Sometimes teachers practice what
experts call a “bitch-session.” This is when we sit and talk about the
ican’tbelievehesaidthat moments in our day. These conversations are necessary
in our profession to prevent burn-out and other deadly diseases.
Here in Mozambique I have daily
bitch-sessions. This does not mean I don’t love my job or my students. I
understand that we come from different backgrounds and most often these aggravating
moments come from a difference in culture.
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| A very accurate representation of Mozambican teaching. |
However, my job is to train teachers.
I have a specific and detailed explanation of what it means for a student to
learn and what it means for a teacher to teach. So what happens when culture
interferes with the meaning of learning? Is it now my job to teach a new
culture? Or do I have to bend my own culturally-defined expectations of what it
means to learn?
A couple weeks ago, a colleague and I
were deep in a “bitch session” when she told me this story of teaching singular
vs. plural.
A student was having the trouble
turning singular English words into plural words so K wrote on the board
“bola” (ball) and “bolas” (balls). K asked “O que é a differencia entre as letras desses palavras?” (What
is the difference between the letters
of these words?)
The students response – “Bolas é
plural” (Balls is plural).
Do you see the problem? Do you know
the response K was looking for?
For more background information, K
teaches English to students that might be English teachers in less that 3
years. They have passed 12th grade and a lengthy exam to enter into
a Teacher Training College. They should
be fluent in Portuguese and understand basic rules of English.
Ok - so back to the question. K was
looking for the student to see the structure of the rule, to identify the
letter ‘s’ as the difference between “bola” and “bolas” in order to then create
the rule “+s makes plural”. The idea was to identify this rule in the speaker’s
language then apply it to English.
All literate Americans know this rule.
This is what we learned in first grade. K attempted several versions of her
question but could not get her students to elaborate further than “Bolas is
plural”. Finally, K folded and said “Esse palavra –bola- não tem “s” e esse
palavra –bolas- tem “s.” (This word –ball- does not have ‘s’ and this word
(balls) has ‘s’.) The student quickly agreed (because it’s obvious).
What is going on here? This is a
person that speaks Portuguese fluently. That uses plural and singular on a
daily basis. That can identify a singular and plural word (in Portuguese) very
easily. So, why is it that she cannot
answer K’s question?
It’s because the student has gone
through 12 years (or more) of education without once being asked a comprehension
question.
In education circles we have something
called “Bloom’s Taxonomy” it might be a triangle or circle or complicated Venn-diagram.
But at it’s most basic level it is a classification of learning verbs based on
complexity.
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| Made by one of my students. |
At the bottom is Knowledge – this
refers to verbs that require only regurgitation of facts. Examples are:
memorize, say, list, match, remember, repeat.
The next level up is Understanding –
this refers to understanding the big idea. Examples are: explain, describe,
discuss.
Therefore, K’s student has Knowledge
of plural and singular. If you write two words on the board and ask “Which one
is plural?” the student will be able to answer ONLY IF this word is on a long
list of words the students has memorized.
If you ask the student “Why is this
word plural?” she would not be able to respond.
I’ve known for a long time that
Mozambicans were trained in copying and regurgitation but, after 16 months at
site, now I’m realizing this is how learning is defined.For an army of young Mozambicans, who are entering the workforce, learning = copying sentences, repeating after
the teacher, and paying for answers. There is little concept of teaching Comprehension or Application, and zero understanding of any higher-level thinking.
I feel like I am living in the real-life
version of “Flatland” by Edwin Abbot Abbot. Trying to convince my students
there is another dimension to education that they have never witnessed before. But,
all they have to go on is blind trust.
Does that make me the Sphere? Someone unable to imagine dimensions beyond what I already know? What am I missing
here?
Love love love
So, if everyone is following the rules, everyone should be waiting patiently for their number to be called. Instead crowds form around the teller window, people talk over the wall, and any poor worker that walks out of their office is quickly attacked. 
While daydreaming about my number suddey being called, I ran into the Cuban Trainers I work with. The first thing they said was "Why are you waiting?! Just go talk to the manager." The older woman of the group pulled me in closer and said "You're white, you don't have to wait." 
