Week 11- Educators, Art, and History

In front of Market Theatre

March 19^th- Today I met with Waahida from the Khulula Foundation. She is an American married to a South African. She is working at starting a charter school for students in Alexandra, a traditionally poor township in Johannesburg. In addition to her school endeavors, she was putting on a conference for educators called Innovative Teachers’ Institute, and asked me to speak with teachers about their rethinking their philosophy of teaching. I developed a workshop on becoming a passionate, skilled, connected, and revolutionary educator by reflectively examining personal teaching philosophies and practices. We were meant to meet for tea and the conversation lasted through lunch. It is inspiring to meet change agents in this world. 

That evening I went to the play called, The Island. I heard about one of the play's authors, Athol Fugard, at a dinner party before I left the States. I was told I needed to read one of his prolific scripts to understand South Africa better. When I noticed one of his plays was being done at the local art theatre in Johannesburg called the Market Theatre, I knew I needed to attend. The play was written by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona. It is about two prisoners on Robben Island for political involvement in the anti-apartheid movement. The play dramatizes the relationship of the two prisoners and their dealings with the guards and their fate (one having a life sentence, the other finding out his sentence has been reduced) by following orders during the day and practicing for a performance of Antigone in the evenings. Parallels are drawn between the many black prisoners who were being punished for fighting for their rights. 

From the play, The Island

March 20^th- I taught a class on Academic Literacy. I was surprised when I went over a brief history of the debate about language in South Africa over the last 75 years (based on the information given in their textbook for the class). Part of the history described includes the student demonstrations in Soweto where students were protesting their curriculum being in Afrikaans (a language very few students and/or teachers spoke).  

Language is an interesting topic in South Africa. There are 11 official languages (English, Afrikaans, and 9 African languages). Most of the schools are taught in home language and English, however, the test they need to pass high school and enter university (called matric) is written in English.

I know I have spoken about the matric rate before, but as I look at the education system I find myself thinking about some solutions to the improving the numbers. According to Bongekile Macupe (2013), “In 2001, just over 1.1 million pupils started Grade 1. Last year, only 511,152 pupils wrote their matric exams. And of these, only 377,829 pupils passed.”  These numbers remind me of Oakland Unified School District (2011) where “English learners: 40.8 % graduation rate, 36.6 % dropout rate and 12.2 % still enrolled. Special education students: 39.4 % graduation rate, 33.7 % dropout rate and 18.3 % still enrolled. Low-income students: 58.6 % graduation rate, 26.9 % dropout rate and 9.2 % still enrolled.” (Katy Murphy, The Education Report). Disclaimer: I know you cannot compare a country to a city, I am just connecting the experiences.

These students who do pass matric and enter the university are struggling as well, with many universities experiencing a 40% dropout rate. I am wondering what can be done for these students. Is this an issue of teacher training? Should there be an increase in student support programs (extra tutoring, writing centers, counseling, etc)? Would students access these services?

Sharpeville Massacre March 21, 1960

March 21- Human Rights Day- South Africa recognizes Human Rights Day on March 21, 1960. During that time, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), the two main native African political groups, had launched an anti-pass campaign. Apartheid laws had ordered anyone of color (Blacks, Indians, and Coloureds) needed to have a pass in order to be out of their townships. The members were asked to leave their passes at home in hopes of filling up the jails and putting the economy at risk. On March 19^th, Robert Sobukwe (PAC President), announced the beginning of the campaign to be scheduled for March 21^st. Approximately 5,000-7,000 people marched to the jail that day while 300 armed policemen. The police report the marchers threw stones and they retaliated with opening fire on the crowd. The result, 69 people were killed and 180 were injured. This event brought attention to the anit-pass campaign, to police brutality, and the number of protests and demonstrations increased all over South Africa. The ANC and PAC were banned and the leaders went underground while police and armed forces were sent in to “control” the people.  

March 22- After a long day of trying to catch up on writing, I met up with my friend Caz at Zoo Lake (literally there is a zoo and a lake...and lawn bowling). The music professor from the local university (Wits) put on a jam session for local jazz artists. Caz's friend introduced us to one musician with an interesting story. He was living in a township outside of Jo'burg as a teenager. Both of his parents had died of AIDS and he was homeless. A musician donated a bunch of instruments to the school and although there was no saxophone teacher, that was the instrument he decided to pick up. He taught himself how to play. During this time there were many distractions in his life, he turned to drugs. A few years later, he was found on the streets and because his music teacher had believed in his skill he was introduced to the music department head at the university. The professor believed in his talent as well and found a woman to take him in and a tutor to help him pass his matric so he can someday study at the university. He said he is confident in his skills to be successful now because even when he doesn't believe in himself, everyone else believes in him.

