CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS OF LIFE HISTORY DATA
SECTION 2: FIRST LEVEL ANALYSIS - THE RESEARCH STORIES
5.2 Introduction
5.2.3 ANISHA'S STORY 'To Question or Not to Question'
5.2.3 ANISHA'S STORY
The history curriculum at university was very different from that which was taught at school. At university the history curriculum focused on critical analysis, making inferences, doing project work and conducting research. These aspects of the history curriculum were not taught at both primary and secondary school. The perception I had about teaching during my training years was that I thought that it was easy to become a teacher, but it most certainly is not. It is extremely taxing and difficult job, especially to motivate children. What I though about teaching before I became a teacher is not exactly in keeping with what I'm doing now, because I always thought that it would be easy to lead children to think along your lines.
My early experiences of teaching history was very exciting, but very trying, especially since in my second year ofteaching I was left in the deep end with a matric class because I was the only history teacher at he school at the time. A normal class is48students, all of them sitting there. Here there is a desk and then is another desk- they are really overcrowded. You know I felt the kind of theory, which we were being taught at the
University, it doesn't apply when you get in front ofthe class.
As a newly qualified teacher it is important that one gains the support and guidance of peers and colleagues at school. There is a need for peer support and induction structures
to be put in place at school. School management team regarded that the newly qualified teachers as "the OBE generation of teachers". Some of them had a mindset against transformations ofteaching and they simply said that it was all too theoretical and that it is unimplementable. Although I have worked with creative ways of teaching History, I think that these approaches did not in any way alter the practices ofsome the teachers because they were set in their methods ofteaching.
One of the key issues to consider when preparing history lessons for Grade 12 learners was to ensure that there is relevance to the outside world. I believe that lessons should not be confined to the classroom, and therefore everything that we do must have relevance to society and the world in general. I encourage group participation and class discussions as a method ofaddressing the diversity oflearners in the class.
However, the present curriculum is somewhat irrelevant and outdated and it therefore needs to change in order to incorporate current issues such as politics of the world and current events with which we are confronted (Appendix L). Due to the confusion in Outcomes-based Education, many history teachers seem to be using the same traditional methods of teaching based on a teacher-centred approach to teaching where concepts are merely defined, and there is very little evidence ofpupil participation. It's not been well thought and we need to see this as a number of stepping- stones. Anyone (who thinks) that by 2005 we will have a new curriculum that does all the things it say right now, is bordering on lunacy really.
Many teachers do not support the new curriculum changes. My sense is that they're not supporting it all because they've been bombarded with a whole lot ofnew literature and concepts in education. They've got to learn a new language and
if
you look at the outcomes, performance indicators, assessment criteria- how are they going to get familiar with those concepts,for one and secondly, who's going to demonstrate how to use and implement these concepts. In many cases the format of the lesson is very prescriptive and there is little or no use ofteaching.Lot of my teaching is still teacher-centred, but I am hopeful that it will change. One wonders who is going to make that change - shouldn'tit be the teacher?
Resources are an important part ofplanning meaningful learning activities. There is a need for learners to be actively involved in the learning process. Large class sizes impact negatively on the availability of resources, since often learners have to either share resources or do without them.
School population is made up of diverse learners in terms of their race, ability and gender. The learners are both male and female, Indian and Black and also of mixed ability. Therefore,I encounter a problem with addressing this diversity because I was not adequately trained to deal with multicultural learners in the class, which points to the gap between theory and practice in my training years. I think I've erred in that because I
haven't adapted my style to the changing environment that we are placed in. I tend to do an 'across-the board' lesson, so I think that I need to change my style of teaching to adapt to the new types oflearners in terms ofrace and so on.
I follow the criteria embedded in the official curriculum to a large extent and I am familiar with the contents of the curriculum. Curriculum changes are necessary because we need more life skills, we need to make history something that one can use when one finish school with the changing history curriculum, my teaching methods have changed and I feel less confident and now I have to incorporate learners into the lesson and class discussions.
Some of the assessment techniques I use in the class include testing, assignments and projects. The introduction of continuous assessment had brought in a whole new dimension to assessment. This method ofassessment requires the child to be assessed on an ongoing basis throughout the year and therefore enabled the consistent learner to pass his grade well at the end of the year. This assessment strategy involves a change in my pedagogical approach. Assignments and projects are good because it encourages learners to frequent the library and seek more information.I will not advocate testing as a form of assessment because I regard it as being an awful way offinding out the true potential of the learner. I view testing as a form of rote learning and therefore find no merit in it.
With the morale ofteaching so low at this time, I wonder ifteaching is ever going to be a success. I think motivation is one thing we all must have and we must show the learners that we have the drive to get ahead, and I think with the changes taking place with Outcomes-based Education and Curriculum 2005; I believe that the style of teaching must change. My major concern is the decrease in time allocation for the teaching of History education at schools. Well I can only go on what is happening at the moment in the schools - the time has been cut down for the History and Geography to one hour per week. It used to be 90 minutes a week and it's now down to 60 and I think in some
schools that are even further reduced to give more accents to other areas.It going to be much more wasted down.
For history teaching to be successful, the curriculum must be more relevant to the current climate in South Africa. The National Department of Education2] should assist schools by providing resources, which will enable learners to prepare for the future.
Whilst I feel highly demoralized about the teaching profession, I still believe that there is some hope for history teachers
if
they are motivated to teach.I battled with Anisha who stuttered severely. And I felt that the process was very taxing for both of us. There was a struggle to get the story, but the story was there and most valuable. I found that even a few significant words told me what was crucial. Itfelt good for us to be able to construct this story that would have possibly not been heard had we not gone through the process. Finally, as an Indian, Anisha's experience in the world of education, her racial identity and gender were crucial in shaping access to and success as a teacher of history.
The next story was narrated by Patsy entitled 'Cosmetic Changes'.
21 National Department of Education: formulates educational policies in South Africa and oversees the nine provincial education departments in South Africa since 1994.