Week 20: Addressing Language, School Reports, and Pilanesberg Game Reserve

Pilanesberg Game Reserve Crew

Sunset at Pilanesberg Game Reserve

 After my rejuvenating weekend in Mozambique I jumped back into work early Monday morning after dropping Kim off at the hop on hop off bus. My office continued to have students lined out the door even though I had submitted their grades the week before. In addition to preparing reports for each of the schools I was working with in Soweto I had agreed to speak at Professor Makalela’s class on “Paradigms and Methods in Applied Language Studies” at Witwatersrand. The class was designed for honors and masters level students to reflect on research-based theories and practices concerning language acquisition, development, and instruction. Prof. Makalela and I spoke at the Teachers Upfront event in April on Multilingualism and Biliteracy.

Baby Hippo in the sunshine in
Pilanesberg Game Reserve

As common, there were issues with technology…so I began class as the professor went looking for an LCD projector (the person with the remote from the university had already left and we so we were not able to use the one in the room). I had seen the students’ syllabus and noticed they had been exposed to theories, language variations, and policy so I focused on practices when working with language learners. I had the group work in pairs and try to figure out the different diverse learning tasks (emotion pictures, cloze story about Harry Hippo ____ the ____, and explain themselves without using words with certain letters). Then I reviewed some of the sections of my presentation from the Teachers Upfront. For the best practice section of the this presentation I had the students go through the chapters of the SIOP Model book (Echecarria, Vogt, & Short, 2013). Pearsons Publishing provided copies for me to bring to South Africa and I have been leaving the textbook at schools and universities because of its helpful strategies.

Honors and Masters Students at Wits University

We spoke about cooperative learning groups…one of the students was concerned about homogenous groups, especially if they were all low level learners. I explained that no one strategy worked all of the time and that stigmatizing learners was never effective, however, allowing students who struggled or excelled in similar areas work together could be a powerful tool for explicitly teaching skills. After our discussion about groupings (interactions), we spoke about specific strategies for increasing learning and retention. There was of course not enough time but I did scan and send the information to the students afterwards (okay, actually I had tried to scan and provide handouts, but I found out my scanning skills are lacking and a few pages were missing, so I had to rescan and email them the next day-ugh).

After class I met up with Cristines and Kim for dinner. Cristines works downtown and so Kim got off the hop on hop off bus near her work because I was teaching the afternoon class. Thank goodness for good friends! We enjoyed a delicious bottle of pinotage that evening, Deetlefs. Pinotage is the South African take on pinot noir, but because of the temperatures in wine so they crossed the pinot noir and the cinsaut (hermitage) grapes to create a delicious wine (most of the time). The bottle we drank this night was from Cristines and my trip wine tasting when Lesotho wouldn’t let a Brazilian into the country.

May 21^st- Time is going by so quickly. I was glad I made it to work fairly early because I had a full day of planning and writing to complete. There was a luncheon for one of the lecturers who was leaving UJ for another job. It was kind of emotional to be in the luncheon because this lecturer isn’t one to cry and she was so overwhelmed with gratitude she couldn’t speak. I was thinking this place and the people at UJ seem to have a stronger hold on us than we would expect…my eyes got a bit glossy as well.

I gave part two of the professional development seminars to the school Funda Ujabule in the afternoon. The topic was barriers to reading. We quickly reviewed sections of reading and possible factors that could indicate barriers for each component:  phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. We talked about the three sections of the brain used in reading:  the frontal lobe with helps with understanding/semantics; temporal lobe for auditory processing; and visual cortex for visual processing/orthography.  A discussion about code-switching and translanguaging as educators and with students- here in South Africa, most teachers, students, and families switch from one language to another with ease…although this provides more exposure to languages it can be confusing for students who are expected to learn in their mother tongue until 4^th grade and then learn mostly in English (matric test given in English). We spoke about how learners can struggle with sounds, meaning, and fluency when they haven’t gotten a strong grasp of one language.

The teachers asked specific questions about how to explicitly teach skills and still work with learners who already knew the skills, especially with students with dyslexia. They agreed that assessment was important but they were not sure how to fit assessment into a full day. I went through some examples of how you can teach to the whole class but analyze work, individual reading, and barriers while moving through the classroom. Also, Funda Ujabule has a special circumstance because they are a university teaching school, therefore, they have access to preservice teachers to help them in assessing and working individually with students. We finished with the teachers creating two mini-lessons: one in the mother tongue and one in English including assessments.

