When walking in the street here, people are
always interested to know who I am and what I am doing. My Sepedi isn’t as good
as like, but I have become good enough to at least say I am a teacher, and
where I am working. They tend to laugh when I tell them I am “Moloko”, and even
harder when my partner introduces himself as “Masilo”, a name derived from “Lesilo”,
meaning fool. Following that, what family you come from is important culturally
here. It is easy enough to say that I am a Meela, (I say “ke mokwena”, or “I am
a crocodile” which relates to the tribe the Meela family is from). Some ask for
my English name, and then English surname. To me at first I would wonder why
they would ask. It is easy to say that Aegerter is not a name they will have
ever heard before or ever hear again. Explaining that it is Swiss does not help
– most of them do not know where Switzerland is!
That tends to be the much older people who
ask that however. The Pedi youth is not as in touch with their cultural
heritage. In the cultures of Zulu, Tsonga (shangaan) and Tshivenda the
traditionalisms are still very prevalent and preserved, yet to some extent it
feels, and has been explained to me that, Sepedi culture has been somewhat
eroded. During apartheid, the apartheid tried to implement a “divide and rule”
system, playing cultures off against each other. Another thing they tried to do
was get the tribes to shed their tribal identities. The tribe who clung to
their cultural roots the strongest were the Tsongas. The Afrikaners tried to
have this ridiculed. They tried to make this retention of tradition look
stupid, and a person doing so, of any tribe, may have been referred to as a “stupid
Tsonga”. It seems that one of the tribes who responded strongly to this were
those in the Lebowa homeland, the Pedis. They were even divided amongst
themselves to some extent, and I have heard some people described as being fake
Pedis. Again this is all anecdotal. A western culture of materialism, RnB, and
all such related things is slowly seeping into the youth, and it is hard to tell
them that education is what makes a person rich, not money.
Aside from that anecdote, many things have
been happening. Teaching feels like it is going well. I have a little more to
go on regarding the term 2 test for maths, and am hoping that they will do
better than last term. The last terms test was out of the blue much harder than
expected, and every learner in grade 9 failed it. It is hard to explain to the
whole classes that they are not as good as they need to be, when they have no
concept of education. I go to class every day, but in 9B, I know their teacher
goes very seldom. It is hard to keep them all motivated, when in just about
every other class they seldom have to do so much work, and the outcomes are
less important; class tests are teacher set, and it is not necessary to pass to
be promoted. Maths papers are set by the circuit, cannot be found online, are
quite inconsistent and quite poorly written (in my opinion).
I have given up on the cliché on “trying to
save everyone”, or rather I did quite a long time ago. That may sound cold
hearted, but some of the kids are beyond reaching. Even if their attitude was
perfect, they would be so far behind it would be impossible to catch up. They
refuse to write, or even bring pens to school, and I am faced with the
difficult choice of letting them be in the classroom, disrupting, to no
benefit, or simply kick them out. To some extent I feel I may slowly be
slightly achieving the other cliché of “reaching the kiiiiiiiids”. They are
starting to respect the fact (amongst a few moans) that I come to teach every
day. It is still heartbreaking to see some of them throwing away their right to
an education, and it makes me even more frustrated to remind myself that people
in England to the same in such a better system. It is equally heartbreaking to
think that some are not achieving their full potential. There is a really good
group of learners in 9B; They have good English, are remarkably bright. They do
some debating, and are even able to be outspoken and criticise their education.
I am not lying when I say that I wish there was some way to give them an English
education. Although they are not in my class, I teach them maths after school and
try in every way to keep them engaged.
Even Computers has gone a good way this
term. I was teaching spreadsheets, and most the learners seemed to pick it up
really well, which was a relief. They took a long time to pick up using a
computer, having not ever used one before. Some did not opt for that stream of
subjects to do Computers, and so were not very interested, but now I can see them
taking to the subject with pride, and there is nothing better than being able
to praise a leaner.
I am still wishing to have more time, and
more importantly to get into a real rhythm of teaching in Grade 12. Physical
science (chemistry and physics) is emerging as even more of a priority, and
teaching a few learners small subjects here and there isn’t efficient enough. They
do tend to complain of being tired as I am teaching them out of hours, but I
will be waking up at 5am most weekdays now to teach them in the morning. I will
sleep when I am dead (or when I get back to England). Again, their exams are
hardly looming but I am still trying to crack the whip, knowing again I won’t
be there see them through the most vital period. Maths too is a big thing to
help them too, and fitting it all in is going to be hard, but its so hard not
to overcommit with there being so many areas I really wish I could give my all
to.
Even playing guitar with the learners has
had to take a backseat. I would love to do Cricket with them too, buts its hard
to justify these things when really they have such a need for teaching first. I
have done some more dodgeball but I am left with only two. It seems they were
not designed for the environment of thorny bushes and broken glass. I had
another amazing afternoon where teachers had abandoned school for some reason,
where I had around 50 learners gathered round in-between two blocks, and more
spectating as children hurled balls at each other. It was very hectic, and the
desire to cheat and pretend to have not been hit seems to transcend our
cultures, nevertheless it was very fun.
I have even tried to spend a little time helping
them a little bit with university applications, although it is quite normal to
apply after results here, and getting those results is my priority. There is
one learner who I am pushing to apply for a bursary from Anglo-platinum, I
would love for her to have something big to work towards.
One of my biggest revelations is how my own
education has allowed me to do this. To think that maths teachers far back in English
classrooms have given me the opportunity to help the learners here still gets
to me, the same in Chemistry too; I must take a picture of chalkboard after I
have been using it, a mess of molecules and intermolecular forces. The age old “where
is this actually going to be useful to me” has been so thoroughly defeated in
that. The tireless efforts of my old head of sixth form, as well as everyone,
remind me to keep pushing towards giving my learners the same dedication and
opportunities. Last year results day was such a haunting, waking-dream. It
seems that has not changed, only the person opening the envelope has.
In other news, Snoop Lion is playing is KZN
next weekend. I desperately want to go, but I can’t tear myself away from my
duties. It seems that music will have to wait until Leeds festival!
That is all for now, stay tuned, plenty of
topics left to rant about.
Gabs
