1/11:
When I arrived at Dinyane High School in the year 2002 as a young Biology and Integrated Science teacher, the senior teachers gave me two pieces of advice:
1. Put a bit of washing powder in your bath water to soften it
2. Don't worry about the pupils; they are useless.
When I arrived at Dinyane High School in the year 2002 as a young Biology and Integrated Science teacher, the senior teachers gave me two pieces of advice:
1. Put a bit of washing powder in your bath water to soften it
2. Don't worry about the pupils; they are useless.
2/11:
I took the first advice and dismissed the second with the contempt it deserved. There is no society that is made up entirely of useless people, was my response. The looks they gave me must have said, 'poor delusional young man, he will soon learn the hard life lessons'.
I took the first advice and dismissed the second with the contempt it deserved. There is no society that is made up entirely of useless people, was my response. The looks they gave me must have said, 'poor delusional young man, he will soon learn the hard life lessons'.
3/11:
I was skinny. I used English 90% of the time. I had steak & salad for dinner. I had a CD player (the only one who had it) and many CDs & cassettes in my music collection. I didn't fit in and they left me alone. One of the senior teachers stole my Charles Charamba cassette
I was skinny. I used English 90% of the time. I had steak & salad for dinner. I had a CD player (the only one who had it) and many CDs & cassettes in my music collection. I didn't fit in and they left me alone. One of the senior teachers stole my Charles Charamba cassette
4/11:
I was against beating up children under the guise of 'discipline'. I taught in English & contrary to popular belief, those rural kids understood me. My first tussle with authority was when I was called to the Head's office to explain why I went to lessons unprepared:
I was against beating up children under the guise of 'discipline'. I taught in English & contrary to popular belief, those rural kids understood me. My first tussle with authority was when I was called to the Head's office to explain why I went to lessons unprepared:
5/11:
I went to all to my lessons with only pieces of chalk in my pocket and according to the department head, that was a sign of being unprepared. I told the head that I knew my subject well and didn't need to read from a textbook or a piece of paper in front of the children
I went to all to my lessons with only pieces of chalk in my pocket and according to the department head, that was a sign of being unprepared. I told the head that I knew my subject well and didn't need to read from a textbook or a piece of paper in front of the children
6/11:
I told her to come observe my lessons to judge for herself if I was unprepared. She never came. She attempted to give me a 'most improved teacher' award two years later when I had moved Biology pass rate from 0 to 30%, had taken the netball team to the provincial finals..
I told her to come observe my lessons to judge for herself if I was unprepared. She never came. She attempted to give me a 'most improved teacher' award two years later when I had moved Biology pass rate from 0 to 30%, had taken the netball team to the provincial finals..
7/11:
I turned down the award. I walked away as it was being announced. I didn't improve, I have always been good, I told her when I went to her office to explain my snub. You listened to too many whispers from your senior teachers, I said.
I turned down the award. I walked away as it was being announced. I didn't improve, I have always been good, I told her when I went to her office to explain my snub. You listened to too many whispers from your senior teachers, I said.
8/11:
I took the drama group to the national finals in Harare the next year and quit teaching soon after that. In the three years that I was a teacher at Dinyane High School in Tsholotsho, I used the stick as a means of discipline only once and my classes were well behaved.
I took the drama group to the national finals in Harare the next year and quit teaching soon after that. In the three years that I was a teacher at Dinyane High School in Tsholotsho, I used the stick as a means of discipline only once and my classes were well behaved.
9/11:
I achieved this by treating the children like human beings with equal rights to me. Whenever one of them didn't do their home work, I asked why and most of the time it was because the parents had not bought a book. I would send them off to the tuckshop to collect a book.
I achieved this by treating the children like human beings with equal rights to me. Whenever one of them didn't do their home work, I asked why and most of the time it was because the parents had not bought a book. I would send them off to the tuckshop to collect a book.
10/11:
I would run laps around the field with the netball team instead of sitting on a chair in the shade. Even though I didn't have much netball knowledge, a sense of togetherness had us beating schools that had been considered impossible to beat for many years.
I would run laps around the field with the netball team instead of sitting on a chair in the shade. Even though I didn't have much netball knowledge, a sense of togetherness had us beating schools that had been considered impossible to beat for many years.
11/11:
In spite of all my achievements as a High School teacher, I knew I didn't belong to a system that believed in handwriting the scheme book each term when the syllabus had not changed. I jumped without a parachute and landed nicely in the arts sector.
In spite of all my achievements as a High School teacher, I knew I didn't belong to a system that believed in handwriting the scheme book each term when the syllabus had not changed. I jumped without a parachute and landed nicely in the arts sector.
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