Teaching, really!

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I admit I’ve been extremely unproductive for the last several months, but this week I finally started teaching again. I have 6ième (7th grade) and 4ième (9th grade) math classes for the last third of the year. There are 107 students in my 7th grade class and 55-60 in my 9th grade class. The school is similar to those in Guinea - a mud/cement building with one room for each grade level. Each classroom has one cement wall pained to be a chalkboard, and rows of wooden benches and tables for the students. The tables are each meant to be for two students, but in my 7th grade class they are crammed three, sometimes four, to a desk. School starts at 7 am, there are classes until noon and again from 3pm to 5pm. The teachers, who are not from the village, live in houses next to the school.

This school does have books available for most of the students, but they are expected to pay 500 CFA ($1) to borrow them for the year. Therefore many students don’t get them and rely on classroom notes. Each student does have a notebook and pens for the class, so all important information from the book needs to be written in their notebooks. The French style of teaching involves a lot of dictation and rote memorization, often without deep understanding. The adapted Peace-Corps style still requires a lot of writing notes on the board and copying them into notebooks, but tries to incorporate more activities, practice, applications, and sensibilizations about social issues whenever possible. I found that kids in Guinea were intimidated by anything that required them to think creatively; they preferred to memorize the correct answer word for word so they could be sure it was right. I tried to encourage them and do really simple activities to make them more comfortable.

Though I was a little nervous about the class sizes, I ended up being very impressed with the discipline the first week. Maybe I’m still new and weird-looking enough that they want to pay attention and aren’t pushing me yet, but the kids were surprisingly quiet and attentive, even in my class of 107. I think the teacher who had the class before me was strict in enforcing the rules, and this set a precedent that’s made things easier for me.
Burkinabe discipline is very strict and there is rigid protocol for behavior. It seemed too much at first, but I’m learning to appreciate it. For example, when the teacher enters the room, every student must stand up and remain standing silently until instructed to sit. I found this weird and uncomfortably deferential at first, so I didn’t bother to enforce it or just told them to sit down right away. Now I realize it is not only important for respecting customs and keeping the atmosphere professional, but it is indispensable for quieting the class down and getting the students’ attention before starting class.

There are a few other teachers at the school, but the only ones who seem to show up regularly are the principal, M. Kieta, and a rare female math/science teacher, Cécil. Cécil is about my age and is still in training. She finished high school and then went to school to be a teacher, and she is in her final year of student teaching. I am taking over some of her classes, since this trimester she has to take more classes in the city and spend less time in the village. She’s a modern African woman, educated, working, supporting herself, and making her own decisions about her life. She’s a great role model for girls in a small village.

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Comments

[Aunt Judy]

"c'mon rains"
Hi Rosemary: Keep up the interesting "journal writings". Love them. I've even shared them with others........they're so fascinating. I think I should've concentrated on being in the the PC when I was younger. What an awesome experience. Saw where those colorful plastic kettles (tea kettle looking things) are used for everything....but are plastic?? Did you visit the Sindu Peaks as yet, or take any Djembe classes? Fascinating!! Glad to hear this is a safer place, albeit the DUST!! I guess the 45km's north eliminated the greenery in Bobo, right? C'mon rains!! Have fun in Satiri and keep creating those memories each and every day just like you are. Glad to hear your mom's packages are REALLY MAKING IT NOW, TOO. Hugs always, Aunt J