Back to School

September 5^th

It has only been a few days since my last posting but since I began school today I felt the need to update. Almost everything about the education system in Kenya (or Mitahato Primary School) is different than what I have experienced. The public schools here (Mitahato is a public school) have uniform while the private schools do not wear uniform—the opposite for us. The public schools allow prayer and God not only within the school but it is a mandatory subject that the teachers teach—CRE. The buildings are completely different opposed to the commonality that both have chalkboards (although here it is a form of black paint on the wall), some form of desks (each desk can fit or “squeeze” up to 4 students), and there are two classrooms per grade. The physical appearance of the school and the schoolyard looks similar to the color of the red soil. There is a large field for the kids to play on during break, the “toilets” are located across the large field, the outside of the building is stained a deep red/brown color, the majority of the windows are broken, and not all classrooms have electricity. One element that is consistent within both school environments is the mass amount of smiling children running and giggling all over the place. 

I will be honest here, halfway through the school day today I was almost ready to give up. I was exhausted within the first few hours of the constant staring/giggling (when you are the “main attraction” it feels more like being made fun of then anything positive), the lack of communication with my co-teacher and I, and the complete lack of what I would call ‘authentic teaching’.  I thought to myself: How could I possibly be here for a long stretch of time? I don’t feel like I belong here at all. Don’t worry. After the second half of the day my whole attitude changed. My self-pity, discouragement, and doubts all turned around. I welcomed myself into the children’s atmosphere and in return they welcomed me right back. 

The school day begins with what is called a “parade”. I understand this as an assembly/meeting to inform students of any new information along with a morning prayer. The headmaster had me come up in front of all of the students to introduce myself. Following this students go to their classroom and the teachers have a quick meeting. At this time I introduced myself again and tried to inform them of a few ideas I wanted to share with this school (later a different teacher informed me that no one understood a single word I said).

After this I was taken by one of the primary teachers to class 1, class 2, and class 3 (equivalent to grades 1, 2, and 3) and introduced me to the students. I have been assigned to class 3 for now and after these introductions I met my co-teacher. I was discouraged in the beginning because she was about an hour and a half late to school and this seemed very unprofessional to me. Soon after she arrived she gave me a worksheet to write on the chalkboard to have the students copy and answer. At this time she left the room to catch up on her own work. This is the point in which all of my doubts and frustrations began. It is not that I cannot be in charge of my own class but more that none of the students could understand a word I was saying, I was forcing them to do what felt like “busy work”—definitely did not feel authentic—and the teacher did not inform me of what to do or that she was even leaving. To state the obvious, the students took advantage of my lack of confidence. I truly feel that the first four hours of school none of these students learned a single thing. 

Now, it’s time to turn my negative attitude around and tell you about the next half of the day. The majority of students at Mitahato have never seen a white person before. This creates an obvious curiosity and in turn giggles, chatter, and smiles anytime I am in sight. During lunch I was feeling discouraged and decided that I needed to actually spend some time with the students, on their turf. I walked outside near many of the students and decided to go with the flow of what would happen—with a giant smile the whole time. The students smiled back and they began to shake my hand, speak some English, and high-five me. It got a little hectic at some points with everyone crowding and little boys and girls pushing each other to shake my hand.

Following this I went to the classroom and the majority of my class continued to crowd me and I began spouting out random math equations. They loved answering because they were confident in speaking numbers in English. This continued and led into students teaching me word in Kikuyu, showing me special handshakes, showing me how to fist pump, dancing, singing songs and students touching my hair and hands. My co-teacher was nowhere to be found and I had no idea if this time was supposed to be a work time or if it was still their break. I found out later that we had been interacting with each other for hours. By the time the teacher came back to class the day was over. I was astonished that the whole day was over and no one had taught any true lessons. After some reflection, I realized that those last few hours of the students school day was probably the most authentic teaching and learning they could have had. They got to experience a new culture in me and I in them. Along with this they developed a comfort with me and are now not afraid to communicate with me. 

I learned a lot from my first day of school—way more than I would have imagined. I have a tendency to judge prematurely, especially when I am uncomfortable or unfamiliar.  Ironically, uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations are the moments in which you learn the most. It was throughout this first day that I learned both a great amount about myself as a person and myself as a teacher. The first few years of teaching are said to be difficult and I have enhanced this difficulty by having my first year of teaching be`` in a completely new environment and culture. Instead of getting discouraged so easily, I need to learn and grow as I continue in my journey here. I have also learned that I need to standup and become confidant in myself—especially in the classroom. It is past the time of being passive and waiting to learn. I need to teach like I know how to teach (I learned from the best), be confidant in my own methods, and learn from others along the way. 

I don’t know if any of you signed up for all of this self-reflection and analysis but I thought it was important to add in describing my first day of school. I am young and constantly learning. My hope is that I can learn with these young students and that they can learn from me. I refuse to leave here without a positive gain for both the students and myself. Thanks for reading and if you have any words of wisdom I would be grateful to hear.