First Day at Emafini Primary School

This morning, we drove 30 minutes from Hobie Beach to a township where Emafini Primary School is located. The school has 1200 students (learners) from grades 1-7. Learners in grades 1-3 are taught in their mother tongue, which is Xhosa. Starting in the 4th grade, the language of instruction switches to English. The system is similar to a year round model and the students had just returned from a three week break. Like any school, they told us that this would be an adjusting time as everyone gets back into the school mindset as they started the third term. The school year officially begins in January and runs until November (which would be similar to our summer vacations since the seasons as opposite here).

I was assigned to observe a 7th grade social sciences class. When I joined the class, I was introduced to the teacher, said hello to the students, and then was asked to sit in the back of the room to observe. The teacher was in the process of writing information on the chalkboard about entrepreneurs and the students were diligently copying. The classroom was small, by American standards, and had 42 students in the room. Despite the large class size, I was surprised to see that all students were on task. When the teacher left the room, there were classroom monitors who would "sush" the class to keep everyone quiet and on task. I know this would never happen in my classroom.

Sufficient and suitable learning materials is listed as one of three fundamental requirements to develop effective teaching and learning in schools in South Africa (Bush, Joubert, Kiggundu, & Rooyen, 2010). However, based on my impressions from my first day, there does not seem to be enough resources for the teacher. There is no computer in my classroom so the teacher must make up lessons entirely on her own or from the few teacher resource books that she has. Copies are limited so the students must copy important information down in their notebooks. I am interested in knowing if this lack of materials occurs in other schools around South Africa. For some reason, I doubt that the wealthier schools lack materials. Bush et al. (2010) also discuss the need for strong administrators and leaders in the school who ensure that teachers are teaching lessons. This is something that we valuable tremendously in American schools, but in conversations with the principal today, we learned he is not allowed to stop into a teacher's classroom unless the teacher gives him permission. How is there going to be an improvement in teaching and learning if the teachers are not held accountable? This is an interesting part of their education culture that I want to learn more about.

In talking later with the per students from UNCW, I am the only one who did not actually teach on the first day. I also did not have a real conversation with my teacher about what I would be teaching in the upcoming days. She gave me a copy of the textbook and told me that tomorrow, we will be teaching the next lesson, which is I am interpreting that correctly will be about infant mortality rates and population changes. I would really like to teach the students about America and where I a from because they all seem very curious, but I do not know how much I should stray from the curriculum. Needless to say, it is currently 12:10 am (way past my bedtime) and I just finished scrapping together a lesson with the limited understanding of the content. If nothing else, I will smile and wing it. :)

On a different note, leaving the Hobie Beach area made the disparities in South Africa visible. We drove past a couple of shanty towns in which the living conditions are unimaginable and worse than anything that I have ever seen. The principal told us that about 50% of the school's students live in that type of neighborhood. He said that they don't really assign homework because the students do not have electricity or running water in their homes and it would be unrealistic for them to complete work at home. The students are required to wear uniforms which have to be purchased by the students. The sweaters that they wear are R120 which is about $12 in American money. Many students in my class wore torn sweaters that looked close to falling apart. For lunch, the school served sour milk, which is a traditional Xhosa meal. Despite the apparent poverty  compared to America, everyone seemed genuinely happy and hopeful. I hope to learn more about their outlook on life and education.

I got adventurous at dinner tonight! We went to a Greek restaurant called El Greco and there was springbok on menu (antelope-ish animal that I recognized only because it is their rugby team's mascot). When it came out it was raw. I was initially worried and I could hear my doctors warnings in the back of my mind because I was told to be careful about what I eat. I ate all of it anyways. It reminded me of prosciutto so I thought it was delicious. I guess I will see if I have any reactions by tomorrow morning. I just felt like eating springbok would only be possible in South Africa and I have always adopted a "when in Rome" idea when traveling.

References

Bush, T., Joubert, R., Kiggundu, E., and van Rooyen, J. (2010). Managing teaching and learning

in South African schools. International journal of educational development. 30. 162-168