Last Day at Emafini

Today was our last day working at Emafini Primary School. Our visit has been so short but so meaningful at the same time. We led a professional development session to show the teachers how to use thinking maps, which they seemed excited about implementing. 

I taught a final lesson in my grade 7 class in which I asked the students what I should teach my high school students about South Africa  when I return to school. Many students told me to teach about apartheid and the greatness of Nelson Mandela. My favorite response to my question was : "Teach about how we welcomed you at Emafini  primary school in grade 7. We are the people that love other people living in other countries like your country. Thank you for coming to this school and we love you all." That pretty much sums up my visit.

Girls reading the books from my Honors World History class:

The teacher who allowed me into her classroom:

This is the grade 7B class (so one of four grade 7 classes)

"Selfie" time (yes this was popular among girls here also)

We have made a wonderful connection at this school. Even though I was only there for a week, this experience will share my life forever. One of my classmates is the technology director for his county and he was able to set up Skype in the principal's office, so I am hoping to connect one of my classes with the school this upcoming school year. I am looking forward to what this global connection will do for myself and my future learners! 

Visiting "Ex-Model C" Schools

During apartheid, white students attended schools that were called Model C schools. Today, 20 years after the end of racial segregation by law, these same schools are now known to many as "ex Model C" schools but it seems that not much else has changed. All government run (public) schools receive the same amount of funding per student; however, some schools charge fees. Emafini, the primary school with all Xhosa students is a "no fee" school, so the parents do not have to pay any money for their students to attend (except of uniforms and supplies), whereas the "ex Model C" schools charge

R20 000 - R34 000 ($2,000- $3,400) a year for students to attend. While the nation is no longer legally segregated by race, they are still very much segregated by socioeconomic status, which is along racial lines. 

We attended Grey Junior School today which felt like I stepped into Hogwarts from Harry Potter, except that it was an all boys school. All school students wear uniforms but at Grey they wore blazers and everyone's uniform was clean and new-looking. The school facility was old but still in wonderful condition, every teacher had a computer in their classroom and most had interactive white boards, there were about 30 students in each class as opposed to 50+, and all students were required to participate in sports including: cricket, rugby, football(soccer) and hockey (field). The resources that the students had available were vastly different than Emafini. 100% of the students at Grey pass the matriculation exam, which is taken in grade 12 to determine whether the student can go on to college or not. In comparison,  the high school that Emafini feeds into, Lungisa, has a 59% passing rate. Students who do not pass the exam can pay, if they have the means, to take it again, but they mst pass the test to be eligible to go to college. At Grey, we went into a grade 7 English class with 30 boys and only 3 of them were black, which is drastic increase in diversity since 2008. While black students are now admitted into Ex-Model C schools, they are typically at a disadvantage because they are not being instructed in their home language (Vandeyar, 2007). Despite learning English as their 2nd or even 3rd language, these students are judged on their academic performance based on their mastery of the English language which does not seem to be a fair comparison. Black students in Ex-Model C Schools must learn to cope with this language barrier as there is little to no academic support for them.We have realized despite the ending of apartheid in 1994, not much has changed and no one seems to know how to implement any changes. Although, I can't say that we have the right answer in the US, because our schools are still very much segregated by socioeconomic status.

Grey Junior / Senior School:

More pictures of my students at Emafini:

References

Vandeyar, S. (2007). Shifting selves: The emergence of new identities in South African schools.

International journal of educational development. 28. 286-299

Addo Elephant Park

On Saturday, we went to The Addo Elephant National Park in Addo which is about one hour from Port Elizabeth. When the British settled here, many people were farmers with large plots of land. Addo is an area where there were originally 5,000 elephants living and that is where the farmers settled as well and were given rights to kill any elephant on their property. In the early 1900s, they realized that there were only 12 elephants left in the area and they knew that conservation efforts were necessary. Also, hunters from Britain and the United States would travel to South Africa to hunt the "Big Five," which are the five most dangerous animals to hunt: elephants, lions, leopards, rhinoceros, and water buffalo. 

