TEACHING A STUDENT - STUDENT LEARNING - MY EXPERIENCES WITH MATHEMATICS

This is a woman magazine but today I will make an exception. Exceptions are acceptable by the way. Women are not rigid. They are, on the contrary, quite flexible and understanding people. They are bearers of love and care. They are made to nurture and whatever emulates nurture, they will embrace.  They will nurture a young to an adult and whilst at it, teach the young how to be a great adult. 

I will therefore take this opportunity to write about a very special subject to me. The subject of teaching and learning. This is my experience as I ventured from childhood into adulthood to be a force to be reckoned with.

I remember, as a young teacher when I started out on my career, as a determined and confident individual, who could be highly analytic and inquisitive. This one time, my first Principal commented, casually as she used to and I would always listen to her casual comments because they carried some gist or substance. I am not sure of the basis of her comment that day as many other days,  but I still remember the actual comment quite vividly. She said, "Some teachers have embarked on to teaching with the sole purpose of  failing learners." That was a  deep statement and I took it to heart and thought, wow it means a lot. What teacher would want to fail learners as a deliberation? That would be a very disturbed individual and I sincerely do not want to be that kind of a teacher. I resolved in my mind that very day that I will teach my learners to learn and understand than test them to fail. Fortunately, that had been my purpose the very first time I set my feet at the school. I believed in myself in being a good  teacher who would make a positive impact in the lives of children. Having had mostly positive experiences in my own education, I had no reason to be a bitter teacher. I was therefore loving, nurturing and most importantly educationally dedicated. This would be one of many lessons I took home from the school. Attitude as a teacher, is a determinant of the success of your work.

Another thing I  learnt from this same school was that, as a teacher you can only do what you can with a learner without blaming conditions or prior learning. I learnt this in a very indirect manner. We used to have these contentions amongst the three phases of the school. The Senior Phase teachers complained about the Intermediate teachers and the Intermediate teachers consequently shifted the blame on to the Foundation Phase teachers. The Foundation Phase teachers would purport to have done their best which seemingly has been lost on the way. This would be completely hilarious. None were prepared to take the blame. This continued until one intermediate teacher, tired of this, as the argument started one particular day, she exclaimed, "What will you do exactly, when you expect that all the work should be done by other teachers?" That question was the crux of the moment. It was what we had needed all along. A wake up call. A wake up call to take responsibility and stop the blame-shifting game. We all saw the meaning of her point. It finally dawned on us. We all went back to our drawing boards and started afresh.

As a teacher, I  had always wanted to do the best in whatever I did and I actually did prove this to myself. I remember my thoughts when I  had to teach one of the sons of one of the stalwarts of Mathematics in the school. I had to get my best guns. I was informed by the previous grade teachers that they were not the strongest with numbers, contrary to their older brother who mastered numbers but was no longer at the school when I started my career. There were actually two of them left, in different grades. I continued, dedicated to do my best and protected him from all distractions during learning. I was satisfied with his progress and so was the younger brother. Question would be, why wouldn't she  (the mother) as a Mathematics teacher do her own very best to help them be like the older brother. Answer is "igqirha alizinyangi" so is our Xhosa saying, meaning a traditional healer cannot heal himself or their own. They have to seek counseling somewhere else. Truth be told though, children are never the same, and they will always be children. Some trust their teachers more than their parents and this happens in many cases. They are the ones who would tell the parent that "My teacher didn't tell it to me like that." They are more naturally comfortable learning from their teachers than their parents. So teachers carry a humongous responsibility upon their shoulders. It is either they do this or they don't. 

It also so happened that they also had a cousin in the school. The cousin was one struggling person academically. I enlisted him as one of the learners needing parental intervention. The parent came to my class and queried the listing as it had never happened before. The other teachers also asked me the very same question as the parent as to what was I thinking when I did as they had never done so and at that moment, I asked myself what could be done better to remedy the situation without actually involving the parent but simply stating that I was informing her, no to do anything but to know. I tried to pull my own socks as I realized that this could damage my reputation as a teacher. Yes, there was a challenge but I took it upon myself to work on it as a teacher to prove my own capabilities, 

In my own nurturing journey as a child, I met different teachers, as I remember one of my primary school days when my Mathematics teacher from Std 5 to 6 (which would now be grade 8 and 9, respectively); trying to teach his subject and I would think, dear God, I do not understand one thing he says. As of this day, I remember none but one. This one time, apparently, being a typical careless young girl who had lost her pen, he commented, "Your mom is a teacher, your father is a principal of a school yet here you are without a pen." I looked at him, amazed and wondered where that came from. I have had a pen most days of my life and here he is. That is all I remember him for and none of the subject matter, sadly. It would be sad if teachers would only be remembered for their negative input and nothing positive thereafter. I was neither a negative nor bitter child but I was yearning to understand the subject. He was neither a bad teacher himself. On the contrary, he was a soft, caring teacher who unfortunately was unable to get to my inner cognitive mechanics on the subject; as much as I was great in other subjects.

