Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Feb 3, Thursday - Yes, this posting is out of sequence. But I didn't want to post it until I knew a little more where things were headed. It took some time for the dust to settle. By now I am sure things will work out OK, but meanwhile I have not been teaching this week - 2nd wk of Feb. So, what I wrote back on Feb 3 ...
CRISIS TIME.
We are now five lessons into the term – 10 periods actually, since I teach double periods. I have completed the section dealing with “Extraction of Metals.” It really has required, at least as I see it, presenting dense material in a lecture format for memorization by the students. Not how I want to teach at all, but given the nature of the National Syllabus, I see no other real option. I’ve tried to add personal commentary and draw analogies to supplement what I write on the board and insist that they copy from the board into their notebooks. And I have insisted that they DO have notebooks, open, and DO copy down what I write on the board.
So I scheduled a quiz for Lesson 6. I gave it yesterday to Classes A and B, will attempt to give it to C, D and E today. But I am hitting such passive resistance that it amount to open rebellion. Tanzanian students are MASTERS of passive resistance. As I passed out paper to A for the quiz – I had to personally buy the paper downtown the day before because the school could/would not provide it – I got comments like “We do not understand.” This is before I put any questions on the board at all. I had written out the questions – all taken directly from past National Exams - on flip chart paper and taped them on the board. In Class A, the students wrote their names on the paper and at least began to copy down the questions, but ONLY TWO STUDENTS in the class made any attempt to answer them. I stopped the quiz and formed small groups to have them answer the questions together, using their notebooks. That worked a little better, but I still had to show them where in their own notebooks they had copied down the answers to the quiz questions.
If A was bad, B was worse. Like A, there was lower than usual attendance. But NONE of these students would answer the questions or even put their names on their papers. We couldn’t do the small group thing, because they all claimed not to have their notebooks. Left it in the dormitory – gave it to a friend – it is in somebody else’s desk that is locked – never had one – every excuse under the sun.
I want to see what reaction I get from the remaining three classes today, and I will try to talk to small groups from A/B to see what they say is going on. Then it is time to talk to the school administration and to the Peace Corps Education Director. However things came to this pass, it is not working. I have failed, no learning is taking place.
There is some kind of group thing going on. This level of passive resistance has to be organized. A few students have told me, privately, that I am good at presenting material, and that some of the students who claim not to understand in class are just saying that so I will have to go back and take class time to re-explain something they already do understand. I suspected that, but I respond to it anyway, and always try to encourage my classes to tell me whenever they do not understand what I am presenting. So now????
LATER
Class C is my smallest group – today, only seven students. They were unprepared for the quiz, but said that it was because there was no electricity last night so they could not study. So we used the questions as a review, and it struck me as a pretty good session.
Class D. Two students answered the questions well. The class did not fight me though, and splitting into groups to solve the questions worked rather well. Then we talked about what is going wrong. They said:
l. They do not understand what I am presenting.
2. I am presenting material too rapidly.
3. They do not think I am presenting material that they need to know.
Class E, the smartest class. Again, total passive resistance. I asked several students if they had their notebooks with them. They just sat there and looked at me. Would not even say either yes or no. So I called them LOSERS and left the class. Then came back to take out 4-5 students to talk with them about what is wrong and what can change. I think I won some sympathy, at least – I showed how I am organizing material and presenting it, and I think that surprised them. But in practical terms, I could get only:
1. Use only Tanzanian textbooks.
2. WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU AND NEVER DID. NOT A LANGUAGE ISSUE, WE UNDERSTAND YOUR ENGLISH FINE, BUT NOT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. Huh?
This morning I had talked to the Asst. Academic Master about this situation. He understands the depth of the problem, and in response has talked to some of the Classes about it. He is due to come to my home tonight so we can discuss it some more.
By the way, the Director of VETA says he will come to Nsumba tomorrow at 11 to talk with my Coordinator and me about the business course we are planning for later this year.
Meanwhile, Brian said he is coming in to Mwanza on Friday evening. Sarah said she is, too. Kim and Kathleen are probably coming in on Saturday. Regina, who I never met but is from an NGO in Dar es Salaam, is supposed to be bringing me some pills from HQ tomorrow for the third treatment of my fungoid toe, and to talk with me about some HIV/AIDS program or other on Ukerewe Island.
Guess that from time to time life may not be good, but it sure ain’t dull.
Also, a student came to my house tonight, complaining because my final report from last year said that he had not taken the final examination, and so failed. He said he did so take the exam. I checked my record, but do not have any Jackson Michael in the roster. However I DO have a Jackson Marco listed, who was one of the better students. Jackson Michael says he IS Jackson Marco. So he answered to the wrong name all last year? His official record is wrong? This year I passed around the attendance sheet for students to complete for themselves (until they sabotaged the sheet), and to make sure their names were spelled correctly, listed in first name/last name order. So I checked the roster: I have BOTH Jackson Marco and Jackson Michael listed this year – and a Jackson Mwendwa, too. But JMichael has attended most classes and JMarco has never attended a class. So why didn’t Jackson ever correct the roster? Or the official record? Or my attendance sheet from last year? Tanzania!
