Filling the White Spaces

I’m curious. I look at my journal entries, some of which I paste into my blog, others I don’t. Those that don’t end up in my blog are either too personal or just not interesting enough to include. I’ve been keeping this journal for years. It’s lengthy, but there are some things that were never written about and I hope I will devote the time during my Peace Corps service to fill in the blanks. It’s interesting to look backwards, but even more interesting to think about the words that will fill the empty white pages.

So, today I’m filling up more white space with words that express another Peace Corps experience. I went back to the Micoud Secondary School today. There is no one to meet me and they have planned nothing. This was exactly what I was expecting. I proceeded to the teacher’s lounge. The lounge is a large room with row after row of wooden desks are squeezed together. There are also desks lining the walls of the room. Each teacher has a desk approximately 2 feet wide and three feet long as well as a chair to sit on. The windows are open on both sides and there are overhead fans to cool the room. It’s hot, not unbearable, but hot and it’s easy to work up a sweat in the room.

Teachers are dressed very nicely; women wear skirts, blouses and some brave ones wear jackets. Men have nice slacks and dress shirts with dress shoes. There is a bulletin board at the back of the room. A couple of letters are pinned to the board. One explains that a student coming from the primary school is a special needs student who does not see well; another letter outlines a medical problem one student is currently having. The room is cluttered with boxes of books and school supplies, yet students rarely have books. They are required to buy them and many have no money for that purpose. A class was already in session so only a handful of teachers were in the room.

It’s now up to me to figure out what to do with my time. I go around and ask who are the business teachers and find that the department chair is meeting with the principal. So I wait and make small talk with the teachers in the room.

It’s now 10:00. She is an attractive women, very warm and she is puzzled as to what to do with me. Finally she says, “you can teach my 11:00 class. The subject is international trade.” Although I’ve never taught that subject I’m game and ask what book the class uses. This is where is gets a little rough. There isn’t actually a book. The curriculum only says that several subjects must be taught in this course – there was a list of subjects including the stock market and international trade. She quickly brings three outdated textbooks and gives me access to the internet. I have fifty minutes to teach this subject and she also wants an activity to demonstrate the subject. So, let me get this right: you want me to teach a subject that I have little knowledge of, using textbooks that are badly out of date, and come up with an activity to demonstrate the key learnings within one hour. Oh, and by the way, the only resource I have is chalk and a chalkboard that is barely readable. I felt like I was on a game show and this was a test to see if I could get to the next level. OK. Mission accomplished. It was a challenge and great fun! Next week I teach communication – ah, a subject I’ve taught before!

Another slightly interesting point: when I was done teaching a student stood up and thanked me and wanted me to come back again – I believe this speech was prompted by the teacher. The teacher stood up and motioned for me to follow her. We quickly walked out of class while they sat quietly until the bell rang. The formal pomp and circumstance a teacher is given leaves me with two questions: Are students comfortable enough to really learn in such a formal setting? Would the American school system benefit from these formal practices?