Teaching in Jamaica is Hard Work

For two weeks this summer, I will help to facilitate a summer camp for grade five students in Jamaica. I have always been convinced that with an approach appropriate to student’s competencies and cultural context, they can learn. After just three days, however, I am left scratching my head. I am at my wits end as to how I can help these students understand the material they need for the GSAT exam, and more importantly, their future. I have realized that I am not cut out to be an educator, for I do not possess the requisite patience to govern children who seem to have missed the memo about why they come to school. Let me detail some of my experiences here, so you too can understand my frustrations.

My primary teaching role at the camp is instructing three classes of pupils in Language Arts/ Communication Skills and Drama. These children have no reservations when it comes to expressing themselves in the nation’s language, until they are called upon to share an opinion. And let me tell you, when a child tells you they won’t participate, they are serious. No amount of coddling, beseeching, or guilt tripping, will make a difference. I always felt children learn better in an environment where they are made to feel as though their opinions matter. Collaboration is key, and so long as you establish that modus operandi, people would not be shy about sharing a view. WRONG!

The most expressive child goes quiet when called upon- if even for a few seconds. Their faces relax; their eyes fixate on some point in my direction, but never at my own; their limbs go limp. They look almost mournful. Their peers start to giggle. Stinging epithets are exchanged between the individual in the spotlight, and their heckling classmates, before their stoic expressions return. It’s almost as if they forget the questions they were asked in their bid to avoid contributing to the discussion at hand- to avoid giving an incorrect response. I am waiting Shatika, the class would like to hear your thoughts. Shatika is adamant; she will not speak. In the interest of the time, I must move on.

I was troubled, so I took the time to ask them why they think, personally, that they freeze when called upon to contribute to the learning experience in the class. They seemed to be listening intently, and their expressions suggested that they understood what I was asking, but when I prodded them for responses, again, they froze. The classrooms are located in one building. Each of five classrooms is partitioned by two blackboards, beneath which the feet of students in the other class can easily be observed- the students make ample use of this design feature. The walls of the classroom are decorated with stylish see-through blocks and windows, through which every sudden flash of colour or the source of outbursts of sound is identified by the curious students. Chatter, shouts and laughter from every other class is heard in my own, and it is often impossible for me to hear myself speak. The children seem more concerned about all the exciting things going on around them more than my voice, droning on about the importance of committing that day’s lesson to memory.

Today I taught pronouns and parts of speech in class. Elementary? Certainly, yet, these are concepts that they have not mastered.
"Verbs are action or doing words," their voices ring out in a chorus.
Okay, so give me a verb and use it appropriately in a sentence.
"RUNNING, EATING, TALKING, DANCING.’ Their voices are a most annoying cacophony. That’s a remarkable vocabulary you have there! Okay, what is an adverb?
"A word that modifies an adjective, verb or adverb."

Good, so name one and use it in a sentence. Then their eyes roll towards some point away from me. Silence permeates the still, hot air, and I sigh in desperation. They’re listening, or at least I think they are, yet they do not understand the material. I repeat the same material from yesterday, but still it is foreign to them. When I ask for the part of speech of the word "slowly", rest assured that all five parts of speech mentioned the day prior would be offered as an answer.

I read five sentences written by one girl today. She completely misplaced subject pronouns for object pronouns in the first, and it was my job to highlight where she had gone wrong. When I asked her if she remembers yesterday's lesson about pronouns, she said in a sombre voice, "no." She is in grade 5. "Him must put down some money an pay the man him rent, because him not to live on the man land." Again, I sighed heavily, this time in exasperation. I’m not giving up just yet. I still have another week to figure out how to, even to a small degree, rectify the structural and cultural realities, which affect these children’s ability to learn.

And, to think that teachers are poorly paid!