Addo Elephant Park is still home to the big five. Now, the area is 20,000 hectares which is over 49,000 acres. There is a fence around the entire property to contain the animals inside although our guide told us that there really is no way to confine an elephant. We rode around in a vehicle and we got to see many exciting animals throughout the day including elephants, zebras, warthogs, water buffaloes, red heart beasts, kudo, elands, and I think that's it. We really wanted to see the lions but there are only two prides on the entire property including only 14 lions total, so they stayed hidden. Here are some of my favorite encounters with the elephants:

Understanding Culture

In traveling to any country, Americans immediately notice the differences in culture and that is certainly the same here in South Africa. However, the culture is very diverse here because of their unique history. In reading more about the history of the nation, I have learned that there is a disagreement as to who the actual indigenous population is since so many different groups have migrated through South Africa (Coombes, 2003). While many countries seem to have a truly dominate culture, I do not get that sense here because they truly are the rainbow nation. There are several tribes that live in South Africa including the Xhosa, Zulu,  and at least 8 others. The first Europeans to arrive were the Dutch who settled in the Cape Colony which is now Capetown and many of them were farmers and eventually developed into the Afrikaners. Later, the British arrived in South Africa and had tension with the Afrikaners. Through their history, the various groups in South Africa have lived together to create this rainbow nation.  I have been repeatedly amazed that most people know multiple languages. There are 11 official languages and everyone seems to know at least two. While I understand that learning multiple is out of necessity, I still believe that American students would benefit from becoming fluent in another language. 

Through the readings, I have also learned since apartheid has ended, that the various cultures have disagreed as to how to create public monuments to represent their history (Coombes, 2003). Different groups want their histories to be represented differently,with respect to their own truths. On Wednesday of next week, we will be going to Capetown where more of these public monuments exist and I am looking forward to seeing them. We will be going to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and we replanting to go to the District Six Museum as well. District Six was essentially a diverse neighborhood in a prime location in Capetown. After being declared a whites only area, around 60,000 people were forcefully relocated and their communities were bulldozed. With the fall of apartheid in 1994, the government has attempted to resolve this issue by providing property rights for those who were removed and helping to rebuild their homes. Like all other monuments, they tell a biased story and many feel that everyone's side of history needs to be expressed.

Another significant cultural difference is the concept of time. In the United States, we value timeliness and we tend to have every minute of our days planned out. However, that rigid concept of time is not valued in the same way in the Xhosa culture. This is most recognizable for me in working in the classroom at Emafini. After being in the school for four days, I still do not understand their daily schedule which they call a timetable. The classes rotate differently each day and students are in each class for a different amount of time each day. One of my classes was scheduled to end at 9:20am and my lesson went over to 9:24am (there are no bells to dismiss class) and I felt bad for keeping them for so long,but the teacher I am working with didn't seem to mind and casually told the students that they could switch classes. The concept of time is just more relaxed but it has reminded us to just let go and that it is okay.

Overall, American society is very individualistic and competitive which are values that go hand in hand with our capitalist economy. There is a much more collective culture present in the Xhosa culture which is also noticeable at the school. In the classroom, the students hold each other accountable for being quiet in class by shushing each other or tapping on the desk to quiet their peers. Pens and other school supplies seem to be in short supply so students are constantly sharing with each other to make sure that everyone has written down whatever needs to be. This morning, we watched the morning assembly in which 1200 students lined up very close together to sing songs and to officially welcome us to the school. One of the department chairs, named Mrs. Thambo (Tom-Bo) talked about me in front of entire school by talking about how good I was at teaching social sciences and apparently all of my 7th grade students have been talking about how much they like me in Xhosa. It was such a great honor to be recognized in front of all of them. In many instances, I think that the collective mindset would be beneficial in American society and especially in American schools.

Finally, today, we visited Lugisa High School which serves grades 8-9. We talked with their principal and the department chairs before taking a tour of the school. We discussed some common issues wears having with our high school students from motivating them to go to class to low test scores. There seemed to be many similarities and it was oddly comforting to realize that teenagers are teenagers no matter where they are. In touring their school, it was very obvious how bad the vandalism was. The school has had problems with people breaking in to steal things that they cannot afford to replace. In two classroom, all of the electrical wiring had been torn out. Since these rooms now haven't electricity, they cannot be used and they cannot afford to replace them. While theft certainly occurs in our high schools, it was obvious that it was a true problem at Lugisa. Regardless, it was really great to talk with the teachers at the school and learn how the high schools are run here.

