“ How does TWB-SA benefit Hawaii’s teachers and their students ? ”
Mike Hu – TWB-SA 2002 – Science – Punahou School
W.H. Auden wrote a line in a poem titled September 1, 1939:
“We must love one another or die.”
TWB-SA provides the world’s biggest stage for a Hawaiian teacher like me to show that I care about others. South Africa is almost the antipode of Hawaii, about as far away as you can get from Hawaii on earth. It took native South African teachers who taught six and seven classes of 50 students each all the physical sciences every day to reteach me the humility that Harvard had distilled from my soul. I benefited because I will never again say “I can’t do it” in Hawaii. If South African teachers can do it with miniscule resources, I should be able to do anything with the plethora of resources at my disposal. TWB-SA etched these words in my soul:
“no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Jim Clarke – TWB-SA 2001 & 2004 – Punahou – Mathematics
I learned that one person can make a difference in this world. In SA we all left footsteps. We also associated with people who changed the course of history in SA.
I also learned that one should be bold enough to take risks in life. Without risk taking not much is accomplished (although I still don’t dance)
I’ve taught for a million years but I still learned a lot from my colleagues both from here and in SA.
Learning about another culture while living with these folks was mind bending.
I made many new life long friends.
The SA math system is different from ours. I now have a different perspective about topics that I teach.
This might be on the negative side but I see our kids who have everything and the SA kids who have nothing and sometimes it is difficult being compassionate to our kids.
Because of our trips many kids have empathized with what we did and truly have a heart to help out those less fortunate. (my old homeroom gathered three big boxes of things)
John Proud – TWB-SA 2002 – Science – Punahou School
I certainly came home with a huge appreciation for my teaching situation! I also saw that there were some areas where I had become lazy with my preparation because the kids and resources were so good that I could get by with “doing less”.
Trying to share ‘what I do in the classroom’ with other professionals created a very important opportunity for self-examination. Especially when my South Africa peers questioned my methods.
The opportunity to travel and be in another part of the world is always exciting and I know that I am a more understanding and thoughtful person because of the experience. The most moving part of the trip was the time that we spent with the students. I know that I am more appreciative and more patient with my students back here at Punahou after having been to South Africa.
Erin Wilson – TWB-SA 2004 – Science – Kamehameha Schools
My experience in South Africa has reaffirmed my reasons for wanting to become a teacher in the first place. I want to make the world a better place to live in as I age and as my children grow up. I was also reminded of how good I have things here in the United States and especially, here at Kamehameha.
I will never complain about anything that has to do with my job again. In the classroom, I find that I am a more humane teacher, and that I see my students as people more than as part of my job. I also was so inspired by the educators I met, that I have been volunteering for a lot more professional activities that are not part of my job description, and that I am much more willing to spend time with the teachers at my school learning things from them and helping them out with stuff that I know. I have stopped watching the clock and decided that what I do as an educator is not a job, it is a calling. It is my life, and going to South Africa reminded me why I get up each day and do what I do.
Mike Pavich – 2001 – Punahou – Mathematics
When I think of what the SA experience has done for me as a teacher and consequently for my student, 3 or 4 realizations come to mind :
I teach kids so that they can get to a good college. SA teachers teach math to save their country. Their motivation and passion and dedicaton inspire me to be better organized, more patient and more creative in my instruction! Their British “system” (integrated math) opens the door for me to explore our system and its merit.
Our system would facilitate mass teaching better and more efficiently. To keep math from the Black students is (was) such an injustice that I’m pushed to want to help in anyway that I can. Talk about community service… I loved the Culture Exchange, the teachers reaction to my Kamehameha the Great (Shaka kan) poster was awesome !
Yukio Hamada – TWB-SA 2004 – Punahou – Mathematics
The benefit to the Hawaii teacher is the opportunity to expand his / her horizons. Too often educators tend to become parochial and see the world in their own context of school or community. The South Africa experience allows the Hawaii teacher to see that the teaching, the methodologies, and the language of science and mathematics transcends national, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. There are “truths” in the world of mathematics and science and there are still some unproven propositions that challenge us. Another benefit is for the Hawaii teacher to reexamine what teaching is all about. Is teaching a profession or is it a vocation? Seeing the conditions and the challenges facing the rural teacher in South Africa allows the Hawaii educator to see teaching in a different context a context without concerns for health benefits, cost of living allowances, or retirement benefits.
The strong sense of “nation building” and “educating future leaders” is much more evident in the South African educator compared with their American counterpart. Through the South Africa project, the Hawaii teacher becomes a partner in the “nation building” and “leadership development” ideals of the South African teacher because he/she has been allowed to share and exchange ideas and methodologies which make for effective teaching in either Hawaii or South Africa. It forces the Hawaii teacher ask “Why do I choose to teach this topic in this way?” and “Is it possible to teach it differently?”
The benefits to the student are not as clearcut. The obvious benefit would be for the Hawaii teachers to share the experience not merely as a “lifechanging experience” but more as a bridge to understand that a South African student’s dream to get an education is similar and different than an American student’s. Unfortunately, at a school like Punahou, this discussion is not easy to pursue because of the nature of being a curriculum driven orientation. But, even at Punahou, there are other avenues for discussion.
A benefit that is harder to see or measure is how the individual teacher has changed so that his/her approach to teaching has been modified or affected. A subtle difference in my teaching has been my renewed conviction that what I do really is important, not merely to help my student to get into college but also because it is important in understanding the world. The South African experience has made me remember that teaching is a vocation and that sense of call puts a greater emphasis on the learning “soul” of the child and less on the teaching of mathematics.
