Challenged and Excited

So I taught my first class this week, it was so much fun. I taught a Form 1 (equivalent to grade 7) Guidance and Counseling class. Their spoken English is limited, they can read well but do not comprehend much of what they read. These were problems that I was aware and fairly sure I could apply my knowledge to successfully. I was all prepared to teach a great lesson on what domestic violence was, how to be safe and what you can do to get help. I was armed with role-plays (I can not believe I force kids to do activities that I personally hate doing myself- such a hypocrite) and group work. People who I have taught with will also appreciate how I was ready to tell a story about my personal experience with domestic violence in order to make personal connections- I mean NYC youth think I have a gay brother so they stop saying gay slurs! ( I am from a family of all girls and my dad.)

Anyhow, the lesson started well, I explained all the definitions, and they listened and looked interested. Then when it came time for the interactive part, the whole lesson fell apart. Getting these kids to talk, work in groups and then present to the class was a complete disaster. They are shy and have no experience learning in this manner. Lack of English and especially my American accent can account for some of the problems, but as teacher I knew it was more about the lesson simply falling on it’s face due to this very American teaching method.

This is the second time this happened to me in a week. We were teaching an English class this Saturday and they were great when were sitting and talking about the rules of English but once they had to get up and practice, the shyness over took and the lesson flopped.

Even though we, too, introduced this new style of learning in the South Bronx, it went very well because in the USA we create a space in which children are allowed to freely express themselves and learn through making mistakes. Here, children are so scared of failure and expressing themselves; however, there is a sense of discipline that we lack in States.

So from this past weeks experience, I am challenged and excited to find the delicate balance between what have done so well in the states, create places were children can freely express themselves; and here where they have a level of discipline that I yearned for so often in the States. (I will not get into all the inherent problems with how discipline is achieved here- but it has to be more then a stick that creates this kind of discipline and self control in youth.) I am eager to work more in the classroom and see what I can do to help these children become more expressive and to see what I can learn from the Batswana children to take back to my classroom in NYC. It feels really good to be challenged by teaching again. It has been a while. What would John Dewey say about this Mish?