References 

Coombes, A. E. (2003). History after apartheid: Visual culture and public memory in a democratic     

     South Africa. Durham: Duke University Press. 

Be Thankful

My experience at Emafini was much better. I could not sleep last night because I was worrying about my lesson plans because I did not know what I was teaching about. I walked into the class and the teacher immediately told me to teach. I showed the students on a map where Wilmington is located. Then, I gave the, neon note cards which they absolutely loved. I asked the students to write down what they already know about the United States on one side and to ask questions about America on the other. Many students knew our major celebrities like President Obama, Beyonce, and Lil Wayne, but the questions were very interesting and some were quite entertaining. Several students asked me about the Illuminati which I thought was hilarious but I had no idea how to answer it. Other questions that brought tears to my eyes were: is everyone in America rich? Do people live in shacks? Why are Americans so rich?

After finishing the rest of the lesson, I gave the learners in my class the books that my students at Hoggard created last semester. I had my students write books about world history content and they had to include a picture of themselves with a brief description of themselves. Passing these books out to the class to read was the greatest experience in my life. The sheer joy expressed on their faces was amazing. The students were begging for others to share the books because they wanted to read them all. They read every story and loved seeing the faces of my students. We shared the books around the room for about 40 minutes before they went on their lunch break. They loved them so much that they asked me to bring them back tomorrow. I plan to leave them in the schools library.

I am still trying to understand my teacher's schedule and what the content is that she is responsible for teaching. From what I understand, she has four different preps throughout the day: history, geography, technology, and economics. In talking with her and some other teachers, I have learned that there have been several curriculum changes since the ending of apartheid. Though the reforms seem rooted in good ideas, there have been so many so quickly that teachers are finding it difficult to adapt. According to Cross, Mungadi, and Rouhani (2002), the government decided to drastically change the education system after apartheid by implementing curriculum that was non-racist and non-sexist, and that promoted the ideologies of democracy and equity. Many of the ideas in this reform are similar to the American education system: working in teams, identify and solve problems, manage responsibility, and understanding the world. However, it does not seem, so far, that these are truly valued in all classrooms because their is a sheer lack of resources and professional development.

Here are pictures of the students reading:

Notice how the students in the background are standing up around the book. Many students were reading with each other. The one student in the top center was reading aloud for his two friends.

We attended a faculty meeting and met all of the teachers in the school. They have all been very welcoming and we are intrigued by the similarities and differences in the education systems between e U.S and S.A.

This afternoon, we visited a different school that was recently built in 2012 because of the high demand in the neighborhood. The primary school (grades 1-7) had 1900 students and only 31 teachers, so there were 120 students in each class! The next time you hear me complain about 30 or 35 students in a classroom... remind me about this! Also, myself and my colleagues complain about lack of time and resources. These teachers do not get a planning period either or many resources. They are teaching six classes with 100+ students in each class with no breaks throughout the day. They have a textbook and chalkboard and that's is about it. Given our smaller class sizes and abundance of resources, in the United States, we need to figure out how to reach all of our students. Also, these students are walking up to six miles one way to get to school. It was truly unbelievable!

Again, I prepare to go to bed and I am completely exhausted. I do not know what I am going to do tomorrow. I plan to  answer the students' questions that I am able to and bring in pictures on my iPad for them to see. The teacher that I am assigned with has asked me to teach the next topic which is infant mortality rate which I am unsure of how to make exciting and relevant. I know that I will figure something out.

References:

Cross, M., Mungadi, R., and Rouhani, S. (2002). From policy to practice: Curriculum reform in

South African education. Comparative education. 38(2). 171-187.

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

Exhausted

After 24 hours of travel, we have made it to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I am absolutely exhausted to say the least but it is far too early to go to bed. By the time we got to our hotel and freshened up, it was 3pm so we walked around for a little while. As soon as you walk outside of the hotel, you can see the ocean, which is just gorgeous. The boardwalk is right across the street, which is a shopping district with several restaurants. We walked along the beach and boardwalk and found a place to exchange our currency. We were all hungry and tired so we had a very early dinner at a steak house at the boardwalk. 

