I really hope you can't answer that question, as we all went ahead and had our H1N1 vaccinations this morning. Edie and Freda were picked up from school early for the pleasure. The CDC (Centre for Disease Control) came in their white van with box loads of the vaccine for teachers and students who had ordered it yesterday. Some colleagues refused, but more on the grounds of needle phobia than any concerns about the vaccine. Apparently the flu crisis point is anticipated to be Spring Festival - no surprise given that millions of Chinese take to the transport networks at that time. By then it will be too late to be vaccinated, so we thought we'd play it safe. Why not? Freda's been very run-down lately and we're all prone to coughs and colds at the best of time. What's more, I can't afford any time off work! Some teachers are even concerned about the increased risk early next month as the 1,000+ grade 3 students return from their teaching practice-cum-extended-holiday. They were due back next week but the new campus, where everyone should be moving to in the coming months, isn't complete. Even if they do make it back in 3 weeks, as anticipated, my guess is they'll be living on a muddy building site.

Other news - This morning Lesley had a heart-to-heart with No 1 Primary School's Director of Studies, Mrs Zhou, concerning Freda's increasing unhappiness in her Chinese lessons. More on that tomorrow....

It's busy-busy-busy in the TDC these days as preparations are underway for the second Team Leader-Trainer course. Over the last week I've been revising the trainee workbook (adding an introduction in Chinese, making some activities easier, expanding the glossary and adding Chinese instructions to every task), with Hou Wanxia's help for all the Chinese bits. I'm simultaneously producing a new-and-improved training manual for the course. Many of the changes are a result of my observations and experiences during the first course, as well as the written feedback from the first batch of trainees. There are some skills - like analysing, asking questions, taking notes - that I was taking for granted, already a year  since delivering my last major training course. All the feedback is in an Access database now and I fully intend to make good use of it. I could write a book about their comments alone, they reveal so much about education and culture in China.

I've also revamped the timetable so that Hou Wanxia can observe all the sessions she couldn't observe the last time (because she was teaching), at HER request. I'm also hoping she'll take a few of the sessions so that I can put my feet up......oh, and show VSO (who are visiting for the end of the course) what a great team we make! I feel that since Hou Wanxia's formal post in the TDC has been formalised she is much more relaxed about using the office and we are cooperating better than ever. No need to sculk around and hide our collaboration any more.

This girl is wearing a mask -  all the rage these days while more people locally are becoming infected with the H1N1 virus a.k.a. swine flu. I wonder if she'll be as vigilant when it comes to crossing this Simao street, something that presents a much greater hazard in our daily lives. Yesterday we received a call asking us if we would like the H1N1 vaccination.

After making some inquiries we've decided to go ahead. It seems that side effects, reported as mild, are unusual. It might not protect us from any other type of flu but if ihelps us avoid this one, why not? [If you have any good reasons to avoid this then please let us know!] 

The whole LEAF family joined in the end-of-course meeting, dinner and party. Both Jinggu and Mojiang County presented the PIE trainers  (and Simao Teachers' College) with a banner each, wishing us all a properous and productive future. After making some speeches and presenting the participants with a drinking flask each, we headed out for dinner. It wasn't long before the bai jiu was cracked open and we began several rounds of toasting. I find the first few mouthfuls burn but it's quite pleasant after that, every once in a while. After dinner we headed back to the College guest house for a party, which consisted of some party games (balloon volley ball and musical chairs), karaoke and dancing. We had great fun. Even Freda and Edie did a number and we all let our hair down. Unfortunately for some there were flashing disco lights - those that illuminate everything white. This happened to be Tina's bra (which gave her an amazing glowing effect) and skin whitener that two of the women had applied to their face and arms. Not a good idea!

As the one-week training draws to an end, it's difficult to know whether the trainees feel clearer about their Team Leader-Trainer role of whether we're just getting them more and more confused. Whatever, they happily tied each other in knots this morning during the ice-breaker. This activity involves two people, each with a length of string tied to each wrist. Their string is looped together, and they have to separate - without undoing the wrist loops of course. Although one bright pair managed in under five minutes, the rest had a great laugh going through all sorts of body-bending positions, in vain. My hope is that they remember how much they got from these ice-breaker activities and use them with their own teaching groups on returning to the middle schools. It's a much more beneficial way to start a meeting than the common Chinese method: "Let's begin..."

This Chinese expression is read: qiang da chu tou niao, literally meaning 'gun shoots the sticking-its-head-out bird'. I love this expression, because it helps understand so many of the difficulties I face in my work, and my personal life here. [I find it difficult to separate the two, given how/why we came here.] Hou Wanxia shared these words of wisdom with me when we were discussing the difficulties of doing something new, something different. In our four years of working together she has faced all kinds of discouraging and critical comments from colleagues who question her motives for cooperating with me, for taking part in this work, for trying to do something new. Never mind the fact that the work has been successful, beneficial and of little reward professionally. The fact is, she is sticking her head out from the crowd. She has had the courage, alongside me, to challenge some old ways and do more than required of her by the leaders. I have also been under fire by several people, who don't support what we're trying to do (improve education) and how we're trying to do it (through cooperation), and I've found this difficult over the years: two-facedness, back-stabbing, deliberate efforts to undermine our efforts etc etc.