Inspiring Youth

Week 10- Education and Kruger Park “The earth has music for those who listen.” ― George Santayana

March 10^th- My guesthouse mates made me “real” South African cuisine:  Vetkoek…basically deep fried dough with minced meat mixture inside. I have to say it was delicious. They also made another one that was baked in the oven with honey. Yum! Meanwhile, I helped them study for their test the next day (it was in restaurant management). I learned about the process for making bear, brandy, and whisky and helped them make flashcards for drinks. 

Amelda and Benedict (my chefs)

Vetkoek and study materials

March 11^th- Another debriefing with the 4^th year preservice teachers. This week we focused on what is going right in the classroom- strengths and interventions. It is so easy to put the energy on what is going wrong, especially for the students who are working at a struggling schools or with students with diverse needs. The preservice teachers broke up into groups and worked on two questions: 1) What are some strengths at your school site? and 2) what are some challenges? What is being done (interventions that work)? The discussion was lively and all of the students seemed to be engaged while they were talking about what was going on in their classrooms. Next, we had the teachers share out. During this time, the students were able to ask questions and have discussions about their observations while the class and lecturers gave feedback. Some major issues that were raised included discipline, differing rates of learning, and interpersonal challenges with staff.

March 13^th- I was asked to visit a school in Soweto’s area called Jabulani. I came to the school with my blurb about who I am and what I can offer. I asked questions about their school and then asked if they felt there was anything I could do to support them at this time. The principal and teachers in the meeting were very pleased I was at their school and asked if I could do some professional development, work with teachers and oversee individual students who they have concerns about in the classroom.  

Next, I taught an English Literacy class for the third year students. This was part II of examining the Harry Potter book. Because I noticed some issues from the teachers the week before, I decided to begin the class with an exercise. I had them answer 4 questions:  1) Who was their favorite teacher? Why? 2) What does good teaching look like? 3) What does good learning look like? and 4) Write a teaching pledge. I had the class share out how they answered and we talked about what they were doing in the classroom to show up for learning. Then, I broke them into groups to work on their Harry Potter Activities.  A few groups came up to ask for help and I asked where their missing group members were and they said they left. For the ones who stayed, they asked questions about how they could relate the story to their lives. I asked them if they ever felt connected to how Harry was feeling in the book or maybe a different character…they told me they needed to read closer. Some groups were not sure how they could relate the story to a historical event. I asked them what the major idea of the book was, they said good versus evil with a hero involved. I asked them if that had ever happened in history before…some groups said Jesus, others said Mandela. When they figured out an answer the look on their faces reminded me why I love teaching- when people finally get it.

March 14^th- I went to a cocktail hour hosted by “Small World” with my Italian guesthouse mate, Agata. Small World is one of those websites for ex-patriots…it is very exclusive, so exclusive they cut off the list at 1 million, so I am not an official member, I am just allowed to be a guest of a real member. At this event I met a few interesting people, mostly working in finance and mining.

March 15-17^th- Kruger Park- Nelly and I left for Kruger Park around noon. It took almost 6 hours of driving before we made it to our guesthouse in Marloth Park. We had some dinner and wine and headed to bed for a 4am wake up…we heard the lions roaring throughout the night- and they were not that close (life in the bush). It is recommended to get to the park by 5:30 to see the animals waking up and looking for food. We reserved an open top jeep and a driver/guide for the day, her name is Kellie. 

Drive to Kruger- smoke and traffic

We saw porcupine (they are nocturnal), hippos, elephants, impalas, zebras, a white rhino, lions, and giraffe all before 8am. Then, the sightings became less frequent although we ended up seeing the buffalo, warthogs, a jumping spider, kudu, vervet monkey, green mamba snake, crocodile, spring bok, leopard, wildebeest, steenbok, bateleur eagles, vultures, storks, lilac-breasted roller, and cheetah before leaving the park.  

I wasn’t sure if a drive through a game park was my kind of thing, but I have to say seeing the animals was such an amazing experience that everyone should try to do at some point in their life.

Feeding zebras at Marloth Park (guest house)

Lilac-breasted roller

Kudu

White Rhino

Wildebeast

Fever Tree

Here are some of the interesting facts I learned:

• ·      Rhino horns are made from hair and can grow back when they are cut off
• ·      The fever tree was named that because the hunters tended to get malaria after being near it (because they grow near water=mosquitos)
• ·      Kruger park is the size of Israel or Wales (2,000,000 hectacres)
• ·      When people talk about the “big 5” that means- elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, and lion. The term big 5 came from the difficulty hunting these five animals.
• ·      Leopards are built for stealth and preys or stalks animals, then kills and stores what it has killed (leisurely eating), whereas the cheetahs are built for speed- they attack and eat their prey immediately (mostly because they use all of their energy in short burst).
• ·      The African elephant is bigger than the Asian elephant
• ·      Some of the birds migrate from Europe to the park
• ·      The park holds more elephants than it can sustain
• ·      Giraffes struggle to walk on pavement (go figure)

We only had one day to go into the park, the next morning we began the 6-hour drive back to Jo’burg (I did a good job stopping and resting when I was tired). It was tiring and a whirl wind trip to the park, but worth every minute and ounce of energy!

