Lindsay on lessons learned when being a teacher

I have yet to write a blog post about my internship placement and seeing as I spend three days out of every week there I think it is about time I write a little something about my time at Christel House. Since at Christel House I have been working with Nasar Harris a Life Science and Math Lit teacher to grades 10-12. Because I have very little to no interest in teaching math I usually use that time to look through science textbooks and understand what teaching science in South Africa is like and also visit the social work office which is just down the hall and where my good friend Erica works with 3 other amazing women.

During my time in the classroom I have taken a passive role, answering questions when they need answering and helping kids outside of the classroom but mostly I am observing. I have taught a few lessons to test the waters and my teacher offered helpful criticism afterwards. I have greatly enjoyed my time that I’ve spent with the students and I’ve found that the time I enjoy the most is during intervals and before and after school when the learners come up and ask me any and all questions. Questions ranging from, ‘Are you married?’ to ‘What kind of town did you grow up in?’ to ‘Do you believe in God?’.

Its through these conversations and interactions that I think I’ve learned most about the culture of South Africa. Religion and culture is something that interests me a lot and in particular the role they play in a child’s education. For instance, in the matric (of 12^th grade) class right now we are starting the evolution unit, which is one I have been anxiously waiting for to see how a religious student body takes on this controversial topic. For me I have learned about evolution so many times it hardly sounds like a debatable theory to me and just sounds like science, history, and facts. One of the most thought provoking moments I have had at the school happened this past week when we started the unit. My teacher asked who believes in God and doesn’t believe in evolution and to my surprise the brightest girl in the class raised her hand. I totally and completely believe that you can both believe in God and science and specifically evolution which is why I was so surprised by her outright rejection of this, as it seems to me, very well proven theory. She responded wanting to know why she should disregard what she knows is right and believes in completely for a theory that was created by a human, which we know are flawed and she ended her statement in God is perfect. So though she copied down the bullet points that were on the board I don’t think there was any change in her incredibly set mindset. I have no doubt that she will be able to ace a test without believing in the material, but it has just been interesting in seeing the difference between how I learned evolution versus how it is learned here.

I’ve had very interesting conversations about culture, which I have always found very enlightening. These two grade 10 boys are always more than happy to talk to Erica and I and it usually ends up being about cultural matters. They were more than happy to talk to us about the ceremony that boys going through to become men. For those reading this blog that are unfamiliar with the Xhosa traditions of entering manhood this is what Asanda and Siyathamanda (Siya for short) have to say about it. "For 3-4 weeks you are sent to the bush to survive. The first week you are given no water or food, the second week you are given water and limited food, and by the third week your family is able to visit you and bring you things that you need. The whole process is culminated in the final ceremony that is being circumcised. After becoming a man, you must talk differently, address other men and boys differently, dress differently, and act differently". Asanda is skeptical about the whole process and isn’t sure if he wants to partake in it, to which Siya responded ‘It’s our culture man, you have to’ .

So many lessons to learn and just not enough time! As my final week at Christel House is quickly arriving I can’t believe how lucky I have been to get to know these kids and also how crazy it is that I will probably never see some of them again. I’m sort of dreading Wednesday because that will be my last day at Christel House. I don’t want to say goodbye to the kids and adults that I’ve bonded with, but at the same time I’m ready to apply what I have learned at my internship back home.