That evening Kim learned to make quinoa salad and somewhat seared tuna, my friend Thiago came over for dinner and we all enjoyed the fruits of Kim’s efforts.

I completed all three reports for the schools I am working with Soweto:  a special school, a secondary school, and a primary school. The offering for each site was slightly different based on the interviews, surveys, and observations made at the site. My original plan was to meet with the schools in the first two months of my Fulbright, however, due to various issues (schools not having time because of testing, principals calling back, etc) this did not happen. For two of the four schools in Soweto I met with the principal and head of departments in February and asked for their staff to complete the survey and I would return to pick them up. One school lost the surveys and asked me to come back in late March, however, I was in Cape Town and Richard’s Bay until the end of April. The second school did not return my phone calls so I just stopped by. I found out that the one of the heads of department was not in the initial meeting so she told the teachers not to complete the survey. I met with her and told her my plan for support, she said she would have the surveys ready by the next Friday. By May 15^th I had finally received most of the surveys, interviewed school staff, and in some sites observed teaching. Based on this information I wrote a report using the survey results, interviews, observations, and school documents they provided followed by a description of how I felt I could support the school best. On May 22, I presented the reports to each of the schools.

 

Library at School I

School 1 (School for students with special needs):  Out of 38 teachers teaching 440 students, 17 completed the survey. The school’s languages include English, isiZulu, and Sesotho. Most of the teachers have taught for over 7 years, they felt that have been properly trained in inclusive practices, and they felt knowledgeable about visual, auditory, physical, and emotional challenges…however, they all agreed they would benefit from additional training. This school reported that they utilizes differentiation of instruction, visual aids, assistive technology, and relevant teaching practices. They have informational workshops on life skills and support groups for teachers and parents. Because their students come from all around Soweto, they didn’t feel like they have as much support from the community as they like, but they do feel like they have been able to give back to their community with informational workshops. They asked for a workshop on practical strategies, teacher empowerment, and community involvement. My offer included writing a grant for their library and 2 workshops on inclusive strategies and assessing learners. I scheduled a day the next week to return for a 2-hour workshop.

 

Gate to Library (School II)

School II Library

School 2 (Secondary School- grades 8-12):  This school has 44 teachers teaching 1,141 students in English, isiXhosa, Sepedi, and Sesotho. Ten teachers completed the survey, however, more allowed me to interview them about the school in a group. The teachers who completed the survey have almost all taught over 7 years. The teachers felt they had not been trained in inclusive practices by their credential program, school, or outside agencies. They had not been trained in the last year and they said they were not at all confident in their understanding of visual, auditory, physical, or emotional issues. Although they reported remedial classes, differentiation of instruction, tutoring, and teacher support as available, many of them said student, life skills, teacher, family, and community support was limited and inconsistent. They asked for more training and workshop materials on inclusive practices. My offer included writing a library grant, providing assessment materials (reading, writing, and math) and training on how to assess learners, and working on postsecondary transition plans for students. I said I could return for two workshops. The school thanked me graciously and the head of department said she would give me a call once she spoke to her department about when to return.

School III Library (with volunteers)

School 3 (Primary School- grades R-8):  School 3 had 580 learners enrolled (one teacher corrected me when I called the students) and 17 teachers on staff. They speak English and Sepedi. Thirteen teachers responded to the survey and, once again, most of them had been teaching for over 7 years. Almost all of the teachers reported they had not been trained well in inclusive practices by their university, district, or outside agency. They wanted more training on visual, auditory, physical, and emotional challenges. The said most of the adaptations for students included meeting with students after school and trying to implement remedial support. Many reported knowing more than one language as a support in the classroom. This school has two major non-government organizations supporting their students:  City Year Program (a tutoring and mentoring program from the United States) and Shoes of Wisdom (an NGO focused on literacy and enrichment for struggling students). They also had representatives from the university (intern) supporting psychological needs of some students. The teachers said they were given curriculum, pamphlets and information from the government to teach their students but they were not supported on working with diverse learners. They said teacher, family, and community support was limited and inconsistent. My offer included revising their school focus plan, work with the NGOs in developing a plan, writing a library grant, providing training and materials on assessment, assisting with the organization of a Career Expo (to relate learning to future success), and providing workshops to teachers and NGO staff. I scheduled two workshops after presenting the report and offering to 14 staff members (teachers and administration).