I haven't gotten to see much of the city so far, but a few things have stood out. First, all of the locals that we have talked to are enthralled with our accents and have been very friendly. Also, as we drove to our hotel, we noticed that a lot of neighbors and buildings had brick walls and barbed wire fencing on the top. Some of use immediately thought that perhaps we were in a high crime area of town. When asked about this, we were told that they served as a visible reminder of apartheid. When apartheid ended in 1994, many wealthy whites built these elaborate walls in fear that black Africans would "invade" their portion of town and cause problems. Now, it is almost a symbol of affluence. The "haves" build walls to protect their belongings safe. We have not encountered any "have nots" yet but we will tomorrow and I've been warned that it is vast difference from our current surroundings.

It is only 7pm now and I intend to go to bed shorty. We will be leaving the hotel by 7:30am tomorrow morning to head to the Emphiani Primary School where we are to observe classes during the morning. I am look forward to seeing a different learning environment than what I am used to.

Anticipation and Anxiety

Tomorrow morning I will be on my way to Port Elizabeth, South Africa for two weeks. I have wanted to travel to South Africa for many years and my wish is finally coming true. There has been so much preparation for this trip from readings to vaccinations!   It is hard to believe that it is here, well after a 24-hour trip it will be.

Port Elizabeth is located in the Eastern Cape along the coast of the Indian Ocean. I hope that the map below will be helpful in locating where I will be. We will be spending 10 days in Port Elizabeth and then we will travel to Cape Town for 3 days, before returning home.

 

This morning, I finished reading Kaffir Boy (Mathabane, 1986), which was one of the required texts we read before departure and it is a book that I would highly recommend for anyone to read. The author describes his life growing up during apartheid, which was the legalized segregation of people based on their race. He told horrifying stories of life in the ghetto with no electricity, running water, or plumbing. Despite being illiterate, his mother was determined for her seven children to receive an education which would be their ticket out of poverty. For Johannes, now Mark Mathabane, education, tennis, and American friends allowed for him to leave South Africa to attend college in the United States on a tennis scholarship.

 

Throughout the book, I was intrigued by life in apartheid which ended only 20 years ago, and the book left me with some significant "take aways." Johannes befriends a German man who tells him about Adolf Hitler and the atrocities of the Holocaust during WWII. He compared the apartheid in South Africa to the Holocaust, because of the extreme racism, and the propaganda used to ensure that the ideologies were being carried out. Education was used throughout South Africa to educate the races appropriately. Through Bantu Education, black South Africans received a 4th class education in which they were constantly taught that they were inferior to whites. They were taught how to serve whites and how to work under them. White children in South African received an outstanding education and were taught that they were superior to all blacks and they knew what was best for them. Thus the doctrines of apartheid were passed along from generation to generation from 1948-1994.

 

 

The other significant take away from Kaffir Boy was the significance of education. Mathabane (1986) referred to his education as his "passport to knowledge" and ultimately his "passport to freedom." Throughout the book, his mother fought hard from him to get into school and though he initially resisted, he ended up loving school and had a thirst to learn like no other. Truly, education changed Mathabane's life and provided him with several opportunities that would not have been available if he did not have it. As a teacher, I know the importance of education but I often find it difficult to convey this importance to some of my apathetic students. I hope that my experience in South Africa will make me a better educator for all of my students.

 

As I prepare to embark on the journey of a lifetime, I have several questions about what it will be like in South Africa. Apartheid was abolished only 20 years ago in 1994 and I imagine that there are still significant signs of its existence. I know that shantytowns still exist outside of Port Elizabeth but I wonder if they are still as horrible as the description in Kaffir Boy. I have never been exposed to such poverty and I know that it will be especially emotional if I see it. Also, we will be working in a township school starting on Tuesday and I am very curious about what it will be like. The school will be starting their first week and we have been told that we will not know what we will be teaching or what level until we get there. I am excited and anxious about this experience as well.

 

So, my adventure awaits and I am ready for it to officially begin. I will be keeping my blog updated at least twice a week, so continue to read to follow my experience.

References

Mathabane, M. (1986). Kaffir boy: The true story of a black youth's coming of age in apartheid South Africa. New York: Free Press.