Day 2: First Day in Emafini Primary School

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Today was our first day at Emafini Primary School.  It is grades R - 7 school with about 1200 students.  The teacher:student ratio is 1 to 38.  Our group discussed budgeting, staff, etc. with the principal.  We wanted to learn more about barriers to the teaching and learning process.  Mrs. Thamo, head of department expressed that it is important to display culture (i.e. Xhosa) to white people and meet them half way.  The Xhosa culture greets people daily which includes every time they see them, inform neighbors about celebrations or important news before telling other people, etc.  From her conversation, I gathered a strong sense of community and support within the Xhosa culture.  They are very friendly people.  

Below is a picture of grade 5 math classroom where I taught several lessons.  Yes, this is a chalkboard!  Mr. Manyuka reviews Mental math problems with students.  Students do about 10 - 15 mental math problems every day at the beginning of class.  

We visited the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and had a meeting with Dr. Zinn, Dean of Education and Dr. N. Botha, director of school to discuss challenges in the teacher preparation program and SA education system.  Major challenges are inequalities in human and material resources, teaching and learning, and homes where students come from. The government names good schools as "Model C".  She mentioned that it is not unfair to compare schools if the variables are not equal.  Standards set by traditional predominantly white schools which is not the reality for the disadvantaged schools.    "Student minds are not disadvantaged."  At least 80 percent of South African students are economically disadvantaged, however, I saw a zeal for learning.  In SA, schools are provided $4 per white child as compared to $1 per black child. Thus, the government must spend monies differently and teachers must be trained differently.  Dr. Zinn and Dr. Botha noted that everything is linked to politics even corrupt practices in the teacher unions.  

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University