Brenda Opule
Proprietor and teacher – Shiloh International Home School
I discovered my love of working with children while working at Scripture Union Uganda during my undergraduate degree in Social Sciences. I knew I wanted a career where I could help shape children’s futures. However, at the age of 17, I had been told that teaching was a poor career, it was very difficult and not an admired profession. I am grateful that I overcame that negative mindset and answered my call to become a great teacher.
After my undergraduate degree in Social Sciences, I went on to earn my Masters degree in International Business. Once I completed my masters, I secured my first teaching position at Vine International Christian Academy. It was there that I found my passion for working with students in an academic setting and became a Supervisor of the curriculum. While teaching at Vine International Christian Academy for four years, I found that pressure-free learning and allowing students to move at a pace they were comfortable with was the best way to teach. I appreciated smaller class sizes and more opportunity for 1 on 1 learning. I wanted to learn more about this new way of teaching, and decided to go searching for alternatives that moved away from standardized education.
That is when I found the Madrasa Early Childhood Programme and I felt called to attend and learn more about their approach to education. I passed by the Madrasa building regularly and something drew me to Madrasa and intrigued me to learn more about it. After discussing this opportunity with my husband, we decided that I should pursue another 2 years of education in order to accomplish my dreams. The support I received from the Madrasa Programme to explore my own views of education were unparalleled. It was during my time as a student at MECDI that I felt empowered to be creative. I learned about the benefits of play based learning and how to create my own instructional materials using common items. At Madrasa, my creativity and different views on education were encouraged and supported by the open-minded teachers. Madrasa provided the training on how to make my passions a reality. I desired to create a homeschool that my own children could attend and a space where students could grow, learn and remain children.
After completing my studies at the Madrasa program, I established Shiloh International Homeschool, which I operate and teach out of my own home. At Shiloh International Homeschool, students are immersed in learning and encouraged to explore and be creative. While at Madrasa , I learnt how to scheme the pressure was good for me because I can make my own manual that incorporate a variety of learning styles. This has enabled me to to ensure that every learner has an individualized plan, because each child is unique and should be celebrated. We never hit or shame, instead, we guide students to grow and learn at a pace which allows them to be successful. The philosophies that guide the education at Shiloh International Homeschool were cultivated during my time at Madrasa.
I believe that education should be child-centered and that is why we have seven different teachers who rotate in each week to work with our seven students. Some of those teachers are parents and each week they come in to teach students new skills and work on projects, from gardening, playing chess, swimming, to fixing cars and bicycles. The importance of parental involvement is another valuable lesson I gained while training at Madrasa.
The resources I have within my school are created by myself and my students. Initially, I didn’t know I would make so many materials. Material development was my Ah Ha moment. I always knew that as a teacher, you just rattle on, I did not know that a teacher can be creative. Madrasa taught and showed me how to be creative in my job. It legalized creativity in education for me. By creating materials together with my students, I am teaching them essential lessons such as letter sounds, letter shapes, reading and speaking. This has shown me that it is not how much you teach a child but how you teach them that makes the difference.
I am grateful for MECDI for providing me with the knowledge and skills to raise the next generation of students to have confidence and to not fear standing out.