Clusters of meaning: portraits of teachers’ lives
5.2 Biographical sketches of narrative collaborators .1 Andrew: the outsider
5.2.2 Zibuyile: the conqueror
Zibuyile is a 34 year old female teacher who was born as a twin. She comes from a family of five, of whom one brother and one sister have passed away. She grew up with her parents and followed Christianity, attending church and Sunday school classes. At church, she also sang in the choir and acted in plays. Her mother worked in a carpet factory and her father worked in a textile factory. She attended primary school in Hammarskraal and secondary school in Msinga, near Greytown. The highlight of her primary school years was being placed first in class; however, she had to walk a great distance to secondary school and was often punished for arriving late. She recalled the challenging time when both her parents were retrenched and they struggled financially. She got married in 2003 and has two daughters; however, she separated from her husband in 2006 and is currently going through a divorce. This is a
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traumatic period for her and she even contemplated suicide. Zibuyile went twice for an HIV test; the first time for insurance purposes and the second time because she was sick and concerned about her HIV status.
Teaching was her first choice as a career and she enrolled at a Training College in Durban. It was her first experience of attending a multi-racial institution and initially she found it difficult to mix with other racial groups and communicate in English, which was her second language. She started teaching in a temporary post in 2001 and took up a permanent post in 2002 at her present school. During the week, she boards in the town where she teaches and only travels home on weekends. Zibuyile completed an Advanced Certificate in Education in 2005. She is a dedicated teacher who is committed to her learners and the community, where she is actively involved in Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) classes. She has attended workshops on HIV and AIDS, Revised National Curriculum Statements and school management organised by the Education department. She has incorporated HIV and AIDS education into the learning areas she teaches. When I asked Zibuyile to tell me about herself, she responded as follows:
I’m short tempered. I know myself and I’m a straight talker. If I don’t like something, I just say so. But where I’m failing, is the way I’m handling it. When I’m angry, I just talk anything, maybe later, I will regret the words that I was saying. That is my weakest point. I know that I’m kind and sensitive and I like church gospel music and I like to learn a lot. I just like to learn more things and help other people. There are things that are not going well in my life.
Right now, I’m going through a divorce, and I do have a problem, because we are just fighting on the phone. Otherwise, I just want to be positive about life. There are bad things that happened in my life, like one day, I was about to commit suicide because I was so hurt and feeling that things were not going well, since I had plans in my life. But through God, I am surviving. I had that situation in my life, but now, everything is good and I have committed myself to God.
165 5.2.3 Sandile: the gentleman
Sandile is a 48 year old male teacher who was born in Pietermaritzburg. He grew up in Sobantu village and comes from a family of six, of whom two sisters have passed away. As a child growing up, he lived with his mother and siblings. His father worked for the railways and his mother worked as a domestic worker. He attended primary and secondary school in Pietermaritzburg. His family were Jehova witnesses and did not attend church; instead, they held bible studies meetings. Sandile has mostly happy childhood memories, the highlight of which was going to Cape Town by train, since his father received free tickets as a railway worker. For Sandile, passing standard six at the end of primary school was a big achievement not only because it allowed him to enter secondary school but also because most learners found it very difficult and either failed or repeated it. He was inspired by his Mathematics teacher at secondary school to pursue a career in teaching. After matriculating, he enrolled for a two-year Primary Teaching Certificate at a Training College in a midlands town near Pietermaritzburg. He started teaching at a primary school near Greytown. Determined to improve his teaching qualifications, he completed a Diploma in Education in 1996, a Higher Diploma in Education in 1998 and a Bachelor of Education degree in 2003. He was promoted to Head of Department in 2000. He is married to a teacher and has a 16 year old daughter.
Sandile is a dedicated teacher and currently enjoys teaching. He has attended curriculum, assessment and HIV and AIDS workshops organised by the Education department. Despite the fact that Sandile integrated HIV and AIDS education into the learning areas he teaches, he nevertheless drew attention to the challenges he faced with regard to insufficient resources, follow-up support from the Education department and denial/silence in the community. His response to tell me about himself is very brief:
I am an approachable person. I like to do the work I do. Solving educators’ problems is what I like. I am a friendly person, socialising now and then. I like to stay with my family, especially during the weekends.
166 5.2.4 Nombu: the survivor
Nombu is a 33 year old female who was born in Impendle and grew up in Edendale, Pietermaritzburg. She comes from a close-knit family and lived with her parents, sister and nieces. Her father worked in a factory and her mother was a housewife. She attended primary school in Pietermaritzburg, however, due to political violence in the early 1990’s; she had to move to Durban and live with her aunt while completing her secondary schooling. Nombu followed Christianity and attended church on Sundays. During her childhood and schooling years, Nombu was very close to her mother. She recalled her mother’s death as her most traumatic experience. Although teaching was not her first choice as a career, she enrolled for a teaching Diploma at a College of Education in Pietermaritzburg. Mathematics and Science were her favourite subjects at school, which motivated her choice to teach these subjects. She taught at two schools in Durban in temporary posts before taking up a permanent post at her current school in 2002. She shared the challenges of her early teaching experiences in Durban: living in a teachers’ cottage surrounded by snakes, giving extra lessons on weekends, travelling home once a month and carrying water from the river since there were no taps. However, despite such challenging conditions she survived her initial teaching experiences.
Nombu has improved her qualifications by completing an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) for Technology in 2005 as well as a Bachelor of Education (Honours) in 2007. She currently teaches Mathematics and Technology and is enjoying teaching. She has tried to integrate HIV and AIDS education into her lessons. Challenges for her include motivating learners who view Mathematics and Science as difficult subjects and socio-cultural conditions resulting in many learners not doing homework or studying due to working or sick parents. She has attended many workshops on curriculum, Technology and HIV and AIDS organised by the Education department. For her, such workshops should be on-going. When asked to tell me about who she is, this is her response:
I like to communicate with other people and go out and listen to music, very much. Watching movies or listening to music. I enjoy meeting with other people and helping others if I can.
Like this year, I take one boy who is doing Grade 11, who is living next to where I am renting a room. Now he is staying near with me in Pietermaritzburg. His life was destroyed, his
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grandmother and uncle died, so he was living alone and I decided to take him and keep him in my home, so I can help him if I can.