So this Chinese saying really helps me. I realise how difficult it is for people to be a little bit different, to follow their own way, to express individual beliefs or desires, to separate from the flock, to stand out, to leave the comfort zone. While I don't like being shot at, and I'm sure Hou Wanxia doesn't either, it merely reinforces that we are doing something that challenges the norms and breaks away from what the majority are content to accept. How on earth is educational reform going to come about if everyone stays in the safety of the crowd, perched in a big tree, complaining about the conditions but too afraid to fly?

While pondering this I bumped into one of our Grade 3 art students, King. Knowing I've been busy these days he offered his services to help with the training. I asked if he'd like to present this expression in Chinese, and paint a picture. He was delighted and turned up today with the above art work, which is now on our office wall. Hou Wanxia was horrified that I wanted to display it, seeing it as a negative aspect of Chinese culture. I see it as reality, and understanding this helps me cope with the challenges I face as a result.

This training is a learning experience for everyone, including the trainers. I thought delivering the one-month teaching methods course was hard enough, but this one is tougher. It's intense and challenging, in terms of language and ideas. One of the difficulties is that the trainees aren't used to the participatory approaches being used. Previous trainings they have attended (except for mine) have been very theoretical, delivered through lectures and text books. In our workshops they are required to be active, both physically and mentally.  What's more, we only have a short time to mould them to fit the training ways, and to consolidate some key ideas.

I noticed yesterday that some of the participants were having trouble knowing what they should be doing at various points in the lesson. The steps and activities are clear, but they aren't clear about their own role. For example, when asked to discuss in groups, some write away individually; when asked to check answers and make notes, some chat. when asked to listen and look, some take notes. I came up with a useful strategy - reminder cards - which I display if I think they're wandering away from the task. They proved to be very successful this morning, reminding participants of what to do without confusing them with more English. Now they can't confuse my classroom instructions with the content of the session! The exclamation mark, meaning "key point", was most effective and by the end of the session I was more confident that everyone had heard and noted the key issues in their workbooks. No, the one on the right doesn't mean "kiss" as Edie thought, but "silent activity".

The main aim of this course is to improve the Team Leaders' facilitation and mentoring skills, in order to create a more positive and productive environment for professional development in their schools. In the mornings we have workshops to explore training skills and approaches. In the afternoons they have to practise - do it for themselves. They each have a practical session that they have to organise and facilitate themselves, in pairs. In this picture I am facilitating 3 TLTs organising a 'trouble-shooting' session for the rest of the teachers. It was a brave attempt that went fairly well and gave us lots of food for thought. An interesting issue came up in the feedback discussion - just what is the role of the Team Leader-Trainer. The traditional approach in China is to manage, direct, and tell! Tell teachers what to do, how to do it, how to improve, what to aim for etc. The job of a leader is to lead. We are offering them some alternative ways - to encourage teachers to discuss, to ask questions, to problem-solve together, to exchange ideas. As one participant said, "This way is very new to us. We have never done this before." I am learning that there are many things I do quite 'naturally', I thought, that it's easy to take for granted -discussing, questionning, sharing - that don't come easily to everyone. For some of the TLTs, being put in this new 'facilitator' role is torture. These approaches and skills aren't 'natural' but are learned, and represent a very different approach to learning, to working, to training.

I arrived at the TDC just after 7:30 this morning to begin setting up the course registration - signs, notice board, training packs etc. By lunch time participants had already started arriving from Mojiang. For a bargain 10 RMB the Team Leaders (soon-to-be-trainers) get a teaching methods workbook and answer key, a training workbook, a 'learning log' and a few other bits and pieces. Xie Yan, an English teacher in the College, volunteered her services and spent a few hours helping me laminate, chop and sort activities for my first training session tomorrow. It's a full timetable for seven days so bang goes our weekends for a while!

It was lovely to see some familiar faces arrive at the TDC, some of whom I haven't seen for 2 years. The feedback from some of the teachers was great - that since the last training they have been doing really well in their teaching - happy students with better exam results - and they put it down to the 'new methods'. If they have had such positive experiences themselves it will be easier for them to perform their Team Leader-Trainer duties - nothing is more persuasive than a role model who is achieving good results. I have warned them that the onus is on them now to guide and support other teachers and they will have to be active and motivated for the next seven days. I can already anticipate a few difficulties (participants refusing to follow basic instructions e.g. "Please copy the classroom details on to your timetable") but forewarned is forearmed. They don't know what's going to hit them tomorrow.

Sometimes it feels like I'm chasing my tail, round and round and round. Thirty-three teachers arrive tomorrow for a Team Leader-Trainer training course. I've just finished writing the workbooks, manuals and training materials. The admin and logistics are just about complete. There are many things I set in motion last month, however, that still haven't been done - hence today's title. I'm chasing my own tail and a few others. The good news is that it looks like things will be ready in time. Some of the participants have even arrived early. I know most of the team leaders who are coming. Some of them have attended the one-month PIE training course, and others I have met during my follow-up visits. I haven't seen the Jinggu teachers for two year though. I don't think any of us thought I'd still be here. Right, it's nearly 7pm and time to eat. The rest of the chopping, laminating and copying can be done tomorrow before the course registration at 3pm. I might be completely knackered but it's very satisfying to put together a new training course from scratch. This is one of the reasons I stayed on. Let's hope it's worthwhile, for everyone involved.