That afternoon (after a 20 minute meditation to clear my head), I took Kim to Rosebank mall African Market. We then met up with Michelle at an event for GreenPeace…although they mentioned the damage American companies cause all around the world, they also said there was hope because some of the big companies had recently stopped production. They also highlighted the France’s damaging use of nuclear energy.

 

Elephants in Pilanesberg

May 24- My lovely assistance, Nthabiseng, came in and helped with data input until after dark and so I agreed to give her a ride home…my darn phone gps system died while I was weaving my way back through Soweto in the dark. Thank goodness I have a pretty good sense of direction, I was able to find my way home. Kim, Cristines, Diana (lawyer from New York), and Constantine (German) met at Bassline for a concert for Africa Day. Both Cristines and I were exhausted and Kim and I were going to Pilanesburg the next morning so we left the show early. 

 

Agata and Kim at Predator World
(with porcupine quills)

Memorabilia at our hotel
"Anglo-Boer War theme"

Pilanesberg:  Thiago drove Kim, Agata, and I up to Pilanesberg for the night. We scheduled a tour into the Pilanesberg Game Reserve and Sun City (large casino everyone in South Africa insists needs to be visited). The tour began by going to Predator World…not a stop I would have made on purpose, but it was informative. Our guide at the park/zoo told us about porcupines (they can’t actually shoot their quills) and gave the ladies a quill to take home- I have no idea where mine went or what I would do with it if I knew. There were two leopards that were enclosed together because it is mating season. The female is darker than the male…they “mate” for 30 seconds many times throughout the day then return to their respective spaces.

One of the saddest things we learned was about jackals. They mate for life and if their partner dies they usually die from a broken heart because they are monogamous.

 

Depressed Jackal 

There were Bengal Tigers, Pumas/Mountain Lion, and White Lions in the park as well. The White Lions’ life span is about 7-10 years, however they often die of starvation because of their light coat. I did like the fact that the men take care of the pride…they babysit.

 

gorgeous white lions

On the game drive through Pilanesberg National Park we were able to see giraffe, zebras, elephants, and ostriches. The most exciting part was the group of White Rhinos. 

White Rhinos

Some tidbits of information I learned are: 1) one kick from a giraffe can kill a lion, 2) they brought 80 ostriches to the park two years ago, there are only 50 left, and if they don’t reproduce soon they won’t survive.

Game Drive

After the park, our driver took us to Sun City for dinner. Sun City is a large casino where there was just some controversy because the ANC (government) allowed the Guptas (Indian family highly invested in South Africa) to close part of the casino, land a plane on the military airport, and close roads for a wedding. The next morning we went back to Sun City to check out the wave pool, but it was closed for the day. We headed to the Lion and Rhino park but ended up near Hartsbeespoort Dam at a roadside attraction for Afrikaners- beer, large portions of meat, motorcycles, and a cover band.

 

Beer, Wine, Fried Food, and Cover Songs

Week 19: 12-hour workdays, Village Walk in Mozambique, and History of Poor White in South Africa

Flamingo Bay, Mozambique

May 13^th- I stopped at the three schools in Soweto on the way to work to pick up the surveys they completed about their school challenges and successes. Another day with my office full of students asking for assignments, turning in late work, however, today the 3^rd year students wrote their exam. Many of the students stopped by my office to tell me that what I taught them in the three sessions actually helped them understand their test questions better- others said they wished they showed up for the classes so they understood better as well. Live and learn.

I met with the 4^th year research students until 7pm and I was happy to drive to Michelle’s house to have dinner with her family after I was done. Her sons, Dustin and Kai, are really special. Every night at dinner, everyone says three things they are grateful for that happened that day. I love that at least one of the boys usually says they are grateful that I came over for dinner. You have to appreciate being appreciated! I was thankful that the 4^th years are really beginning to understand research and seem to be excited about their projects. My second bit of gratitude was that the 3^rd year students who are coming to my office, making the connection between what they learned and what I taught. My third was that I would be going to Mozambique that weekend.

On Tuesday, I got up early and headed to the Mozambique Embassy (not far from my house…unless you are driving there at 7am)…I realized I left my passport at home, turned around, drove back…then their machines were broken so I had to wait to see if they came back online. I met Bradley, he works for a tourism office, is married to an American (living in Los Angeles), and from KwaZulu-Natal.  We waited until they directed us to the bank…I went to work. I met with more 4^th year research student groups to talk about what the research says, who they want to research (and where), and what type of mini-study they think is feasible…then, I headed to the bank and then to the Mozambique Embassy just in time before closing to find out that the machines were still offline and my passport would be ready the next day. And if I was one of the people who used the term TIA…I would insert it here.

