The Namibian Classroom

New to training this year, is a week long visit to a Namibian school near Windhoek. During this visit we are to shadow a teacher in the subject we are most likely to teach, observing a few class periods, and then even stepping in and teaching a few. I welcomed this opportunity to escape the grueling powerpoint presentations and being that I have had never taught to a classroom, a chance to experience the real thing.

With 44 people being to many to send to just one school we broke up into groups and with my group being assigned to a secondary school. The five us went bright and early into the teachers meeting not knowing quite what to expect. We had been given horror stories of corporal punishment, teachers who just don't show up to class, and learners misbehaving. The first thing we did notice was about a quarter of the teacher's were missing.  The next day was a holiday, so we figured many had just decided to take the long weekend. Being that grade 10 and 12 exams are starting, which are like a month long standardized test across all of Namibia, and requiring a teacher to invigilate (weird Namibian word for proctoring) in each class room, it was already clear that not much teaching was going to get done. Time was passed with each learner group staying in one classroom doing nothing and the remaining teachers required to just babysit. Teaching just could not be done. If anything like this had happened in The States, the teachers would have been in an uproar. So with nothing really to do, we just passed the time in the teachers lounge practicing our language.

We didn't make it back to the school till Wednesday with Tuesday being a holiday. This time the teacher attendance was much improved and we hoped for a more typical school day. I was assigned to shadow grade 8 & 9 mathematics teacher. I sat in on the first couple of math classes and just observed. The Namibian class wasn't too different from something I'd see back home. Some textbooks, pens, pencils and rulers had to be shared and would be lobbed across the room from learner to learner. The teacher wasn't big on handing out complements and at times a bit cruel but she covered the material well. After her lessons she approached asking if I would teach numberlines to the next class after the break. This was it! My big moment! I'd be in front of a class teaching for the first time ever! So I went up there, gave it all I got, and I taught numberlines. It felt great. I could feel all the great teachers I admired growing up channel through me and into the lesson. The learners participated, asked questions, and showed a willingness to learn. Not at all the menaces they had been hyped up to be. I taught one more class that day, and left the school feeling accomplished, hoping for more of the same tomorrow.

Unfortunately it was back to day one. Because of the exams, the principal didn't want to ring the bells. This meant that classes would not be rotating and the teacher's would again be left to babysit. And the funny thing is the bells rang anyways. On the plus side, being that more teacher's were present, some traded classrooms, so some teaching could still be done. With the limited teaching, I managed to only teach one class, and spent the rest of the day wishing for time to pass in the teachers lounge.

The final day was again a no bells day and only a half day for us at the schools. Not to let that get me down, decided that since I'm here, I might as well find some learners who want to learn. So I asked one of the math teachers to show me the way to one of her classes and to see if I could just teach a  marathon lesson.  It worked out great. The learners were happy because they had something to do, and I was happy because I had something to contribute. Really was enjoying myself and before I knew it was time for us to leave. I didn't want to go, and the learners didn't want me to go. But we said our goodbyes and I got back on the combi to language training. All in all I came away feeling like I had gotten the true Namibian teaching experience filled with ups and downs. Definitely can't wait till the new year, when I'll get a classroom of my own.