Week 9- “There can be no equality without social justice.” (written at Constitution Hill)

"It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails."

March 3^rd- City Tour- Agata and I found discount tickets for the hop on hop off bus in Jo’burg. We started at Constitution Hill, an old Fort Prison and the current Constitutional Court of South Africa. Constitution Hill is located next to the Hillbrow neighborhood.

Hillbrow Tower (with the pink ball) and Neighborhood
as seen from Constitution Hill

 In the book, No Turning Back, by Beverley Naidoo, she described Hillbrow from a 12-year old boy, Sipho, perspective, “What’s that ma?’ he had asked, pointing to a cluster of lights glittering high up above all the rest. They lit up what seemed to be a giant drum with enormous round saucer eyes looking out at the black sky. ‘That one is the Hillbrow Tower.” The tower is a telecommunication tower, the tallest structure in South Africa at 883 feet, and was finished in 1971 after working 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. Hillbrow is on the list of neighborhoods to avoid at all costs due to danger, poverty, unemployment, and crime.  Interestingly enough, during apartheid, it was an all white neighborhood, now the ethnic breakdown is 95.6% Black African, 2.5% Colored, 1.5% White and 0.4% Indian or Asian. When people talk about the neighborhood, issues of crime, xenophobia, and poverty are usually included.

Constitution Hill had a long line of important prisoners. In the 1900s there were mostly Boers and Boer-supporters who were imprisoned by the English. In 1908, Mahatma Gandhi was in there for refusing to carry the pass (passes were required for all Indian, Blacks, and Colored in order to move from one area to another). 

In the special exhibition, they described Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagratha from the words “satya” meaning truth and “agraha” meaning seizing or firmness.”

In 1913 and 1922, miners were imprisoned for going on strike. 1942 brought a group of Afrikaners and pro-Nazis. By 1955, the jail was being filled with ANC freedom fighters. Then in 1956, Nelson Mandela, Albert Luthuli, Joe Slovo, ZK Mathews, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Helen Joseph, Moses Kotane, Lillian Ngoyi and Ruth First, were brought there as well for fighting against apartheid. Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Mandela, and Robert Sobukwe were all imprisoned for fighting against the pass laws as well as communists and gangsters until the 1980s. 

Mandela was held there as well as Robben Island. In the cell that held Mandela and the other black prisoners they have highlighted his communication with his outside followers. They also gave a description of the organization of the prison for each of the groups (Blacks, Colored, Indian, White, and Women’s) based on their prison cells and program (see daily diets below, please note this was for group A prisoners, not necessarily those who were in solitary confinement). 

Next, we boarded the Hop On Hop Off Bus and headed downtown. We were able to see Gandhi Square, where a statue of Gandhi to commemorate his fight against racially biased laws. In South Africa, he was thrown off a train for being in a white section (he bought a first class ticket), he couldn’t find a room in a hotel because they wouldn’t rent to Asians and he wasn’t allowed to eat in the hotel dining room (1893), he was ordered to walk in the streets rather than the sidewalk, he wasn’t allowed to use the elevator (even as a lawyer working in the building), he wasn’t allowed to use the trams, and South Africa did not recognize Hindu and Muslim marriages, therefore, his children were considered illegitimate in the eyes of the law.

All over Jo'burg you will find these hills of dirt...the mining companies
are supposedly going through them again sifting for more gold. 

Other tidbits of information on the bus included the naming of Johannesburg…they are not sure who it is named after, however, there were two Johanns who were critical in the founding of the city- Johann Rissik (first clerk in the surveyor’s office) and Christian Johannes Joubert (government surveyor). Basically, the city was only established because of the gold found below in 1886 (Gautang, name of the province- means gold). They also claim the city is the largest man-made forest in the world because there were no tree. Below you will see a light brown hill made of dirt that was mined and sifted for gold.

view of Jozi (Hillbrow Tower, Coke Building, and more)

March 4^th- 4^th year debriefing- Because the UJ program for Childhood Education (Foundation Phase teachers) is in its first stage of development there is a special opportunity for developing a wonderful program of support and knowledge for the preservice teachers. One way the university is doing this is through a 4^th year debriefing to discuss what they are experiencing in their classrooms. This gives the student teachers an opportunity to discuss the successes, challenges, and issues that are coming up while they are in the field.

