Week 24- Academically speaking (theory to practice, social justice, and inclusion) Enjoyment seeking (Dining out, kizomba, and jazz)

Hector Pieterson being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo
after being shot by South African police during a
student protest in Soweto

      June 16 is Youth Day in South Africa. On June 16, 1976 high school students in Soweto organized and implemented a series of student-led protests. Much like in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement, adults had to work, therefore, they could not participate in protests, so the youth took it upon themselves to strategize ways they could fight against the government mandate requiring the medium of instruction to be in the Afrikaans language at local schools. This was not the first time a protest had been organized by the students. Two years before students had fought the Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974 which required all black schools teach in a 50-50 split of Afrikaans and English instruction. Because of the lack of Afrikaans language knowledge, this decree effectively “made critical analysis of the content difficult and discouraged critical thinking.”

            On June 16, 1000s of students began a march at Orlando Stadium (teachers did not condone the march, but also did not interfere with the progress of the marchers). The Soweto Students’ Representative Council’s Action Committee had organized the protest and they had practiced discipline and peaceful protest skills prior to the day.

            The police barricaded the road, the crowd was reminded not to provoke the police and changed their route. The numbers increased from 3,000 to 10,000 students chanting and singing as they marched, “Down with Afrikaans” and “Viva Azania.”

            Exactly how it started is disputed, however, most say the police may have been hit by a rock or bottle and some began to shoot. Hector Pieterson was shot and killed. By the end of the day, 22 others lost their lives (including 2 white people).

        

  The next day, 1,500 armed police officers, helicopters, and tanks arrived in Soweto. The number of lives lost is between 200-600, the number over wounded was well over 1,000. That being said, it should be pointed out that Soweto was not the only place where the students protested…these youth protests happened all over the country. In fact, the Univesity of Zululand (where I am currently working) had their records and administration building set on fire. The media were present for many of these uprisings, therefore, they were effecting in pressuring the government for change. The value of the Rand (money) crashed and crisis ensued.

            June 17 was Youth Day Observed, a public holiday, so a group of people from the ex-patriot group, InterNations, got together for brunch. Having the extra day to prepare before working on my reports for the Fulbright was a nice reward. I was able to organize my documents and presentations so I could begin looking for more themes. Two major elements that seemed to present themselves include bringing theory to practice and what inclusive practice and social justice mean in a classroom with diverse learners. I noticed when I first began interviewing educators, almost everyone was able to identify scaffolding and differentiation, yet when I asked for examples, the room would get quiet. At the university level I offered to put together a plan for introducing research and research-based practices beginning with the first year students so that by fourth year (and beyond) they weren’t intimidated. I ended up giving my materials to both University of the Western Cape and University of Johannesburg.

             As I have mentioned before, I worked closely with the fourth years on a research project, which was a start, but I realized this was their first exposure to reading research (and many found it very difficult, they even expressed feelings of animosity toward me for changing their program). The fourth years struggled with the research component (finding articles), reading at the academic level, deciding whether the article was relevant, and synthesizing the information without plagiarism. My proposal for the university is to start with the research in the first year by explicitly teaching the students about the elements of journals and how to “dissect” the article based on common information (citation, introduction, statement of the problem, purpose, research questions, methodology, results, and discussion/limitation). By second year, the students should be able to dissect an article they find of interest and decide if it is relevant to their classroom (critique). Third year students can begin the researching process using databases, the library, and other resources while fine-tuning their writing without plagiarism. Finally, fourth year student would be ready to choose a topic, find relevant articles, design a small study, and write a research paper about a research-based practice.

          From the feedback I received from the fourth year students, they wished they had been exposed to research earlier, they finally saw the connection between theories and research-based practices, and they felt more equipped to deal with “unsolvable” problems in their classroom. Many said they were going to apply for honors and masters classes because they had more confidence in their abilities. Over the six months I was at UJ, I watched the students academic writing skills increase as well by reading research. The students were able to identify how well written (and not so well written) an article was, which gave them guideline, modeling, and examples of clarity and detailed supports. This brings me back to my youngest sister who had me read a paper of hers (while she was getting her masters) and when I asked her about the structure she said no one every told her about any structure…I think as academics, we become so used to how articles are set up that we forget to break down the process and show parallels for our students.
         The schools were also struggling with research-based practices. They were so used to using their own practices that many of the teachers refused to read the handouts I provided at professional developments because they had “filled” up the paper with their own interventions. Don’t get me wrong, it is great that they have so many “tricks” but I think it is imperative that we push ourselves as educators to learn more, try different strategies, and continue growing. It was reported to me more than once that the schools who did receive training on inclusion were given broad definitions and theoretical perspectives rather than practical examples and tools to use in their classrooms.

         Which brings me to my next piece- social justice and inclusive practices. Both at the university and schools educators want to know how to identify, assess, and meet the needs of diverse learners. University lecturers and professors point to the educational psychology department and say, “they take care of that.” Preservice teachers going into schools say, we “weren’t taught that.” And current teachers say, “we haven’t been trained, we need more training, we aren’t qualified, a psychologist needs to come and assess the learner, the district is supposed to give us a training…” So, where to start?

