Frank Lau – Hawaii Baptist Academy

TABSA – 2011 

 

Surreal

My experience with Teachers Across Borders (TAB) is surreal.  Even now, weeks after returning to my home, I cannot believe that I have seen what I have seen and been where I have been.  But I am reminded every day that it was not a dream by the carved wooden statue of a Zulu warrior that now greets me on my coffee table, and bit of nagging shoulder pain, sustained when I climbed a ladder that I should not have.

 

Contrast          

In all of the wide varieties of experiences I had before traveling to South Africa, in all the cities around the world I visited, nothing could have prepared me to be lead into the heart of rural South Africa and the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape.  The towns and villages that dot the Eastern Cape clearly demonstrate the “contrast” that is so often used to describe South Africa.  It takes just a day to explore a frontier town like Port St. John, from the town center, built on two parallel dirt roads centering around two grocery stores and two hardware stores, to the rugged coastal cliffs and beaches.  Life for most is hard; the town is so remote that economic stimulation is hard to come by, and many of the lucky ones are surviving on a cottage industry of beading.  One day I met a woman who said she had walked 20 miles each way to sell her beaded jewelry in a neighboring town.  But against the backdrop of isolation and poverty, there is so much natural beauty.  On my last day in Port St. John, I visited the home of a woman who beaded for a living and from the window of her cottage I witnessed one of the greatest views I have ever seen.  Her home sat atop a cliff that overlooked the beach, and in the distance were rare right whales breaching and a shipping lane with a dozen cargo ships dotting the horizon.  It didn’t matter that her home was made largely out of corrugated tin; it was one of the most magnificent homes I have ever stepped into.  

 

Reinvigoration

If we did our jobs properly, then our greatest lasting contribution should be the education and reinvigoration of our colleagues, the teachers of the Eastern Cape.  I traveled to South Africa to workshop with teachers, many of which were poorly educated in math and science due to the racist laws of Apartheid.  And over the weeks that I worked with math teachers, I came to meet a whole range of abilities and knowledge.  I made a friend named Zipi, who came to the workshop under a special invitation and we had a moment that reminded me that not all math teachers know their stuff.  As we worked through a worksheet on physical science, we had to find the slope of a line.  Zipi turned to me and asked me, “Frank, now what do I do?”  She was supposed to divide a negative number by another negative number and she was stuck.  In the most tactful way possible, I nudged her towards the right answer and she eventually remembered that you get a positive number.  Her face clearly showed a mix of joy for having worked out her problem, and a hint of embarrassment for forgetting a basic arithmetic.  I smiled back, and in the days that followed I believe that Zipi felt safe, knowing that she could make mistakes and ask any question.  Before she left the workshop on the last day, she told me that she was so grateful for TAB and she felt energized to return to the classroom.  We left her with many activities she could use to improve her curriculum, but moreover, we helped her to feel good about her job and feel competent, despite any content gaps.  

 

Brilliance

Seeing as Apartheid ended in 1994, many teachers have overcome their inequity and risen above their circumstances.  Some of the colleagues I worked with came to be challenged by our workshop and were truly talented math educators.  Ashley was truly gifted in his role as Subject Adviser.  As a subject adviser, he oversaw the math teachers from about 200 schools in his district.  I will always remember his razor sharp mind in working out solutions to our most challenging problems, and his gift of communicating his answers to his peers and to other teachers.  Often we had chats over tea about proofs and deeper applications of what had been covered that day.  It was a pleasure to see him push the applications of what we brought to South Africa to new heights. I am sure he will use his experience with TAB to improve his district.

 

Probability

I had received a report six weeks before the start of our first workshop stating that the teachers of the Eastern Cape would especially like help with the topic of probability.  In preparation for the trip, I prepared many lessons targeted toward accomplishing the goals set by the Department of Education (DOE) in South Africa.  So it was quite a surprise when, on the first day of the workshops, the most senior attendee informed me that I was not to use workshop time to teach probability.  Her reasoning was that a separate company was going to make its way around the country to give a workshop on probability.  Respecting her position and obligation to her superiors, I canned my lessons and moved to a different topic for a few days.  As luck would have it, I had the wonderful opportunity to teach 9th graders who were attending a school that was open during the winter holiday.  This special school drew about 90 students from homes as far as 10 miles away, to which the students walked in the cold.  On one day that will stay near to my heart for the rest of my life, I was asked to lead the lessons on probability and I pulled out every lesson I had prepared. In two hours, we covered 10 different demonstrations and experiments in probability.  I will never forget the faces of my pupils, working diligently, solving problems, and filling in tables.  Some were packed into their bench seats so tightly, a student was using his neighbor’s back as a writing surface.  But all of the students stayed focused and worked for two hours straight, without complaining.  The children of South Africa are just as bright as any American child, and their discipline level is admirable.  If I could have stayed for a year, I would have wanted to stay in that school with those students and fill their heads with math.  

 

They seemed to hunger and thirst for knowledge and for one day I believe that I left them fulfilled.  To wrap up the day we passed out pens and pencils and told them the how far we, TAB, had come to be with them and how much we wanted them to stay in school.  They left with smiles, shouts of joy, and even a few autographs. Yes, they really treated us like celebrities.  We finished with fruitful workshop time with the teacher and I shared some ideas on how she could bring these lessons to her classroom.

 

Night Session

Returning to the teacher workshops, I felt that what I had brought was too good to not share with other teachers.  Maybe they would receive help in the future, but more likely than not, they would be passed over and forgotten, deep in the heart of rural South Africa.  So I offered an optional night session, not to coincide with the normal day session.  And nearly every math teacher showed up, even after a long day of work.  My room was filled to capacity and then some.  For two hours I lead nearly 90 teachers through the lessons that I had shared with the students.  I gave them insights into how to lead students, but not give them the answers.  In the end I handed out a write-up of my lessons that, if followed, would enable them to hit 11 out of the 12 learning outcomes outlined by the DOE.  A few skeptical teachers borrowed pairs of dice and tried out some experiments for themselves that night.  The next day each one of them returned with a smile connoting, “I believe you now.”  And that was my point.  Many teachers had skipped over probability in the past because they didn’t know how to teach it.  But once you see the write-up, you would want to take it home and try it for yourself. 

 

Dignity

South Africa is a proud and warm country.  My lasting impression is that South Africa will rise up to overcome any residual inequity from 40 years of Apartheid.  They embraced us – White, Black or Asian; they saw us for the value we brought as educators and people.  It is this indomitable human spirit that will prevail in all corners of the Earth.