March 7^th- I finally visited a school in Soweto. The visit was to a special school that is currently becoming more inclusive. We discussed how I could support the staff and students. After the meeting, I went to the campus and found it empty, evidently the school of education was in a meeting (that I didn’t have to attend), the secretary told me she was closing the office for the day. I still hadn’t made it to the Apartheid Museum and I figured it was a good use of my time. 

The museum sets the tone with the Seven Pillars of the Constitution (Democracy, Equality, Reconciliation, Diversity, Responsibility, Respect, and Freedom) that laid the foundation for the values of the constitution that was signed in 1996. The exhibit presents the history of how gold brought migrants to Johannesburg beginning in 1886. In 1910, the country was called the Union of South Africa and the policy of segregation was started with the founders, Jan Smuts and J B M Hertzog (they also banned Blacks and White Women from voting). Remember, this is when Gandhi was non-violently protesting the treatment of different racial groups.

The museum then presents the social issues that laid the foundation for apartheid, such as the struggles of the poor White people and the Afrikaner’s fight for their country post civil wars (with the British) at the turn of the century. In 1948, the apartheid laws officially began with the relocation of certain racial groups into townships.  

People actually changed their "race"

March 21^st, 1960 a group of 5,000-7,000 people marched to the police station in Sharpeville to “turn themselves in” for not carrying their pass books. There were about 20 police on duty. Later, it is said, about 19,000 people were present. The police retaliated and 69 people were killed, many shot in the back as they were running away. At least 180 others were injured. This is known as the Sharpeville massacre and now Human Rights Day is held every March 21^st to commemorate that day for all South Africans (and UNESCO marks this day as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination).

After the massacre, the South African government outlawed the ANC and the PAC organizations and both groups went underground. Another policy called “Bantustan” aimed at getting Black citizens onto “homelands” according to their ethnicity. This idea is similar to the Native American reservations in the United States except the leaders could not establish economies or jobs…the homelands were dependent of South Africa for funding.

In the 1960’s Black leaders began to challenge the philosophy of apartheid, such as Stephen Bilko. He was a leader of the South African Student Organisation (SASO) and supported the 1976 uprisings. In 1976, Black student protests were held around the country to fight for improving education. The Bantu Education Act of 1953 said students learned in the Afrikaans language, received an inferior curriculum that would support their position compared to Whites, had overcrowded classrooms, and were not given the same education (such as high school). SASO fought for more schools, better books, and learning in their home language (versus a language their teacher often didn’t speak). In 1977, while being detained and interrogated on anti-terrorism charges, Bilko died in prison. He, along with many others, died due to “gross human rights violations in the custody of law enforcement officials.” 

The next stage of the museum focused on the violence of the 1980s. The students and civil rights leaders organized two major groups:  United Democratic Front (UDF) and Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU). Just as the UDF and COSATU were supporting human rights and the foundations of the ANC, the government was coming down on protesters. I learned informants for the police were “tired”, basically a tire was stuck around their body and they were lit on fire publically. This was in response to the government pressures to turn people associated with the ANC into the officials. Even this week in the newspaper there are some suspicions that two bodies of boys found buried in a local township could be related to a disappearance during this time. In this section of the museum, there were examples given of the brain washing the White people were getting in the media. They also highlighted supporters of the anti-apartheid movement.

By the late 80s, talks began with the ANC and in 1989 F W de Klerk became president. He released Nelson Mandela from prison and once again allowed the political parties to come out of their underground existence. February 11, 1990, Mandela was released with his fist held high, however, over the next four years, 14,000 South African lost their lives in political violence. During this time, a national Bill of Rights was created and the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) supported the next election. Nelson Mandela became president and the ANC won with 63% of the vote.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu was formed in 1995 to work towards healing the country by hearing stories from perpetrators and victims of apartheid from 1960-1994. Some people were given amnesty for their crimes.

March 8^th- The morning of my birthday, I was surprised by flowers from my neighbor, Maxime, and Agata and I went to breakfast before work. Later, I co-taught an English class. The students were asked to read the second Harry Potter book. I provided a list of 13 activities for groups to discuss in a book club fashion. I put together a presentation on some different elements of reading comprehension and critical thinking. 

March 9^th- Because of my illness the weeks before, I was unable to teach the class to honors students at the university, so I rescheduled. I went over brain-based research and strategies for working with students with diverse needs.  The class only had three students so many of the group activities had to be altered, but the class overall was interesting and informative. The students were so enthusiastic about discussing what they experience in the classroom and also what they are exposed to at their school sites. Overall, another amazing week in SA. 

Edward, Michelle, Benedict, Anelda, Maxime, and Ronell

My crew from UJ (I am cutting my homemade Tiramisu)