Sunday, February 6th
The weekend has been crowded with activity, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Certainly my students have been on my mind a lot, especially in those wee small hours of the night. I heard back from Tom Msuka at PC Headquarters that he had been in contact with the school headmaster. Bw. Msasa had been in Morogoro for a workshop all week and isn’t expected to be back until Tuesday. I doubt that anything will happen in his absence.
By now I have talked with several groups of students and so has the Asst. Academic Master, who is a very capable guy. But he has his own problems, including a 5 year old young sister who fell out of a car and went into a 17hr coma and was not expected to live. Anyway, the consensus by now is that I have been presenting material too rapidly for my classes, plus a perception that I am not presenting the material they are required to know. On the other hand, several students have gone out of their way to tell me how much they like the way I have been teaching. So these are solvable problems, and I feel sure that we can come to an amicable conclusion and get the classes rolling again. But it will take some time, so I expect a few days without teaching duties.
Actually, a break from teaching right now is fortunate. I anticipate needing Tuesday and Wednesday to host Atiba, from Technoserve in Dar es Salaam, in meeting the headmasters and instructors for the Small Business Training Program we will be jointly sponsoring. Strange, how stuff works out.
It is good that I inherited a bunch of foam pads from Steve when he transferred to the south. I had five other PCVs sleep across, this weekend. Sarah and Mina (Musoma), Kathleen (Bunda), Kara (Sumve), Brian (Misumwi) – and Ryan dropped in too (Nganza). We spent Fri night talking and drinking at the Royal Pub, Sat night watching the sunset and then cooking up a tremendous stew – while forgetting to cook to last of my sweet corn that was the genesis of the whole cooking idea. We all have our teaching problems of one sort or another. Like me, Kara is facing rebellious students so we could compare notes and commiserate with each other.
It turns out that Mina is Indian, and Seik. So we went to the Seik Temple together this morning, and she was able to help me to begin to understand the structure of the service and a little of the history and philosophy of Seikism. I wish the Hindi language of the service wasn’t so impenetrable, but .... I am still enjoying attending the services there, and the delicious meal that they serve immediately after the services. The feel of the Seik service is certainly MUCH closer to Unitarianism than any other religious option that is available here. During the meal I sat next to a man who had left Tanzania in the 1985 exodus when Tanzania kicked out foreign businesspeople, built a business on Long Island, retired to San Diego, and now spends part of every year back in Tanzania visiting family and friends. Interesting guy.
CRISIS TIME.
We are now five lessons into the term – 10 periods actually, since I teach double periods. I have completed the section dealing with “Extraction of Metals.” It really has required, at least as I see it, presenting dense material in a lecture format for memorization by the students. Not how I want to teach at all, but given the nature of the National Syllabus, I see no other real option. I’ve tried to add personal commentary and draw analogies to supplement what I write on the board and insist that they copy from the board into their notebooks. And I have insisted that they DO have notebooks, open, and DO copy down what I write on the board.
So I scheduled a quiz for Lesson 6. I gave it yesterday to Classes A and B, will attempt to give it to C, D and E today. But I am hitting such passive resistance that it amount to open rebellion. Tanzanian students are MASTERS of passive resistance. As I passed out paper to A for the quiz – I had to personally buy the paper downtown the day before because the school could/would not provide it – I got comments like “We do not understand.” This is before I put any questions on the board at all. I had written out the questions – all taken directly from past National Exams - on flip chart paper and taped them on the board. In Class A, the students wrote their names on the paper and at least began to copy down the questions, but ONLY TWO STUDENTS in the class made any attempt to answer them. I stopped the quiz and formed small groups to have them answer the questions together, using their notebooks. That worked a little better, but I still had to show them where in their own notebooks they had copied down the answers to the quiz questions.
If A was bad, B was worse. Like A, there was lower than usual attendance. But NONE of these students would answer the questions or even put their names on their papers. We couldn’t do the small group thing, because they all claimed not to have their notebooks. Left it in the dormitory – gave it to a friend – it is in somebody else’s desk that is locked – never had one – every excuse under the sun.
I want to see what reaction I get from the remaining three classes today, and I will try to talk to small groups from A/B to see what they say is going on. Then it is time to talk to the school administration and to the Peace Corps Education Director. However things came to this pass, it is not working. I have failed, no learning is taking place.
There is some kind of group thing going on. This level of passive resistance has to be organized. A few students have told me, privately, that I am good at presenting material, and that some of the students who claim not to understand in class are just saying that so I will have to go back and take class time to re-explain something they already do understand. I suspected that, but I respond to it anyway, and always try to encourage my classes to tell me whenever they do not understand what I am presenting. So now????
LATER
Class C is my smallest group – today, only seven students. They were unprepared for the quiz, but said that it was because there was no electricity last night so they could not study. So we used the questions as a review, and it struck me as a pretty good session.
