The life of a teacher at a community school in South Africa What I learnt teaching at Fairview Primary School in Grassy Park

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WORDS Misaki Uchida

I was in charge of Grade 1 to 3 students as an English volunteer teacher for a month. A classroom typically consists of 40 learners with 6 30-minute lessons. Fortunately, I was able to assist 4 to 7 children per lesson – a luxury that few South African teachers have. 

Typical day 

The work started off with cheerful voices of children at 9 o’clock. 

The Grade 1 students were taught how to write and sound the alphabet – especially vowels. They are really motivated to learn English, but sometimes I had trouble managing their endless energy. 

The Grade 2 students were very active and lively so my throat always became dry after the classes. I taught them how to write 3 letter words and read short stories.

For Grade 3 students, I taught them how to read longer stories. These classes had a more relaxed atmosphere than the other grades. 

Each day had 2 intervals which gave me a chance to speak to the other school teachers over coffee. They are cheerful and kind and gave me tips on how to live in South Africa and advised me to report naughty children. During the 2nd interval, girls in Grade 6 always came to see me. They love K-pop and were interested in Asian culture – a concept that I found so fascinating. I taught them the Japanese language, culture and music. One of the girls showed me her notebook which she used to study Japanese by herself.

Children were reading books after they finished work.

Challenges

Firstly, it was difficult to be fair to all the children as they had their own strong and weak points. When I played a card game with them for the first time, some children were good at reading but one boy was struggling and felt depressed after the game. The education level varies with each student as they have their own unique social backgrounds. However, it is a good thing to find out what their limitations are.

This experience helped me focus on their specific weak points, and in doing so I could see an improvement in the children. I can recall an example where a girl couldn’t write the alphabet by herself.  I singled her out and did a writing practice with her. Finally, she was able to write tricky letters such as “b” and “d” properly. Filling an education gap takes a lot of time but it is necessary to give them an enriching experience.

More challenges…

Secondly, I was not respected by some children because I am Asian. There are a few Asian people in the Grassy Park area, so children don’t have much opportunity to meet them. Unfortunately, some children had a negative image of Asian countries because of Hollywood movies or China Town. They also misunderstood the difference between Japan and China. Although my role was to teach English, I thought it would be a great opportunity to give accurate information as a true Asian, not “an Asian” in Hollywood movies. Therefore, I did a presentation about Japan which includes a small English word quiz and taught the children the art of calligraphy.

Children enjoyed seeing Japanese pictures and wrote messages for their family, their future dreams, and favorite words with a Japanese brush.  After I did these activities, children asked a lot of things about Japan, not only China.

 “I think experiencing other cultures makes children more creative and culturally aware” 

The children really enjoyed their calligraphy lesson

Highlight 

I believe that it is important to find a student’s own weak points and focus on each child in a small class. It’s ultimately 40 students with 40 different struggles. 

Due to time constraints, I couldn’t do as much as I would like to but  I could see a small improvement in the children. Of course, it is difficult to arrange every students’ studying schedule. However, I think we need to be more attentive to each child. It inspired me knowing that I can assist the teachers with the incredible work they do. The more volunteers we have, the more attention can be given to the children personally which can improve their quality of education.

My advice to all the future teaching volunteers would be to share your culture with the learners and in turn, they will open up to you.

South African teachers adapt their teaching to suit the multi-cultural mix of learners they are faced with every day. It’s a method that’s effective and allows for more student-teacher interaction and creativity. They need your help in giving each learner special attention, to nurture their talents and reach their true potential. Find out how you can join the teaching programme at Projects Abroad volunteers

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