The benefit for my students has been that I have been more conscious of taking more time to develop the basics and to show how previously learned concepts can be applied to analyze changes and transformations. Working with the South African teachers has helped me to teach more systematically rather than the fragmented way our textbooks tend to present the material. The South African experience has helped me to see how important it is to show students that all those previously taught parts relates to the larger whole.
Jim Metz – TWB-SA 2003 & 2004 – University of Hawaii – Mathematics
Put the chalk in the hands of the learner. Teachers can teach by watching the learners and teachers teach each other. I can’t know what someone is thinking if I am talking. When I see and ask questions I can learn.
Teachers need to be learners. This requires materials that demand that the learner be involved. Passing the matric exam is a goal and questions that help students meet their goal are important because there is a value placed on learning and a reward for learning.
I learned what a joy it is to be able to teach mathematics. From the moment I walked into the classroom we were all doing mathematics. There were NO distractions. The first priority should be teaching, not checking attendance, returning papers, and a whole host of other non-learning activities.
I learned how good we have it here and that we need to quit complaining,use what we have and stop asking for more exotic ways to teach and learn. I saw that many teachers and learners in South Africa understand and love mathematics. They learned mathematics with pencil and paper – no computer, no video, no email. We have too much stuff! Mathematics takes time and attention and there is nothing quick and easy about it.
The key to understanding mathematics is to simply appreciate the joy of doing it. Providing the opportunity for the joy to come through is the task of teaching. Let them do math.
Joan Rohrback – TWB-SA 2004 – Sacred Hearts Academy – Science
Working with the teachers and students in South Africa forces you to view concepts, teaching styles and methodologies, classroom management,
etc. differently as they have different needs/ situations/ training/ points of view.
You consider things and possibilities you might not have before – expands your frame of reference and problem solving abilities both of
which increase your effectiveness in your own classroom.
Jen Hong – TWB-SA 2004 – Punahou – Mathematics
Here are some reasons TWB-SA benefits Hawaii’s teachers and students:
-promotes collaboration which can be continued in Hawaii (some of my greatest growth was learning from Jim Clarke, Jim Metz, and Yukio Hamada on the TWB-SA team)
-asks teachers to break down algorithms and proofs into the simplest
steps and this can help struggling Hawaii students
-teachers practice how to reach a multitude of abilities and ages (from students to teachers)
-teachers learn about other countries’ standards and educational system and are better able to reflect on their standards and curriculum (i.e. If SA focused a lot on Geometry, and we don’t, maybe we should)-springboard for discussion
-teachers learn how to teach a subject with limited materials and
technology (back to basics)
Will Best – TWB-SA 2002 – Punahou – Mathematics
Conversations with other teachers taught me a few new tricks, ones which I’m not likely to have heard of in this country. I pass those on to my kids. Working with a geometry curriculum from another country forced me to think about geometry in unfamiliar ways, and to solve unfamiliar types of problems. This definitely sharpened my skills and gave me a broader understanding of geometry as a whole. I gained a sense of which challenges are the ones which confront teachers everywhere, and which ones are specific to countries or individual schools.
And one more thing…
I learned, again and more forcefully, how utterly insignificant I am on the face of the Earth — only one creature among billions and billions. And yet I can make a difference if I share what I have and what I know with others, and listen to what they can offer me. That’s the little difference that us insignificant creatures can make, and from a
little change can grow a huge avalanche
Mike Vogel – 2001 – Punahou School 2002 – Prentice Hall – Mathematics
The first thing that came to mind when thinking about why the TWB-SA project benefits teachers was exactly what Jim Metz alluded to, that in order for us to be good teachers, we have to be learners. That is one of the most exciting things about teaching anyway, learning from my colleagues and my students alike. I learned a lot from my South African counterparts, from different approaches to a problem or lesson to classroom management issues. I taught a little math, but they taught me a lot of teaching.
During our workshops, because of the cultural and sometimes language barriers that naturally existed, I tried to take nothing for granted, to assume nothing about where the teachers were at. I was hyper-aware, and that has particularly helped me here in Rome. I deal with language barriers every day, in every class. And it has helped me appreciate the divide that exists between me and my students. I have become more aware of my students and of their needs, in and out of the classroom. I feel like I take less for granted their understanding of math.
It has helped me to focus much of my energies whenever I feel frustrated. Rather than get upset that the printer isn’t working, I should be kicking myself for being lazy and making a worksheet anyway. If my computer doesn’t work, I ask myself how many computers were working in classrooms 50 years ago? I don’t get ticked I have a class of 27, I am grateful I don’t have a class of 57. Many of the perceived problems and frustrations and inconveniences we have to “overcome” are nothing compared to the conditions that most of our colleagues in South Africa had to overcome. I appreciate every day all the luxuries we enjoy.
And here’s probably the most beneficial thing I took from going to South Africa, but this really hasn’t anything to do with bettering myself as a teacher as much as it has with benefiting myself as a person, which I guess indirectly benefits myself as a teacher. I got my hands dirty face-to-face with people from the other side of the world. Without getting all political and preachy, if everybody in the States did that, wouldn’t we have a different country? Leader? At any rate an openmindedness ensues that only helps to make the learning environments in our classrooms better and more interesting and exciting.
I went to South Africa during a couple of years when I was doing a lot of personal sorting. I left the classroom for a couple of years trying to figure out if I was better suited for the real world. Going to South Africa reignited an excitement for teaching that I have yet to lose since I started again.