A little clarity

Today I had a very interesting conversation with a few of my teachers. I finally got into the classrooms today at my permanent school to observe some of the grade 4, 5, and 6 teachers. After spending some quality time in the staff room over these past few weeks it was nice to have a change of scenery, even if it was just into a dirty classroom. I sat through four difference classes, with four different teachers, and it took each one less than ten minutes before they made a comment about how lazy or naughty the learners here are. From my observation the learners weren’t acting any different than students in the US do, but there was a pretty obvious different in knowledge and skill compared to US students in the same grades. Learners in the back would chat occasionally, but other than that there were no outrageous behavior problems, but if you talked to the teachers you would think that they were running wild like Lord of the Flies.

The differences became obvious when the teacher started asking questions, or asked the learners to read aloud. The majority of the grade 5 English class could hardly read, and learners in the grade 6 math class were still using their fingers to count out 3 x 4. When teachers asked comprehension questions about a short story that was just read in the grade 4 English class, it was pretty obvious the learners had no idea what they were even being asked let alone what the answer was. All of these problems the teachers contribute to the laziness of the students, and that they aren’t serious about school. This bothered me, but as the newcomer, and with my lack of teaching experience I didn’t feel that I was in a place to argue.

Later, in the staff room, a few of the teachers, who either weren’t going to their classes or who had a break period, asked me how teachers in the US get learners to not be lazy and to be respectful. I tried to think back to my many years in school and think about what teachers did to contain a class. Besides a few class clowns and those few students that didn’t want to do their homework no matter what, I don’t remember ever having really bad behavior problems in classes. When I told them that they asked how we did it. Without really thinking about it I told them that’s how we were raised. They of course all looked at me like they were confused, which gave me a moment to really think about it before I tried to explain. I told them that from a pretty young age we are told what is right and wrong, and we hear the word no pretty often. Our parents teach us to respect ourselves and each other and that when we screw up they are the ones we have to answer to. I tried to explain that we reward good behavior and that with bad behavior you lost your privileges. It was how we were raised from the get go, and it’s how our schools function as well. As I explained I realized that for me, it always came back to things my parents taught me.

As I walked home I started to compare the differences that I am seeing here in South Africa to my experience growing up in the US. From the day that I arrived here I have been told about how this country is family focused and that the US is focused on the individual, but I no longer agree with that fully. Today made me realize that while South Africa puts more importance on the family than we do in the US, we put way more importance in children, and I think that is where the biggest differences arise. In the US a family revolves around the child, but here it revolves around the elders. In the rural areas children are given very little respect, but more responsibility than they can handle. While our parents are teaching us to read parents here are teaching their kids how to wash and clean. For many of use, our parents are extremely involved in our lives and our education, but I don’t see that at all here. I did well through school because my parents supported and encouraged me. They were the ones who taught me to read and write, how to ride a bike, how to swim, and told me over and over again that I can do anything I set my mind too. Children here don’t get any of that, and I think it really shows when it comes to their education. My education started at home, and throughout the years it was supported at home. If I didn’t have that who knows where I would have started or ended up. In my village children don’t start to learn to read until they start school. It’s probably the first time most of them have even opened a book. From there they don’t begin learning English until grade 4, where they are magically expected to be able to read perfectly in a second language they just started. If my high school Spanish teacher had given me a book in Spanish after two months of class and asked me to summarize it I would have laughed and thought she was crazy. No wonder kids are struggling. But if the teachers and the parents have no expectations for their students or they expect them to fail, then why should the student care anyways?

It makes me very grateful to have parents that pushed and encouraged me. It’s amazing what you can do when someone else believes in you and is there to support you through life.