Niki, Roberto, Agata, Yoke, and Me

That evening, Agata (Italian Post-Doctorate who lives at the guesthouse) and I met up with Niki and his friend Yoke, at a Wine Tasting. We had a nice time moving through the venue…

Wednesday was another day beginning at 5:30am and working straight through until I made it to the place called Emperor’s Palace to see a Bollywood dance performance called Mystic India with Seema. Emperor’s Palace is a casino (like malls, SA loves casinos) with restaurants, theatres, gambling, and eerie fake ceilings that look like the sky. The show was actually impressive, albeit a bit cheesy. The show celebrates the transformation of ancient India to modern day…as demonstrated by the dance of the different regions. I was very impressed by the acrobats- there is something about someone being able to hold themselves mid-air with just their hands.

Thursday morning, Cristines and I left for Mozambique…we were surprised by the tiny size of the plane, but we arrived safely in Inhambane (eventually). We were staying in a place called Flamingo Bay in a room on stilts in the water. By the time we got there most of the events for the day were finished, so we just chilled by the pool, which was about all my brain could take.

On Friday morning, Cristines had arranged to go on a dive, I was more than happy to lay in bed all morning staring out at the water and drinking tea. When she returned from her dive we went on the “village walk.”

 The village walk began with the “market” or “strag” where a few stalls were set up with fruit and snacks. Then we walked to where the bread is made, saw the inside of the school (although there were no children inside and it was a Friday).

We made our way to the water supply tank that was provided by the owners of the lodge we were staying in…see they moved the people of the village from their homelands, but they made sure they had homes and clean water. Our guide told us that there is enough water for everyone in the village.

Next, he took us to his home where he lives with his mother, uncle, 5 sisters, 3 brothers, their children, and his two children. His wife died a few years ago. He has a cement house for himself and they are in the process of building a bathroom as well.

The kitchen, his sister's hut, and his cement house

  His family eating breakfast...

 

 He got out a machete called a “panga” and climbed up the palm tree to get us coconuts.

 He showed us the difference between young and old coconuts…the young have more water, a film around the core that you can eat, and are used for bark. The older coconuts also have some water but they are known for their oil and soap.

 He grated the inside of the coconut…and of course I had to try as well. In a few minutes he had perfectly scraped the inside, after a few minutes I hadn’t made much of an imprint (see photo).

We were also introduced to coconut beer (reminded me of homebrew cider during my university days) and how to “braid” palm leaves. They use the dried braided leaves in roofing.

 

When we returned from the village walk we only had a short time before our scheduled “sunset cruise.” The cruise left from the bay and took us around the area where they were fisherman bringing in their haul for the day.

 

The next day was raining…Cristines went diving again, I listened to the rain while reading and watching the water. I also worked on the projects I would be offering to the schools in Soweto…but that was between naps. Yes, it is a hard life I lead. My “fun” reading was a book called, Poor White by Edward John Bottomley. Maxime, my French neighbor who is studying Political Science at UJ and Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (usually called Sciences Po), showed me this book. He told me the author attended univeristy at Stellenbosch, however, they were not keen on him examining the history of the poor whites in South Africa, so he attended Cambridge where he was encouraged to study this topic and publish the book.

 Beautiful in the rain...

Basically, Poor White is an examination of the history of the poor whites in South Africa and how their history played into the current issues (post-apartheid). To put it in perspective, the white population in South Africa is currently about 8.9% of the total population, although in 1994 it was closer to 13.6%. The book begins by describing how the number of “poor” whites increased greatly from 1908-1932 with the emigration from farms to the mining cities, such as Johannesburg. The Boer left the countryside to find work in the mines, and in effect, the number of recorded white poor people rose from 2.8% to 32.2%. The increase in poor whites living in slums in the mining cities first began to concern the white authorities during the early 1900s. See my post Week 12 if you are interested in the effects of the first and second Anglo-Boer such as the British using scorched-earth tactics (literally burning the land, farms, and families- 80% of cattle and 73% sheep were destroyed in the Transvaal) and concentration camps (women, children, and elderly living in “refugee centers” and dying of malnutrition, disease, and overwork).  In the 1890s, there were multiple natural disasters that affected the countryside and sent the Afrikaners into the cities as well.  Then, a series of economic depressions ensured those in the slums had no opportunities for employment.