Class D. Two students answered the questions well. The class did not fight me though, and splitting into groups to solve the questions worked rather well. Then we talked about what is going wrong. They said:
l. They do not understand what I am presenting.
2. I am presenting material too rapidly.
3. They do not think I am presenting material that they need to know.
Class E, the smartest class. Again, total passive resistance. I asked several students if they had their notebooks with them. They just sat there and looked at me. Would not even say either yes or no. So I called them LOSERS and left the class. Then came back to take out 4-5 students to talk with them about what is wrong and what can change. I think I won some sympathy, at least – I showed how I am organizing material and presenting it, and I think that surprised them. But in practical terms, I could get only:
1. Use only Tanzanian textbooks.
2. WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU AND NEVER DID. NOT A LANGUAGE ISSUE, WE UNDERSTAND YOUR ENGLISH FINE, BUT NOT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. Huh?
This morning I had talked to the Asst. Academic Master about this situation. He understands the depth of the problem, and in response has talked to some of the Classes about it. He is due to come to my home tonight so we can discuss it some more.
By the way, the Director of VETA says he will come to Nsumba tomorrow at 11 to talk with my Coordinator and me about the business course we are planning for later this year.
Meanwhile, Brian said he is coming in to Mwanza on Friday evening. Sarah said she is, too. Kim and Kathleen are probably coming in on Saturday. Regina, who I never met but is from an NGO in Dar es Salaam, is supposed to be bringing me some pills from HQ tomorrow for the third treatment of my fungoid toe, and to talk with me about some HIV/AIDS program or other on Ukerewe Island.
Guess that from time to time life may not be good, but it sure ain’t dull.
Also, a student came to my house tonight, complaining because my final report from last year said that he had not taken the final examination, and so failed. He said he did so take the exam. I checked my record, but do not have any Jackson Michael in the roster. However I DO have a Jackson Marco listed, who was one of the better students. Jackson Michael says he IS Jackson Marco. So he answered to the wrong name all last year? His official record is wrong? This year I passed around the attendance sheet for students to complete for themselves (until they sabotaged the sheet), and to make sure their names were spelled correctly, listed in first name/last name order. So I checked the roster: I have BOTH Jackson Marco and Jackson Michael listed this year – and a Jackson Mwendwa, too. But JMichael has attended most classes and JMarco has never attended a class. So why didn’t Jackson ever correct the roster? Or the official record? Or my attendance sheet from last year? Tanzania!
Sunday, February 6th
The weekend has been crowded with activity, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Certainly my students have been on my mind a lot, especially in those wee small hours of the night. I heard back from Tom Msuka at PC Headquarters that he had been in contact with the school headmaster. Bw. Msasa had been in Morogoro for a workshop all week and isn’t expected to be back until Tuesday. I doubt that anything will happen in his absence.
By now I have talked with several groups of students and so has the Asst. Academic Master, who is a very capable guy. But he has his own problems, including a 5 year old young sister who fell out of a car and went into a 17hr coma and was not expected to live. Anyway, the consensus by now is that I have been presenting material too rapidly for my classes, plus a perception that I am not presenting the material they are required to know. On the other hand, several students have gone out of their way to tell me how much they like the way I have been teaching. So these are solvable problems, and I feel sure that we can come to an amicable conclusion and get the classes rolling again. But it will take some time, so I expect a few days without teaching duties.
Actually, a break from teaching right now is fortunate. I anticipate needing Tuesday and Wednesday to host Atiba, from Technoserve in Dar es Salaam, in meeting the headmasters and instructors for the Small Business Training Program we will be jointly sponsoring. Strange, how stuff works out.
It is good that I inherited a bunch of foam pads from Steve when he transferred to the south. I had five other PCVs sleep across, this weekend. Sarah and Mina (Musoma), Kathleen (Bunda), Kara (Sumve), Brian (Misumwi) – and Ryan dropped in too (Nganza). We spent Fri night talking and drinking at the Royal Pub, Sat night watching the sunset and then cooking up a tremendous stew – while forgetting to cook to last of my sweet corn that was the genesis of the whole cooking idea. We all have our teaching problems of one sort or another. Like me, Kara is facing rebellious students so we could compare notes and commiserate with each other.
It turns out that Mina is Indian, and Seik. So we went to the Seik Temple together this morning, and she was able to help me to begin to understand the structure of the service and a little of the history and philosophy of Seikism. I wish the Hindi language of the service wasn’t so impenetrable, but .... I am still enjoying attending the services there, and the delicious meal that they serve immediately after the services. The feel of the Seik service is certainly MUCH closer to Unitarianism than any other religious option that is available here. During the meal I sat next to a man who had left Tanzania in the 1985 exodus when Tanzania kicked out foreign businesspeople, built a business on Long Island, retired to San Diego, and now spends part of every year back in Tanzania visiting family and friends. Interesting guy.