There I was, finding myself, the following year in the next grade in another school. With the most vivacious, vibrant, and passionate teacher. I was finally free from the other teacher. I did not yearn to be free from him but the universe saw the need in the child and made its magic. I still cannot believe it today. She made me love Mathematics like no one could have imagined. She lived and breathed her passion, Mathematics. She was even pregnant at the time, therefore I am not sure whether part of her high passion was attributed to her pregnancy hormones or not but all I remember is that the teachers of that school were quite very good and loved what they did. I further now deduce that it was also her nature besides the pregnancy. I started off teaching as a  Mathematics teacher. Ironic indeed. I told myself  I want to be her. The impact she made in my life for one life chance meeting of a single year was beyond immense.

Three years in succession, I found myself in three different schools. I was now in High School. I had to. My primary school days were over. There, I found myself, back with the same character, a guy. Were male teachers a problem? No, not at all. I was the unlucky one in this. I listened to the other class, the same grades Mathematics teacher as he went about with his classes, and literally wished I was in his class. He was one of the best teachers, I've ever known. Little did I know that the universe listened to my inner unexpressed wishes. I got to have that very same teacher as my University Mathematics lecturer and boy did I get a number of distinctions? Yes of course! I could not believe how fortunate I was to finally get him to teach me.

To me, this means that teachers are gifted differently and attitude counts more. The more energy one puts into their subject the more good results they yield. The more great and positive impact they impart.                          

We can easily believe that teaching is about the child/learner/student but I have come to know that it is more about the attitude and personality of the teacher. 

Having said that, I also remember as a mother, having transferred my son from an IEB grade 1 to a public curriculum school as I had to leave town. I was not happy to take him with me, as the school was a totally, amazingly great school. He had started off on a great footing with his teachers and they told me that at the time I was moving him, he had not had his Mathematics lessons yet, as they had started him off in other subjects but Mathematics. The third term was to be a term for him, being introduced to Mathematics. I had no choice though but to leave with him. We got to his new school and I explained my dilemma. They understood the assignment. It was not an easy journey though but the Mathematics teacher who took her extracurricular time to look into the remedial of learners at that school can never go unnoticed. She is my heroine teacher.

As much as I am about Mathematics here,  teaching is the gist of the topic, of course. I say this because I want to chip in more about attitude. I will illustrate this attitude continuing with my son as an example, still. At some point in his learning, he struggled with Afrikaans. I subsequently decided to change the language into an alternative vernacular. I had to take him to my own school to achieve this. I cannot mention it enough. The attitude of the teacher in this particular subject was beyond amazing. My son did not only manage to read and write but also speak the vernac. I am still in awe today. The teacher would have seemed to be exaggerating and self-praising when she would excitedly tell me about this but fortunately, I was the one to observe this personally and practically. She is one of the best in Language teaching. I salute the young teacher. I was the Mathematics teacher and I was also satisfied with his progress, especially considering the previous challenges that he overcame.

Back to the main topic, does this mean that female teachers, especially  Mathematics teachers are the greatest teachers? No, remember, I had the greatest varsity male Mathematics lecturer, the very best female primary exit class teacher, and a greatest Mathematics remedial teacher for my child. This only means that any teacher can be a great teacher, given their attitude and predisposition. It is all about the teacher in actual essence. 

It is no mistake that the Department of Education puts its greatest effort and resources into the Foundation Phase level teachers. It knows that the teacher needs the best to bring about the best. A great start is always a great remedy for a great finish.                                                                                           At the same time, if this gets distracted at one point of learning, the signs will be there. With all this said, a great teacher is able to fix what has not been right to be the best as much as a teacher who has not had the quality skill to bring about the best may disrupt what has been good.

A great teacher teaches to see the best result in a learner thus creating an educated society.                      An educated society is better able to solve most of its economic challenges and seek to find solutions to facilitate financial independence.