I’ve been teaching now for three weeks and it’s been a huge challenge every day. There have been some benefits: my language is drastically improving as I learn random vocabulary to help with science teaching, and I’m feeling more and more comfortable in front of huge groups of very cheeky teenagers. I consistently teach ‘science’ to years 9, 10 and 11- my 9.1 class is my favorite because they are the best behaved and it’s the smallest class- usually 25-30 students. My 10.1 class is huge, about 50 students, and my year 11 is my least favorite- it’s huge also- maybe 40-45 students.
I’d wrongly assumed two crucial things about my year 11’s- being that far in school, I assumed that their grasp of English would perhaps be on par with my grasp of Samoan. Completely wrong. I think their English is the worst of my three groups. Secondly, I assumed that since my science class was their optional class (the other option is Accounting) that they would be at least slightly interested in science. Totally wrong. I think the only reason most of them are in the class is that they (correctly) assume that I won’t hit them. Unfortunately, hitting, slapping, punching, backhanding and so on, are all acceptable punishments for students- for even the tiniest crimes. They flinch whenever a teacher walks towards them. I’ve made it clear that I won’t do that- the students know it but still can’t help but flinch, and the Samoan teachers keep encouraging me to beat them.
I would have thought (here’s another incorrect assumption) that the students would realize that I respected them, and their education, enough to not hit them, and they would therefore behave better, or become more engaged in my classes. I was so wrong on this. Classroom management is my main challenge, I have yet to figure out the best way to deal with misbehaving students. Usually I kick them out of the room or make them run across a huge field in the sun- but both of these are so disruptive. I spend way too much of my time trying to keep order in the classroom.
My other challenge is the complete failure of the Samoan education system to my students. Even the 16 and 17 year olds, who have supposedly had English since year 4, can’t understand even the most basic of science concepts when taught in English, and even when taught in Samoan. I discovered this last week when I decided to give an assessment to my year 11’s to see what they’d learned the last 3 weeks. I pulled them aside (there is rampant cheating, so it’s impossible to ask just one student for an answer, they all whisper the answers to them) and asked them a few random, completely easy questions, first in English, and then in Samoan if/when they couldn’t answer them in English. I discovered that my hours of teaching them fairly bilingually from the past three weeks somehow left them with the following incorrect scientific facts:
- Cows have an exoskeleton.
- Not only is a cow’s skeleton on the outside of its body, but a cow can also do photosysthesis. (Apparently there is a large Samoan student consensus that cows are plants.)
- Seaweed, apparently, is a mammal.
- Being a mammal, seaweed breathes air.
- Nutrients are, and I quote at least 10 students, “the wastes from rubbish”.
- Cabbage, carrots and cucumbers are the best sources of protein.
I’m not really quite sure what to do about all this. My language may not be great, but I know it’s not that bad.
On a more positive note, my Early Service Conference two weeks ago in Savai’i was great! My whole group made it, and we spent a week at really nice beach fale doing intensive language classes, discussing our various projects, brainstorming, commiserating, and eating really good palagi food. It was a really relaxing week and so nice to be around my group- very low key, lots of time to snorkel, explore the caves around the site, and get some one-on-one language training in. One afternoon we all got to hike to this waterfall in a nearby village and spent a few hours cliff jumping and swimming around- it was huge, and something that belonged on
Aside from teaching, I am working on a few grants to restore mangroves in Jan and Ray’s village, and
Thankfully, there isn’t anything huge coming up for Peace Corps for a while- It’s nice to be in control of my time!!
On another note… I usually get very little feedback on my emails or blogs- I have no idea if what I have to say is of interest, or if there is anything anyone wants to know? If you have any questions about my life here,
4 comments:
so, if it makes you feel any better, there's a charter high school in reno that is teaching a class on holland (my project here) this semester--so i go in and hang out with them or talk with them once a week. these kids are tough, they've all dropped out of normal school and have really tough lives and barely scrape by in class (when they bother to show up). my first day, i spent about an hour talking about youth movement projects and the culture of art and music and how we use them to connect or identify or challenge, etc. and then after getting really excited and passionate for an hour, i asked if there were any questions. none. finally, after the teacher told them no one was leaving until some questions were asked, one kid raised his hand and said: "okay, okay, fine. fuck. so, uh, like, can we have a rave, or what?"
all that talk on community building and empowering youth and that's what i got. i feel for you.
The public education system did not let me down... I knew the right answer to all of those questions. I only had to look up what an exoskeleton, photosynthesism, mammal, and nutrients were!
Hang in there, you will do great. If you were able to teach me all of that stuff about plefira torta (sp?) and I could remember that, then you can teach these kids the difference between gills and a blow hole. I enjoy reading your posts and to learn about another culture from an insiders perspective.
Thanks for the updates!
Hey momma....Glad you got the package. So much to tell about what is going on here. I will try to write later in the week when I have a moment. Must say though that I love this blog. Of course cows are plants babe haven't you gotten the memo? Photosynthesis is like second nature to them. Why I had a hamburger the other day and it made me regular as oatmeal.....TMI? Anyway...love you, love to know what you are doing. I'll write more later this week on email.
Oh yeah that last blog was me....Kari
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