“...without it school life cannot fulfil its purpose. In front of a disorderly class the teacher loses inspiration, spends much time trying to secure attention and does very little, if any, effective teaching.” (1939:82).
Having taught fourteen different Primary Two and Primary Three classes of between 55-65 pupils, I can confirm that without strict discipline lessons can quickly descend into chaos. Maintaining order in the classroom here is undoubtedly much harder than I have ever experienced in Northern Ireland; this is probably in part due to much bigger classes. With double or even triple the amount of children, one can only expect there to be more talking, disruption and incidents of misbehaviour. While there are two or three teachers per class, teaching a lesson is seen as a solo activity. Particular subjects are allocated to a teacher, and when he or she is not teaching they will leave the classroom or mark books. In comparison, when one is not taking a lesson in Northern Ireland it seems natural to offer assistance by helping maintain order and interacting with pupils. When Rachel and I teach together, the person who is not explaining or instructing is always observing pupil behaviour and implementing discipline strategies if necessary. When teaching my P3Y class alone, I am continually reminded how valuable the presence of another adult in the classroom is in maintaining order.
Another possible reason that pupil behaviour can be so difficult is that children are not aware of how they are expected to behave. Class or school rules are not visible anywhere, and children are frequently disciplined without the reason being made clear to them. Willes (1983) suggests that if a child does not know why he is at fault, he will not be able to correct this behaviour in the future. It also means that punishments are inconsistent and variable in terms of severity.
Banjo (1939) outlines that the main aim of the teacher should be to reform the offending pupil; there is a well-known proverb from the Yoruba tribe in Uganda, “He who falls into a pit teaches other people a lesson”, and this seems to apply to the discipline approach used in schools. A common strategy is to make an example of a misbehaving pupil by humiliating them to deter other children from such behaviour. For example, I witnessed a Primary 2 pupil having to attend an entire day’s lessons with no shirt, after being forced to remove it for having it untucked. Despite the boy’s tears and obvious embarrassment, the teacher remained unmoved and did nothing to deter other children from laughing.
However, the most common method of discipline here is to use corporal punishment. Despite the government stating that corporal punishment should not be used in schools (internet source two), and frequent reminders from senior management within the school, beatings are a daily occurrence in the classroom. These are not just light taps to deter misbehaviour, but range from slapping the face to caning to boxing a child’s head. I find this really distressing to watch; one of the reasons I decided to be a teacher is because I love children, so to witness an eight year old child cowering and trying to shield herself from the blows of an adult man is horrendous. Even worse is when I am scolding a child and they flinch or try to protect themself because they are expecting me to slap them. Thankfully my class have come to realise that I will not use this form of punishment, but pupils in other classes are not aware of this and so are fearful if Rachel or I approach them. It makes me feel like an ogre to realise that children are scared of me, and I have to wonder how children are expected to develop a positive attitude towards school and learning, let alone concentrate and achieve their potential, when they are subjected to this treatment. I find it extremely difficult to bite my tongue when I see my teacher beating a pupil for something as simple as forgetting to underline an answer, but I have to keep reminding myself that it is not my place to criticise his strategies. I am here to observe, learn and reflect on the education system, not to tell a professional teacher with almost fifteen years experience that he needs to change.
Having said this, I made it clear at the beginning of my teaching placement that I am never going to raise my hand to a pupil here. Sometimes I feel that my pupils do not give me as much respect because of this, and some of the teachers view it as a very naive approach to discipline, but I am endeavouring to implement some of the effective discipline strategies I have used and witnessed in Northern Ireland. I introduced some of these strategies at the beginning of this week, and although I realise they will need both time and consistency to be effective, I am very encouraged at how pupils have responded thus far. There are now class rules visible on the wall, which are easily remembered, justified and impartially enforced. There is also a poster displaying ‘sanctions’ so children are aware of the consequences of misbehaving. These sanctions range from mild to more severe, so children receive a punishment which is not out of proportion to the offence committed. The class is responding very well to the use of a ‘bean jar’; beans are earned as result of hard work and good behaviour, and when the jar is full the whole class will receive a reward. The children are very excited by this concept, and I feel that it is effective in making pupils consider how their individual behaviour and attitude impacts the whole class. I genuinely consider that my pupils’ behaviour has improved, and I am hoping that these methods will continue to be effective over my remaining weeks at school.
Banjo states that the good teacher does not use corporal punishment excessively, “but he has not yet decided whether he can spare the rod without spoiling the child” (1939:91). As I said, it is not my place to criticise the methods used here, but I hope that by demonstrating that alternative methods of discipline can be effective some teachers may be slower to resort to inflicting bodily punishment on pupils.
References
Banjo, A. (1939) The West African Teacher’s Handbook
Willes, M. (1983) Children into pupils:a study of language in early schoolin, Routledge, London.
Internet source one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_discipline
Internet source two: http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/progress/reports/uganda.html
This week in Uganda has been my favourite week so far; although we are dealing with the teaching practice workload and intense (though entertaining) lectures at Makerere, Rachel and I are trying to balance our strong work ethic with healthy doses of relaxing and socialising. Although it’s a struggle to tear ourselves away from our books, (so hard to type that with a straight face) this week was full of banter with the different groups of friends we have made here. We have in fact made another new friend, who had heard there were mzungos on his floor and appeared at our bedroom door close to midnight on Monday to introduce himself and enquire if we would like to get high with him. As we politely declined, he then asked if we would like to sample some alcoholic porridge he had made. He then called over his 10-foot high friend to introduce us and ask if he could show us Kampala “as we’ve never seen it before.” Sorry, I think we’re busy that day...
We also got to catch up with Kate and Brandie this week, who we had not seen since we got back from Rwanda. We headed to Garden City on Friday night to hear a local band play, and after a ballet class on Saturday morning (loved it! especially watching Rachel try to touch her toes!) we went to watch a rugby match between the Heathens and the Pirates at Kampala Rugby Club. The Heathens won, and Brandie’s boyfriend Jude got Man of the Match; this was made even better by the fact that we had been sitting in the rival team’s stands the whole match. I was also approached and told my hair was beautiful and would I be interested in cutting it off to sell it... depending how the travelling budget looks in May, this could well be an option at some point.
Yesterday after church Rachie and I went along to Kate’s streetkids programme, a project she set up around Christmas. It was an absolutely brilliant afternoon, and I cannot wait until we have a chance to go back again. All of the kids were boys, mostly aged 8-15, and live in the slum very close to Nana’s hostel where Rachel and I live. They arrive around 2:30pm and play games for a while before washing themselves and their clothes, and having any cuts or wounds treated. Then there is a Bible story or skit, a memory verse and a song before the main activity (yesterday was a movie day). The kids were so friendly and affectionate; one boy held my hand the whole film and looked at his fingers interlinked with mine for a while before declaring, “One person, two colours.” Although we will probably be away in Jinja for whitewater rafting next weekend, I’m really looking forward to the next time we’re able to go and help out. Last night Ritah and Brenda invited us along to their cell group of university friends for a Bible study; we’ve got to know these girls pretty well over the last couple of weeks, so it was great to get to know this side of their personalities as well. We’re also heading to the beach tomorrow with them since we’re off school for Women’s day, although Rachel and I have a lot of tanning to do before our skin is as dark as theirs ;)
Thanks for reading this and also for the emails and messages you guys have been sending- i love hearing from you and getting filled in on the banter at home so keep them coming! And if you fancy sending a little post, our address is M105, Nana Hostel, PO Box 16153, Wandegeya, Kampala – go on, make our day J
Lots of love, Suzi xx
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