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