Catholic School

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Wednesday I went to a Catholic Primary school to set up my volunteer work for the rest of the semester. I went with another girl from my program and when we arrived it was recess. The campus was enclosed by a few one story buildings that formed a big square and the children were running around inside this area. In the center of the courtyard was an open-air church with an altar and crucifix on the wall. The teachers were here having a meeting about new disciplinary rules and we were told to wait there for the headmistress.

While we were waiting, one of the teachers was filling us in on what the meeting was about. Apparently, a 13 year old girl had been caught writing a love note to a boy the same age. This was a big issue for the school because as the teacher explained to me, the Bible says we must wait until marriage to have sex and this love note could potentially lead to sex, so the school must step in. She wanted to know what an American school would do about such a touchy problem and my response was “nothing.” The school was considering suspending both the boy and girl for two weeks, which in my opinion would just provide them with ample free time to advance their relationship. I’m not sure what the official decision was on their punishment.

Another issue came up when I gasped when I saw one of the teachers begin hitting a student with a stick right behind me. I know I shouldn’t have reacted that way, but it took me off guard. Anyway, the same teacher I was talking to before wanted to know about discipline in America, but she did not approve of our methods. According to her, the Bible says that physical discipline is acceptable because Jesus did it and it is also beneficial to the child because the Bible says hitting a child will prevent him from becoming spoiled.

Immediately I thought of my Dean’s Book Course last semester, when we read Whatever It Takes, a book about Geoffrey Canada’s plan to revolutionize the Harlem school system. One point he was trying to emphasize to the parents is that physical punishment is not discipline because the children are not learning why they are being punished. He argued that children may learn not to repeat certain bad behaviors in order to avoid punishment, but they will not learn any lessons they can apply to their behavior in other situations. I think it’s interesting that Africans and African Americans have such similar ideas about discipline even though many have been developing along different paths for hundreds of years.

Another thing that shocked me when I was talking to the teacher was her utter fear of America. She told me that given the opportunity to go she would turn it down in an instant. For her, America has too many laws and she is terrified of getting arrested. She prefers it here in Ghana where people are free to do whatever they want like mug obrunis with machetes or burn people without a fair trial. And you can do all this as long as you aren’t gay and you get married by 25 and have kids by 27. Oh, and if you’re not Christian or Muslim there might be problems; forget it if you’re a non-believer.

Apart from my conversation with that particular teacher, I had a great time at the school. Apparently, many of the kids have only seen white people on tv, so they were all crowding around us smiling then looking away until someone was brave enough to shake our hands. Even then, most of the kids were very shy and would approach slowly without making eye contact until they were right in front of us. It was a little bizarre being such a novelty to the children, but at the same time I enjoyed it and I’m glad I was able to broaden their horizons a little bit. And from now on, I will be teaching English, math, and science to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders so I hope I can continue to broaden their horizons. I’m nervous about teaching them on my own, but I have materials to help me prepare lessons and I think it will be a really great learning opportunity for both the students and me.

Oh and just to keep you updated, my geography professor has yet to change our class time to 5:30 am. Hopefully it never will.

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Comments

[Aunt Pat]

Good luck teaching
Nicole Good luck with the teaching assignment. I know how intimidating that first lesson on your own can be. Just be patient with the students and it will come. Love you, Aunt Pat