Testing my exam week patience

Ok- two things on my mind this morning.  Well, three.  I want coffee.  My heart is palpitating just thinking about a nice Americano- like I’m not talking anything fru fru; I just would really like some proper caffeine.  Seven years in a coffee shop has given me some sort of notion that the African continent would have some decadent coffee for me, but wrong again.  The best substitute I can find is CAFFEEEEE (yes there really are 5 “E’s”)  It takes 3 scoops, scalding hot water, and a plugged noes to put me in my happy place. 

Ok, back to another pessimistic post.  Here in SA, academic life revolves around standardized tests.  Lots of teachers back stateside have a lot to say on this subject, but I never really understood why this was such a big fuss.  Well I do now, but (I think) in a different way than my fellow Americans. 

So in my hood, teachers haven’t shown up to classes for 3 weeks.  Yes, you read that right!  THREE WEEKS; the students are expected to come to school and sit there for 8 hours a day.  It would be one thing if there was some studying going on, or at least pretend that is the purpose of this laziness.  So, the kids who do come to school listen to a whole lot of Lil Wayne, some games of crazy 8’s are played, and a whole lot of napping.  My hour a day with them is now the ONLY prep work that they get.  And shoot, that’s stressful.

So I asked some of the teachers why there isn’t any lessons going on, and quite bluntly they responded with the kids don’t want to learn.  I have heard the phrase “you can’t teach a kid to want to learn” way too many times.  And yes, I suppose there is some truth to that, but come on, how many high school kids get up in the morning and say HECK YES, PHYSICS EXAM TODAY.  So why has the ENTIRE staff of Lwandlekazi (and lots of other location schools) adapted this attitude that it’s too little, too late.  Clearly, this cycle of poverty is not only draining on the kids, but these teachers, who were pretty great at one point, have lost their passion.

Ok- the third chunk of this morning’s frustration:  I have this student.  His name is Sine(Sn-ahhh).  “My student” is a relative term, because he rarely shows up for classes, and when he does, he sits quietly in the corner.  Anyway, on paper, he is one of the stronger grade 10 learners, and I decided to set my scopes on him. Last week I started to really hassle him about why he is so scarce, and what can we do to prepare for exam week.  We bantered a bit, and it eventually came out. 

*What is the point spending endless time working on trying to teach himself lessons that the teachers don’t understand.*  Ok, fair point.

*There is no way that he can go to university anyway, so what is the point coming to this useless school*  Why can’t you go to university, Sine?

*So maybe I find a bursary (cross between a scholarship and a loan), but the chances that I find a job aren’t good.  Lots of people go to university, get some degree and there is no work for them, then they have to worry about payments.  I can’t do that*  Ok Sine, so what are you going to do instead?  Don’t you see that you have all the capability to make a change to this system?  What are you going to end up doing without an education, be a taxi driver? (quite sarcastically…..)

*Granny Danny, I want to be a taxi driver.  I’ll make good money, and maybe if I’m good, someday I’ll own the taxi.  I can’t take chances and waste my time with this shit.*  HOW DO I FIGHT THIS LOGIC……

 

Education was the given path for me.  It was expected, and I never really questioned it.  Sure, I thought for 15 minutes that maybe I would go to a community college rather than Saint Ben’s, but the question of the value of education in my society never came up for me.  It really is an issue here.  How can I preach that an education is the only way, and its invaluable, and it will open doors, when they know very well that that might not be the case.  Easy money may be the answer for them?  Is there a tangible change in the foreseeable future?  I don’t know?  Does this mean that I change my approach?  I don’t know?  I do know that Sine has put a whole lot more thought about what makes sense for his future than I did in grade 10.  Flip, its confusing.