Incident 3: Std 3 CRE lesson

The following is unedited version of the incident as reported by Mary (not her real name):

It was a standard 3 CRE (christian religious education) lesson. The topic was 'Jesus Resurrection'. We learnt the purpose of Jesus being born, dying and resurrection. I explained that when we die our soul goes to heaven (sic) and our body remains here on earth (sic). Therefore in the case of Jesus, it seems God put the soul back into Jesus' body after three days.

After the lesson, it was questions time to check whether i had achieved my objectives. Question 3: which part of our body goes to heaven when we die? Answers: Child 1 gave: brain. Child 2 gave: mind. Child 3 gave: Heart. Child 4 gave: legs. I got curious and i further inquired why he said legs. The boy replied,'Teacher! it is because the other day my dad was struggling (sic) my mom while lying on her. Her legs were raised up and she was screaming in pain while saying, ooh my god, am coming'.I was extremely shocked, breathless...a moment of silent followed. I hoped other learners had not heard this. I didn't know what to say or do.

I recollected myself very fast and advised the learners that it was not the legs but the soul that goes to heaven. Afterwards i called the boy and inquired further. He disclosed that they live in single room. I was a bit mixed up because i felt i needed to talk to his mother but i did not know how she would respond or react. I prayed about the issue, gathered courage and called her. On hearing the story, she was honest enough and apologized. she also promised to check on the situation. Being a very private matter i left it at that.

How would you interpret the above incident?
Now what... next?

Incident 2: Class 2 pupil’s Traditional Brew Present

It was during the second week of my teaching practice when my assessor Mr Achi* came for assessment during teaching (sic). Earlier I had prepared my learner’s psychologically (sic) that the external visitor (sic) would come to class. The learners are always excited about visitors.

Prior to the day (sic), I informed them t0 clean their uniform and to come to class early. When the assessor came, learners were quite cooperative. Learning took place well as intended but during the lesson one of the learners had brought a present to the visitor. The boy stood and asks for permission to present the present to the visitor but I told him to wait.

At the end of the lesson, the boy stood and walked steadily to the visitor and presented a bottle of traditional brew (traditional brewed alcohol) to my assessor. The rest of the class laughed and tried to run out of the class but I controlled them.

Immediately, I allowed the class to go for the long break and called the boy and asked why he did so. The boy told me that it is a normal drink at their home. I advised him not be using the brew and later I called the parent and talked with her on the dangers of brew to young kids and the health effect in general.

NOTE:

·         No editing has been done.

·         Names have been changed to protect privacy.

What was most interesting or bad aspect about the incident?

What new lessons did the teacher learn?

What is the way forward as far as the teaching/learning is concerned, in regard to this incident?

Incident 1: Class Two Incident

On the morning of 14th March 2015, i woke up early than usual since i was the teacher on duty and i was also expecting external supervisor from the university. I was able to arrive at school at about 7:00 a.m. Pupils began tickling in one by one and soon learning started.

At about 10:00 a.m our school chairman came to school to inform us that the county governor would be visiting our school in the afternoon. We hurriedly held a brief staff-meeting and shared duties amongst ourselves. I was charged with responsibility of ensuring that the environment (sic) becomes clean and tidy. i asked pupils to collect litter and some to sweep their classrooms.

It all begun when it started raining in the afternoon. It was a heavy downpour and word came around that the governor was not going to make it. Kamau* (not his real name), one of our trusted class three prefect came running to the office and reported that something weird was happening in class two. Being the teacher on duty  i hurried to investigate. As i neared their class i could hear the whole class singing loudly ....'kila mtu na demu wake.. '(everybody hold your girl). I could clearly recognized the voice of the most notorious boy nicknamed 'Jangili' (Thug) leading the singing. When i entered the class, i was shocked to find some of the kids were half naked.

We were able to guide and counsel the kids who led others into this ugly incident. Jangili and his close associates (sic) confessed  that they have been doing thus on their way home, the reason being that, they have been seeing their parents doing 'jig jig' at night. The kids vowed not to repeat it again.

It came to our understanding that class two pupils had not being doing their assignments and homework since their class teacher has been reluctant to mark the classwork. We also learnt that Jangili and his close associates (sic) had joined a group (sic) that had been abusing drugs.

I learnt that each child has a unique characteristics/traits and should be handled differently. Learners have individual differences.
NOTE:
The name of the university, school, author, teacher, pupil, governor and county has been omitted to protect privacy.

Critical incidences in our classrooms

In the next posts I will share some of the incidences that my students experienced when they were undertaking their teaching practice. They analyzed the incidents from a reflective point of view. They were guided by reflective models. The goals of these posts is to hear your comments on theories/opinions on why such incidents happen in our classrooms. Theories to explain the why. I would also like to hear what feelings you could have experienced if you were in such a situation. And finally the lessons we have learnt or can learn from such incidences and the way forward.