4.4 Responses from classroom observations
4.4.2 Educator B: Grade 7- Topic: Reproduction
The class consisted of 40 learners who were seated in rows facing the educator’s table. There was no specific grouping of learners because the educator could easily manage misbehaviour and could easily see everyone even though the class was packed. Another reason that the educator gave was that if learners were seated in groups, they tended to make a lot of noise which would be seen as a weakness in her classroom management skills. Learners in this class were very quiet and most of the time busy with their work.
Lesson outcomes: ‘At the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:
• know and identify female and male reproductive organs; and
• describe all terms involved in reproduction.
Educator activities involved asking questions to establish learners’ prior knowledge on reproduction, expanding the learners’ vocabulary by introducing new words, giving learners written notes on the chalkboard and a worksheet to complete. Learner activities included participation in class discussion on the topic, responding to questions, note taking and task completion.
The educator’s main resources were the textbook, the chalkboard and worksheet that the educator had prepared for class. There were no learners’ workbooks available nor any chart or poster on the wall on reproduction although there were other charts of the world map, different religions and geometric shapes displayed on the wall. The educator began the lesson by introducing the topic and explaining briefly what reproduction meant by reading from a textbook in her hand, she wrote the topic on the chalkboard and the learners read it in choral form. She wrote five other terms on the board and next to each wrote their meaning. While she was writing, learners at the back left row were giggling and pointing at the words she was writing and saying them in isiZulu. A disturbance started as she continued writing with more learners joining in the giggling and whispering. She tried to keep them quiet but they wouldn’t listen. A hand was raised from the middle row, the learner asking if the educator would explain these terms further because he could not understand. After a short pause, the educator responded by saying that the class shouldn’t worry about further
explanations as she had prepared the worksheet for them. The educator handed out the worksheet with both the internal and external body changes in males and females during puberty. She read the different changes and briefly explained each comparison. However, she seemed uncomfortable reading and explaining ‘penis’, ‘testes’ and ‘sperm’.
There were some giggling noises coming from the middle back row where boys who seemed a little older than their peers were seated. An older shabby boy with a stern face was passing a piece of paper around to the other boys whose eyes were widening as they looked at the paper that was going around. At the stern request from the educator demanding to know what the matter was, the other boys looked at the direction of the shabby boy not saying a word, fear written all over their faces. The educator came closer to this group still demanding to know what was causing the chaos, nobody answered, the boys’ eyes were fixed on the floor where the paper was thrown and the educator picked it up only to find out that there were drawings of the male and the female organs and the parts were labelled in isiZulu.
The boys’ “excitement” disturbed the smooth running of the lesson, but the educator made every effort to calm the situation and the lesson went on. Curious faces from other learners who had not seen the paper made the educator turn her focus to the drawings to explain what they were. The drawings brought up an interesting discussion between the educator and the learners who wanted to know ‘how the sperm was formed and where it is kept in the male reproductive organs.’ The educator asked the learners the different parts of the male organs and interestingly enough the learners, especially the bigger boys, were able to provide answers and the educator explained the process in response to the question that was asked.
The discussion moved to the female genitals because a girl from the front row wanted to know how menstruation occurs and why she experiences pains during her periods. The educator drew a scanty drawing of the female organs and explained in detail how the egg moves through the fallopian tubes and why some girls would experience pain. It was interesting to note that many girls were well
informed of this process and they told the educator that the facilitator from ‘Lilletts’ had told them about it and how they as young girls should behave and take care of themselves. Some of the girls said that they discussed these issues with their elder sisters and their mothers and some said that such lessons were conducted in their churches at youth camps. The educator went on explaining how reproduction takes place, and giggling noises came from the bigger boys who were also passing remarks. The educator felt even more embarrassed because she did not understand what the learners were saying because they were talking in isiZulu.
It was noted that the educator had shown some reservations about the lesson, and discomfort in reading words like penis, vagina and clitoris. However, she felt comfortable teaching about menstruation because as a woman she understood the process and felt learners should know everything pertaining to this topic. She also mentioned that she would prefer to teach such topics because they were not as sensitive as topics like masturbation which she finds difficult to teach not only because as a woman, she thinks they will better be taught by a male to boys only. Furthermore her culture and religion are totally against teaching such topics. The educator’s reactions and attitude towards teaching these topics and her preferences are supported by Ahmed, Flisher, Mathews, Mukoma and Jansen’s (2009, p.51) assertion ‘that reviews have revealed that condom messages are antagonizing them personally as they were incompatible with their cultures.
Therefore, teaching sexuality is seen as a constituent related to obligation and ethics. Educators remarked that they have an obligation to learners of instilling ethics in their absence at home’. In addition to this view, authors such as Donovan (1998); Milton (2003) and Munodawafa (1991) cited in Mkumbo (2012, p.149), point out ‘that initially teachers expressed challenges with teaching sensitively sexuality related topics such as condom use, masturbation, sexual orientation, abortion and contraception’. Looking through the lens of the bio-ecological perspective, the macro-systems which involve the dominant social and economic structure as well as beliefs and practices that influence other social systems, for example, the cultural value (micro-system), may include respect for authority by not using ‘inappropriate language’ for terms such as ‘sex’ and ‘condoms’ etc.