The First Week of Internship Teaching!

I LOVE teaching!  I have never taught before, and the jury is still out on whether I am any good at teaching English, but I enjoy it.  Mostly I enjoy my students and their desire to learn.   Throughout training we have been doing a lot of language study and gaining technical training on teaching.  This past week we were finally able to put those skills to use!  All of the Peace Corps trainees were divided based on where their homestay family lives.   There are about 5 students and one Language and Cultural facilitator for each village or community, and everyone has a school where they will teach as part of our internship.  In the morning we teach and in the afternoon we learn Kiswahili.  

I teach 6 periods a week (4 hours) to two different streams: 1B and 3C.  Now you are probably wondering what a stream is?  In Tanzania, secondary schools are divided into 4 forms:  1, 2, 3, and 4. Forms are comparable to how American high school students start as freshman (Form 1) and then become seniors (Form 4).  Within each form, students are divided into streams (usually A through E I think). My understanding is that generally the streams are divided based on student ability.  For example students in 3A are considered more advanced than students in 3D.  It is too soon for me to give my opinions on the Tanzanian education system, but I will tell you some observations that I have made… 

Not enough teachers!  The students are divided into different streams, however, Tanzania has a shortage of teachers (especially in the public government schools) and often students will not have a teacher for certain subjects.   I have noticed that students in the lower streams often seem to be the ones without teachers.  There is a belief that students in the lower streams are difficult and as a result, teachers are less interested in teaching them.  For example, the academic master did not want us (PCTs) to teach below stream C because the students were “bad.” I know for a fact that stream 3D has no English teacher because my dada Esta is in that stream.  This makes my heart break a little.  While I may not be an experienced teacher, I figure I must be better than no teacher! 

Tanzanian teachers use Kiswahili in Secondary school.   In Tanzania, the official language is Kiswahili.  However, all national exams in Secondary school are in English.  Students must be taught all subjects in English because their exams are in English. If they do not pass the exams they cannot further their education.  The problem is that many teachers are not confident in their own English skills so they teach subjects in Kiswahili.  This does not help students because they must pass the national exams in English.  That is one of the reasons why Peace Corps volunteers are important. Our site locations are generally in poor rural villages without electricity and running water.  Tanzanian teachers have no interest in teaching in these communities, and often times we will be the only native English speaker our students interact with.   

Limited Resources.  Tanzania is a poor country and many students are poor.  They must pay to attend school.  While government schools are cheaper than private schools they still must pay for them.  The schools cannot afford to give text books to students and most of the students cannot afford to buy them.  As a result, notes from class are the only resource students have!  When they prepare for exams, they read their exercise books and class notes.  As teachers, we must write everything on the chalk board (including paragraphs we may want students to practice reading) because they will be writing small text books in their notebooks.  Also, some students come to class but cannot afford to buy a pen or paper.  When I get to site I may try to figure out a pen lending system, however, we may have 80 students per class.  Supplying everyone with pens and notebooks may not be realistic on a teacher’s salary.   

Punishment.  In Tanzania, students are beaten with a stick if they behave badly.  If you are late to class you could get three lashes on your hands.  Children line up every day to receive punishment from the teacher on duty and you can sometimes hear them yell in pain.  Often times their hands are so sore from being hit with a stick that they cannot hold a pen and take notes in class.  I find the students to be very well behaved, so maybe there is some method to the Tanzanian method of discipline.  However, this is a cultural practice that I am struggling to accept.  

This is a very basic overview of my thoughts on Tanzanian schools after one week. I am sure I will write much more about this topic in the future.  I love all of my students and admire them so much.  This is not a culture of praise and my students were shocked when I told them that they were a very intelligent class and I felt lucky to teach them.  I am focusing on interactive teaching because in Tanzania, students watch the teacher lecture and take notes.  That is it!  Class participation, group work, discussion, asking questions, playing learning games, etc. are foreign concepts to these students.  They literally sit in the same classroom for hours and teachers walk in and out of the room.  Sometimes there is no teacher and yet students come to school every day, sit in the same seat, and hope that someone will come teach them.  Often, students will teach each other (especially higher streams and forms).   The students have such a burning desire to learn and they are a constant reminder of why I joined the Peace Corps!

This is a picture of all the English teachers in our training class.  You can get a general idea of what a Tanzanian classroom looks like.  Lots of desks and one chalkboard!