CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS OF LIFE HISTORY DATA
SECTION 2: FIRST LEVEL ANALYSIS - THE RESEARCH STORIES
5.2 Introduction
5.2.2 MOREEN'S STORY 'Paradigm Shift'
5.2.2 MOREEN'S STORY
Iwent to secondaryschoolin 1968.It's nowthe sixties-just at thetimeof thePoqo. Poqo refersto a periodduring the early 1960'swhenintense government suppressionfacedthe creationofa numberof underground antigovernmentmovements. Wehavegot era here.
It's called Poqo'". We can also call it one of the great moments in the liberation movement...we remember that Poqo era, a very terrible time when things were being burned.Our schoolwas also burned.
In high school, I had the same History teacherfrom Grade eight to Grade twelve. My History teacher,Mrs Roberts, usedto be interested in ourparticipation in the class. She would always speak with several questions in between her sentences. For example. she used to constantly use phrases like "Hitler was trying to develop what in Germany ? To develop a united nation, to do what?" This made us to be on our toes to constantly try and work out the next argument he would bemaking. Shealso tried to get us to seethe valueofus participating in the class.MrsRobertswas an excellent teacherand Ienjoyed history evenmore becauseI lovedthe subject.
She was myfavourite teacher in school. She was a "fighter" in the apartheid era. She fought for the freedom ofAfrican people andshe brought that stance into theclassroom and that strengthenedmy attitude towards life. I think in a way shewas my mentor. Mrs Roberts would never teach from a textbook. Sheshowed me thatyou don'thaveto act as a teacher to be this disciplinarian, and have thisfirm so-called "a teacher should be "
attitude. She taught me to "let my guard down, enj oy the children, enj oy the day, enjoy teaching".
Mrs Roberts had a vast general knowledge. On bad days , especially in Grade 12 she should read out of the textbook and make us underline. However, she was the teacher who was a cut above the rest. What I learnedfrom her was to "go the extra mile".
Having her at school kept me on track. It made me determine to do better all the time, knowing that there was always someone watching overme. I wanted to improve, to prove that I could achieve and do better. I had to provethat Iwas good.
IS Poqo: anti-apartheid army formed byPan African Congressin1961.
I chose history at secondary school because I loved history ofdifferent parts ofthe world.
The images of being a teacher of history were that you need a vast general knowledge and you must tell interesting stories. We did not have any books, or magazines or TV in our home. Also it was not customary for Coloured children, more especially from the working class families, to have parents read to them when they were small. We just couldn't afford those reading materials.
From small I used to admire the teachers in my area. They were always smartly dressed.
I always used to say as a child that I wanted to become a teacher. Even in my primary school,I used to walk like those teachers; I used to imitate how they used to carry their bags. I was so proud ofwanting to become a teacher.
I chose history as one of my majors because at university I was exposed to different ideologies and how that shaped history. I was more interested in politics and leaders.
The course was essentially based on European History and South African History 1919- 1961. We did one module on Africa (Appendix J). Although the lecturers did very little for me, I enjoyed having to go out to teach and speak about History. History is real, I loved it. I have always had a fascination for history. Teaching history is what brings out the best in me.
The grades of the old curriculum were to acquire sound knowledge of world affairs.
Learners must be able to look at information objectively and search for the truth. In Curriculum 2005 the History curriculum is inter-active and linked with Geography. It encourages critical thinking. However, I have heard stories about other countries abandoning the OBE approach and the questiondoes arise why have they thrown it out?
Why haven't we learnt from them? I see that somewhere or other, somebody is going to say, right listen we made a mistake, let's change it. Yes we made a mistake. We should have read the lesson that came out from other countries. There are already people that are saying, and I'm talking about people here that are right up in the committees for Curriculum 2005, that this is going to hit the wall and it's all going to have to change and reorganize and we're going to have to reconstitute and look at other ways.
With the introduction ofthe new curriculum, syllabus content has drastically changed.
Greater emphasis is placed on democracy and human rights, which was non-existent prior to 1994. TheimpactofCurriculum2005 has changed the teachingofHist01Y in the classroom. For examp le, the use of new materials (textbooks) and other newforms of assessments.
1 have always done a sort ofOutcomes-based Education, not necessarilygroup work, but 1 have always done things differently. 1found the flexibility that it allowed me as a teacher important.1alwaysfelt teaching is not only about talk and chalk. Quitefrankly education is a bore whenit comesto just learning from a textbook.Engaging learners in activities makes education a lived experience. 1love teaching and discussing issues on theschool grounds sometimes, but many ofthe teachers look at mestrangely as
if
to say,"you are not really teaching the child". But 1have seen my children having learnt to respect each other, learningto speakfreely. They have grown.
But 1am really finding it difficult coping withfifty learners in the classroom and only forty minutes to teach.1don'tmind the preparationfor my teachingbut1hate the amount of paperwork that 1am expected to do. The volume of assessment and recording is unreal. The more1try to put myfinger on the pulse;thereis something else coming from the Department ofEducation and office.
Currently my teaching involves more pupil activity. In the General Education and Training band19 the focus is on skills, knowledge, attitude and values. The assessment involves integrationwith otherlearning areasandinformal assessmentisvelY important.
Teachers are responsiblefor compilation ofnotes and learners are encouraged to do research. History teachers equip themselves with skills to teach the new integrated curriculum by attending professional workshops, buying new textbooks and attending history subject committee meetings.
19 GeneralEducation andTraining band: grades8and9
Moreen was able to give voice to her desires, thoughts and needs of Black women through the narrative. In this space she gains pleasure from being involved in relationsips that affirm "who I am". Towards the end of the interview process, after I had asked her about how she felt about telling me about her life,Moreen asked me how I felt about the process and listening to her story. I commented that she underplayed the various high and low experiences in her life - she has a very pragmatic approach to her life and will not labour on her experiences. In writing her story I was again made aware of how much I felt she had underplayed her experiences in life. My challenge, as the writer, was to emphasize those experiences. However, her reference to some of the critical incidents when 'being Coloured' opened their lives to inalterable injustice to the heart and mind, assisted me in making sense of the kinds of relationship and practices that she invested in and the meaning she cultivates in such spaces.
. The following story was narrated by the novice history teacher Anisha called 'To Question or Not to Question'.
5.2.3 ANISHA'S STORY