The results are in...

I went around to my schools on Friday and collected the answers to the "getting to know you survey" I made for the educators. Surprisingly many of them actually did it! (it's endlessly strange to be giving 'assignments' to people twice my age) I thought I'd share some of the questions and answers we received. Some are quite interesting.

Question: "Why did you decide to become an educator?"

Answers:

"It was not my choice. the government of the past (apartheid government) gave us no choice but strictly channeled us to either become teachers, soldiers, police or nurses."

"I have decided I want to be a nurse now. I have discovered that to teach a child how to read and write is too difficult. I will not educate much more."

"I decided to become a teacher because in the 1970s they were very scarce in the black villages."

"My wish was not to become a teacher but a social worker. Because my parents were penniless I became a teacher."

"For me teaching is a call not just a job to earn money. I wanted to enlighten the children of my country to become decent, respectful citizens of tomorrow."

Question: What is the hardest part of teaching?

Answers:

"Overcrowding of classroom" (most teachers have 50+ kids/class, one class has 90)

"Low salary and parents who are not cooperating."

"The hardest part of teaching is how to teach learners who don't know how to read and write" (this person teaches grades 4-7)

"Overcrowding and no facilities"

Question: What would you like to learn from us?

Answers:

"How to discipline the learners without abusing them"(corporal punishment was abolished in south africa in 2003 - I believe- several educators have indicated to me that they simply do not know how to teach in a classroom without it. I myself have witnessed it on countless occasions. As have all the PCVs)

"How to plan a lesson."

"How do I mark the books of so many learners"

"How to play the piano" :)!!!

"How to make all my learners pass." (yikes)

Question: What is your favorite food?

Answers:

"pap and spinach"
"pap and milk"
"salads and meat"
"pap and milk"
"meat"
"pap"
"meat, white bread, milk"
"pap and cabbage"
"salads and cake"
"samp and mutton"
"samp"
etc.

(Pap is a corn meal substance with absolutely no flavor or color or nutritional value. It is served with everything in South Africa and is to be used as a spoon/serving utensil with which one brings the other things on ones plate to ones mouth)
(People say South Africa is a meat eaters paradise. They were right!)
(Samp is actually pretty good (in my opinion) it's a various bean mush thing. I like it)

Question: Are there any questions you have for Lerato and Thato?

Answers:

"Will you assist me in any learning area problem I encounter?" (double yikes)

"Where do you come from?"

"How old are you?" (this is not an impolite question in SA, but it always makes me nervous because I'm pretty young by their standards...and thus I'm afraid I'll lose credibility in their eyes!)

"Why did you come to SA?"

"How do I deal with slow learners."