School (the good, the bad, and the ugly)

Today was my second day observing one of the 7^th grade classes at Spearman Primary School.  The Spearman student body is comprised of mostly black Zulu students who come from low-income families.  I love my class and the teacher does a pretty good job, especially compared to some of his colleagues.  The students are insanely well behaved and so eager to learn.  Despite the average classroom having a large number of students (40 is average), there is not absolute chaos.  When I walk into the classroom at the beginning of the day, I am greeted with all students standing, saying “Good Morning, Ms. Taylor” in unison.  They are quite a smart and inquisitive bunch.  Funny, too.  I have to try not to laugh when some of them say things they shouldn’t.    

            The deputy principal, who is the lead teacher of my class, described to me the richness of the Zulu culture and his love for it.  He talked about the absolute beauty of their traditional dances and the fascinating nature of their language.  “These kids are so eager to learn, even though it is very difficult for some of them because their native language is Zulu.”  I have a hard enough time in school, which is taught in my mother tongue.  Id be totally screwed if my classes were taught in a language other than my own.  Talk about inspiration. 

            While I have been impressed with the teacher in my classroom, not all teachers at this school are so professional in their dealings with the students.  Yelling at students and hitting them (even though it is illegal) is unfortunately all too common here (students that are in classrooms other than mine have told me they’ve witnessed it). I have NEVER (and never will) understand people who hit their kids.  Yes, I know that children can grate on their parents’ and teachers’ nerves at times (Im sure that my parents and former teachers will attest to my doing that rather frequently), but hitting kids sure as hell isn’t going to fix anything.  Neither is yelling at them.  What really gets me is when the teachers yell at the kids for hitting each other.  If you hit students, what in the hell do you expect, people?!?!?  Theyre going to hit each other!!    All of this has been very difficult for me to deal with.  I know that it is “cultural,” but I still do not think that excuses it.  Thank god the teacher in my classroom does not hit his students.  If I saw that, I would absolutely say something.