Then there was the topic of “whiteness” in South Africa…specifically who is white, who is not, and what opportunities different groups “deserved.” The deserving being people who had “fallen on hard times” versus the undeserving such as the “loafers, criminals, beggars, and prostitutes.” A commission was set up called the Transvaal Indigency Commission (TIC) in 1906-1908 to examine the disease of moral society…poverty. The TIC believed labor camps and programs could attend to the issues of increasing the skills of the poor white, however, “preventing blacks from doing skilled work and securing higher wages than unskilled whites could increase unemployment and cause whites being paid higher wages than they are worth.” So, they created labor colonies for the poor whites. By 1913, eugenics entered the argument. In 1922, poor became an urban issue that needed to be solved- parents were having children, not working, kids were not attending schools, and addiction and abuse were …hence, the planning of apartheid.

Interestingly, as a group, the Afrikaans did not exist in the early 1900s. “Before there were Afrikaners, there were the Boers fighting against the British fighting against the natives. After their defeat in their war against the empire, the Boers somehow had to pick themselves up, to clean the blood off their clothes, and the smell of concentration camps off their women. They were defeated people…the solution was to create a new national identity where they could again be proud…a counterculture had to be created…creation of a common vernacular, establishment of a literary culture along with popular press.” In 1882, some members of parliament were allowed to speak Dutch and schools were allowed to teach in Dutch as well. The English were not as accepting of the use of Dutch and pushed for English to be the language of communication in schools and government. Smuts made Afrikaans, and not Dutch, the official language taught in schools in 1914. The English described Afrikaans as a simple and unrefined form of Dutch and the Afrikaans as the “thread that ties us together, the expression of our volk soul.”

In 1916, the Cradock Conference was attended by the major representatives from the church, political parties…and Afrikaners elite. The minister of education said something needed to be done about the lack of education poor whites were receiving if anyone wanted to see change. The South African Party (SAP), led by Botha and later Smuts, had made education free for all whites and education mandatory for youth ages 7-15. Later, Smuts made a comment about jobs being available for poor whites on the railways…he said they could work for “3s. 4p. a day and a bag of maize” this comment was taken as lightly as when Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake.” Many said that type of payment was “placing them on the same level as kaffirs.” (Kaffir is similar to the n-word). From 1924-1933, the Pact government moved into office on the “save the poor whites” platform. They implemented the “civilized labor policy.” This allowed whites to be paid higher wages than blacks, especially on the railroads, but eventually in postal service, police, prisons, and local/provincial governments. In addition, contracts were given to white businesses that would allow them to provide previously imported goods such as steel, oil, electricity, and more. There was a white minimum wage and businesses with a white-only hiring policy received government contracts and lower customs tariffs.

Now, with decrease in poor whites and increase in skilled and semi-skilled laborers, there was a fear that there would be intermixing of races…so in 1928 a law was passed outlawing marriages between white and blacks (not between whites and coloreds until 1936 though). Also in 1936, the Purified Nationalist Party held another conference and decided the only way to make sure the races didn’t mix was to separate them. Bottomley explains that apartheid, separation of racial groups, did not start at this time, but grew from colonial times. It began with “health and sanitation concerns” in the slums (interesting side point, there is controversy going on right now in the informal settlements and government housing around providing toilets and water…some things don’t change, very fast). Then the issues were around moving to housing settlements (townships). The government first moved the whites out of the slums, then the coloreds, and finally began building housing for the blacks. From unemployment and employability to concerns of mixing races to health…movement was a priority for the government. One quote found said, “If segregation should fail…Their beloved white man’s country would inevitably degenerate into a mongrelized society like Brazil or Portuguese East Africa.” I had Cristines read that quote…as she is Brazilian.

The pride and fear of mixing or disappearing were the foundation for apartheid (which began in 1948). The book continues to speak about the experience of the poor white, the Afrikaans, and the government changes to present day…if you are interested in reading more :)

That night we went to a seafood dinner at the partner hotel (Barra Lodge) and we were able to meet some of the other guests staying around the area.

The next morning, we packed and headed to the airport. After a full day of flying, we landed in Johannesburg and met up with my friend from San Francisco, Kim, who had landed earlier from Tanzania after dealing with a negative “volunteer” experience. She was going to leave Africa and go back home, I told her to fly to Johannesburg and regroup and then decide…but that I thought she would find beauty on this continent if she stayed.