Well I’m now into my final week of teaching in South Africa, and I thought it was about time to highlight some of the contrasts between teaching at home and over here. Without going into too much detail, here are a couple of things I have observed:
The school doesn’t have a bell, just a siren that I would liken to an air-raid warning. It goes 7 minutes late every morning, making the first lesson of the day 7 minutes shorter than it should be. Nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care.
The air-raid siren does not signal the start of the day... it’s more of a suggestion that pupils (and often teachers) should probably go to their room to perhaps toy with the idea of teaching and learning. Never expect too much progress in period 1.
The classrooms rarely have glass in the windows, just the frames will do. It is much more accommodating to the howling winter winds. There is no ceiling, just wooden beams holding up the corrugated roof. It is like teaching in an attic.
Staff meetings are not unlike a pow-wow with the Ents (mythical tree-like creatures made famous in Lord of the Rings). Just like the Ents, it takes an eternity for anything to get said, or a decision to be made. Everybody seems to have something to say and takes a very long time to say it. Convoluted you might say.
The chair to bum ratio is not favourable for the learners. Seldom do they get a chair to themselves. I think I’ve seen 4 pupils share the same one. The mechanics of it are beyond my comprehension, though it seemed to work. The same can be said for the old wooden desks. A local Ikea wouldn’t go amiss.
Classrooms double up as bedrooms. There is always at least one pupil asleep. Even with me teaching at my entertaining best, I cannot keep everyone awake. I’m told this is the norm. Some learners only come to school to have something to eat and somewhere to sleep. Having to go to lessons is an inconvenience. Put yourself in their shoes and tell me that is wrong. If it is wrong, it is certainly understandable. When you are surrounded by desperation, it is hard to see a way out.
The school day is a transient concept... in theory it is 07:30 until 14:30... though here are my top 5 reasons why school has closed early:
1. It was too cold. Hmm... I think it was more of a case of “because it is Friday and we want a long weekend”.
2. “We’re having a sports day”.... there was no sports day. It was just a Wednesday.
3. “We’ve run out of water”... Perhaps that one can be excused.
4. “Tomorrow is a public holiday” so we close the day before also?
5. “Time for a staff meeting”... yes, one of those infamous Entish meetings. Why not have it after school? Don’t be ridiculous.
The days are never dull over here, and you never quite know what is going to happen next. All I do know is, it has been worthwhile me coming over here.
The test results from my 4 classes were overall on the positive, though there were a couple of let-downs. The results ranged from 0% to 98%, with the class averages at 24% (hugely disappointing), 44%, 46%, and 51%. Now whilst those scores may seem rather low, it should be noted that a pupil only needs 30% to pass the academic year. In maths, the current whole school average for grade 11 is 18%. So, all of my averages were above that! As all the material I have taught has been completely knew to the learners (data handling has only now become mandatory in the curriculum apparently), I would say it has been quite successful. Indeed, seeing the joy on the faces of those pupils who were over the moon with their test results let me know my summer was not wasted. I even got hugs. I never got hugs in England (it would be deemed a Child Protection Issue), though it was nice to be appreciated. That also rarely happens in England.
Lately I’ve been teaching Trigonometry, and will be testing the classes again this week before I leave. I hope to see more progress made. This topic is harder, so maybe I can’t compare the statistics of the two topics, I’ll measure success in terms of smiles. If the learners are happy with their results, and they feel like they have learned something, then that is all that matters.
Those that want to learn, have every chance to succeed. Those that don’t... sadly won’t. That is the greater issue education in the townships is facing, though this is a struggle that needs longer than 5 weeks to solve.
3 days to go...
Jx
Ps, I stroked a lion this weekend...
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