I need to remind my select readers (yes, I appreciate every ONE of you who actually reads what I write), that I have only been here 6 months at this time and of course I don’t think I know everything, nor do I believe I have the solution…what I have is some tools that may work on some days; some research that I have tediously done; some experience working with students with diverse needs; and a lot of care and love for all students who want to learn and those who haven’t figured out they want to learn yet. Okay, now I will continue...

         I recommended to the university that all lecturers and professors address diverse learning needs in all of their classes (that is what inclusion is all about, right?). Even if it is just a quick demonstration (with examples) on how a teacher would address diverse learning needs based on the topic they presented in a unit. I recommended the lecturers promote the inclusive ideas in their classes. I outline these 7-steps that I believe can be applied to almost every situation: 1. beginning with strengths, 2. then identify challenges, 3. make a plan for assessing the skill, 4. coming up with a few possible interventions, 5. implement the intervention, 6. reflect on the success, and 7. make adjustments as needed.

         My thought is that, if lecturer in teacher education became promoters (yes, I said

promoters) of inclusion, then preservice teachers would be more exposed (and not just on a theoretical basis) to how it works beyond a professional coming into the classroom and diagnosing the problem. Also, if the teacher training programs scaffolded learning for these incoming high school graduates (who often do not have the skills to succeed at university), then they would actually be developing students and modeling their practice.

          The first year students are coming in without study skills, academic writing, how to collaborate (ie, working in groups with people who you don’t know), self-advocate, ask for help, where to get support (writing center, psychological services, peers, etc), what to do if there are language issues (before an assignment is due), and problem solve (much like we have to teach our students everyday). Then, if the university taught interventions such as strategies based on brain development research, response to intervention (RtI), positive behavior intervention strategies (PBIS), and sheltered instruction observation protocol model (SIOP) then the preservice teachers would leave university with more interventions.

            In schools, teachers report parents don’t want their kids assessed because of the stigma that goes along with having diverse learning needs. They believe the community and families have to change the way they see students who need additional help. Also, they point to the various social and health issues their learners walk in the door with- abuse, poverty, crime, non-nuclear families (child-reared families, single parent, extended, etc.), family members or students with AIDS/HIV, and illiteracy. The teachers repeat they do not have the practical strategies to help their students, they do not even have the useful assessments to identify students. The lack of assessments is partially due to the fact that the teachers are required to teach to the government issued workbooks and readers (which I found out do not always correspond to each other). They have to complete reports on how the students are progressing with the lessons and because the lessons don’t always compliment each other, this is a daunting task- not to mention it takes the creativity out of teaching, much like the scripted texts we have in the United States.

Agata and I at Bottega

And on to lighter- entertainment activities:

That week Agata and I went out for her goodbye dinner in Parkhurst. We went to her favorite Italian restaurant in Johannesburg, Bottega. The owner was sad to hear she was leaving and brought deep fried olives and limoncello for an after dessert drink. Another evening I went to see the movie, The Great Gatsby, with Davies. On Friday, Eric and I decided to get together for a drink at the Griffin…Walter joined us and next thing I knew we were all on 7^th Street in Melville. 

Eric, Me, and Walter at Griffin

            On Saturday, I took Maxime to Neighborgoods and we enjoyed South African cuisine (vegetarian option from one stall and the meat option from another stall). His birthday was Sunday and he would be moving back to France on Monday- so this was our goodbye outing away from his Hillside prison (he didn’t have a car in Jo’burg and spent the last year confined to studying- his determination will allow him to succeed in life, but we have been working on his social life). That night I met up with Liemo, Caz, and Liz for a BailaAfrika Afro-Latino & Kizomba Party at Casa De Galinha. They started with a Kizomba lesson (always helpful). My friends Mawunda, Rose, and Melanie just happened to be there too. The night passed away before I knew it…

Maxime and I eating
African cuisine at Neighborgoods
Market 

Caz, Liz, Liemo, and Me

dancing...

June 23- Agata’s last day before she moved back to Italy. We went to Café de la Crème for breakfast. She left for the airport and I chilled at my apartment. Well, by chilled I mean I read novels, worked on qualitative data analysis, and listened to music. While I was working John Coltrane’s “Dahomey Dance” came on my itunes. I thought to myself, Johannesburg has got to have live jazz somewhere. So I googled, “Johanesburg, Jazz, June 23” and the first thing that came up was a jazz concert at Wits music hall starting in 20 minutes. I sent a message to my Liemo to see if she wanted to join me…and she replied she was already there and would save me a seat. On the double-billed event were Malcolm Braff Trio and Jazzwerstatt Quartet. The first group was playing when I arrived…and within seconds I was on the edge of my seat. The drummer and pianist stole the show, but the stand up bass and horn section was fantastic as well. I am officially part of the Kesivan Naidoo fan club. Evidently, he won a national talent show for his drumming skills and has only improved his art since then.