in the south and the center of the country. Also, our national teams’ name is “Squirrels;” and second, the first things that I noticed when I arrived at Kent State University in 2001 are the squirrels especially the black ones. Therefore, because of this common animal that Kent State University and Benin cherished, I took the nickname “Squirrel in Benin.”


Now, allow me to talk about my background. I was a certified high school physical science teacher. After teaching for about 12 years, I had the opportunity in 2001 to go the United States to complete my Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction (Science Education). I returned back to Benin in 2004 where I worked with secondary school inspectors before returning to the US in 2005 to start the Ph.D program in Curriculum. My research has a double purpose: a practical purpose and a research purpose. The practical purpose is to design a technology education professional development for secondary school teachers in Benin. Through this, teachers will learn technology education content knowledge and the pedagogical content knowledge. The research purpose will consist of testing the participating teachers’ self efficacy and their technology education awareness. Presently, I am contacting the educational authorities of my country in order apply for internship in our National Institute for Research and Training in Education called INFRE and to get permission to work with the targeted teachers. The training will probably start in a few weeks.

See you in a few days.