This was the first week of the teaching
practical. I have learned an immense amount of new information in several
fields. Firstly, it felt really uncomfortable sitting amongst real-life
teachers in the staff room during the first week. Our liaison teacher was away
during the first two days of school, so there was no one to brief us on where
to sit, who the teachers are or which classes we could join. We literally had
to use our own initiative during the first two days. Some of the teachers were
very territorial, which made things even more difficult for the
student-teachers. We did not know where we could sit and where we could not. We
just ended up sitting on random open spots in the staff room.
One thing that I learned is that the
teachers do not always make use of lesson plans, like us students are taught to
do. Certain teachers only make notes in the text books that they are going to
use. I saw one lesson plan of a teacher which was about ten years old, but it
contained the same information as the lesson plans we use on campus. The teachers
really try their best to include all the learners when they have discussions.
When the teachers give the learners classwork, they walk around in the class to
help learners that are struggling. I think that is a very useful strategy,
because certain learners are too shy to put up their hands and to ask for help.
I think the first week was the most important week of our school visit, because
we had time to observe real-life teachers and how they handle their classes.
The first week in particular, was the most difficult week for me, because I had
to act as a substitute teacher and supervise the classes of the same teacher.
The Xhosa teacher resigned last semester, but she still had to be at school
during the first week of the second semester. She however did not come and her
learners were left destitute. I learned that one must be able to cope under
pressure, because I had to take over the teacher’s class but she had no notes
or planning whatsoever. I literally had to plan lessons from scratch. The learners
were all panicking, since they did not have a Xhosa teacher.
Secondly, not all of the learners were
welcoming. There were a few learners who made my first week quite difficult,
since they blatantly just refused to listen. I learned that this was going to
be one of my challenges next year: to get the learners to listen to me. I think
that the learners do not take the student-teachers seriously.
Overall, the discipline of the school
is quite good, but there are always be a few rebellious individuals. The
learners are very involved in the learning process. Some of them are quite
eager to answer the questions of the teachers, but that occurs mostly in the
lower grades.
