Background
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| Zimbolicious |
I am an English Language and Literature practitioner based in Zimbabwe. I have been in the trenches, quite literally, for seventeen years. I have taught at both public and independent schools. I have walked through the corridors of St Johns Emerald Hill High School, Prince Edward School, Gateway High School and the Dominican Convent Harare. All unique institutions which I found enriching in a multi-layered cake way.
The thrills and trills
Quite frankly, teaching is a 'mixed bag.' You start off in January with an enthusiastic, if somewhat apprehensive, group of teenagers who, among other things, are genuinely under siege from numerous angles: social, technological, academic, cultural and hormonal. Keeping their eyes on the ball requires enormous innovation on the teacher's part.
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| Colourful Harare |
Manoeuvering the year requires a bit of nudging here, some encouragement there, praise and reward in some other place and, of course, the odd threat. But by mid June, they are all on track; scared of mocks, of course. October arrive, in Zimbabwe, the jacarandas are if full bloom. Always an ominous sign of examinations lurking around the corner. Everyone is in a flurry. Last minute preps! By end of November, they have all bade their tearful farewells. We all wait. If you have saved enough, you catch a week of serenity on the Zambezi. The waiting continues.
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| Mosi-oa-Tunya |
Before long it's mid January. The wait is over. The xmas 'eastivities' weight can be shed off overnight. Results. The staff-room takes on a new personality, a deathly quietness thick enough to slice. Finally, they are up on the board and the rationalisations begin. When the results are great, everyone is happy and they are quickly forgotten. When they are otherwise, speculation is rife. Are they a reflection of the teachers' competence, or lack of it? Are the learners to blame? The teacher always gets caught in the fray. Easy target. Sitting duck. Where the h... did they get you from? It's easy to forget that results, good or bad, are a team effort: parents, teachers and the learner's. We all have a stake. We are on the same side.
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| Colourful Autonomy |
For me, the joy in this work doesn't lie in the A*s, high fliers always pass anyway. It's in watching the uncertain, timid and sometimes, evidently, struggling stragglers spell another word correctly, construct another sentence, emerge from their cocoons to fly away as colorful butterflies. There lies my satisfaction. I absolutely enjoy the look of triumph on a learner's face when they surmount linguistic and literary challenges. Their look of confidence is intoxicating. Perhaps that's why I've hung on so long, to see that look over and over. I know as long as I am alive, it's what I will continue to do. It's and addiction and there's no detox!
Inspirational!
ReplyDeleteI'm so touched Cliff! My students really are my motivation! I remember moments like quiet students putting up their hands for the first time, teasing the illustrator for colouring the crabs at the beach red (yea while they are still alive!) with the entire class and so on. I know they'll all become butterflies one day, some may be more beautiful, some may fly higher than the others, but I just hope that they're all happy.
ReplyDelete"For me, the joy in this work doesn't lie in the A*s, high fliers always pass anyway.It's in watching the uncertain, timid and sometimes, evidently, struggling stragglers spell another word correctly, construct another sentence, emerge from their cocoons to fly away as colorful butterflies. There lies my satisfaction."
ReplyDeleteThis is the part I like most Cliff. It resonates well with this inspiring quote by Marianne Williamson from her book, A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3 (Pg. 190-191).
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”