TABSA Reflection 2011

Laurie Schafer – Kea’au High School

When thinking about South Africa the great separation of rich and poor comes to mind. It makes me realize how fortunate we are to live in the United States. Now, in writing this reflection I feel a flood of wonderful memories, and also uneasy frustrations. The highlights would include meeting a group of math and science teachers so dedicated to their profession as to give their time, money, resources, and talent in the hopes of helping others. Convinced that we would be warmly greeted by a group of colleagues who like us gave up their time to come and partake in a week of learning only to be met by paid subject advisors who had little desire to be there was quite disheartening. Luckily by the end of the week some of them changed their opinions.

For a week, we separated from the science team and traveled to some rural schools. It was an incredible moment to stand in front of a classroom of 90 learners and teach a lesson. At the same time, being thrown into that situation with five minutes to plan seemed haphazard and unprofessional. It was something I had to adapt to quickly as it was common place throughout our trip. It was an honor to have the opportunity to visit rural schools, but I felt that what we accomplished did not come close to matching the goals we had intended upon. Showing up at a school and demanding that we have time to work with the learners seemed disrespectful to the educators who work there every day. Instead of spending time talking to the educators and principals, listening to what they had to say, and helping to address areas that THEY requested, we became a traveling show – arriving with our bags of goodies and fancy lessons for a few hours and then we were gone. I felt like we could have done more good if we had more preparation and guidance.

Overall the experience was worth it because of the relationships that were built and the lessons learned; yet, the scattered efforts and inefficiency leave much to be desired.