Teaching and learning

My third week as a teacher (and I finally got the results from my teacher’s exam in Norway, meaning I’m actually a teacher now!) has come to an end, and by now I know a lot more about teaching 50 children at the same time. Not quite a professional yet, I make many mistakes as I go on – but how else am I supposed to learn? I have learnt that Kenyan children are not used to ask questions, even when they don’t understand a single word of what I’ve just said. They are experts in repeating and memorizing, though, and they love singing. In fact, they love to sing so much that I sometimes use it as a reward for good behavoiur in class; If they are able to finish the tasks I’ve given them, I promise them five minutes of singing. The strange thing is that when 90% of them are too shy to talk out loud alone, none of them are afraid of singing alone, it seems. Another thing I’ve learned about their singing, however, is that the African way of singing is hardly ever in unison. Every time I teach them a song, I have to sing each line alone, and they will repeat. Even when they have learnt the song, they will not start with me, because the typical African way of singing is done in the “call-and-response”way. I’ve taught them songs about penguins, a moose, beavers and ponys – and any CISV member reading this will know which songs I’m talking about. The Kenyan children love them just as much as Norwegian children. The top picture shows one of my classes, the bottom one is outside the school, when all 730 pupils are going home for lunch.