This past week, after our Easter/mid-term break, the teachers from teacher training colleges got placed by the government at schools around the country. We had a meeting with the heads of departments to discuss this (I'm the physics head by default since I am the only physics teacher). We got 5 new teachers, which was nice, but 4 of them only teach arts subjects (history, geography, Swahili, civics...). Each of the arts subjects are covered already by at least 5 teachers that we already had, which I'm afraid will mean more bored teachers and not much relief for the busy science teachers. However, the fifth teacher we got is a math teacher! Which was exciting, but unfortunately this means that the Form II students which have gotten used to my teaching style and who I have built a good relationship with are now his students.
At first I thought of this as a bad thing. I like those students, I have become invested in their success, they are comfortable with me, and now they have been taken from me (or I from them) without any consultation, mid year, and they will need to adjust to a new teacher while preparing for their national exams in the fall (I'm going to stick to Northern hemisphere seasons). It's not fair to me or to the students.
But then I thought about it differently. After about a year and a half, I will be gone. Relying on outside assistance is not healthy for any country (see USA oil addiction), and although I can be an example of different teaching and classroom management methods, it is important to pass the torch, even if it is earlier than I had hoped.
With this new mindset, I have been looking at ways to be useful around the school with my new four-periods-per-week schedule (I will still be teaching Form IV physics). Work is popping up everywhere. My second master desperately needs help with Bio and Chem, the English teachers want me to help their students, and as a member of the Shika na Mikono committee I have been offering my help to any teacher interested in making science/math more interesting with hands-on tools.
Many of the volunteers in the older education class have told me that teaching is not the most important part of our job here. This has become increasingly clear to me. I have never been observed in the classroom by anyone since pre-service training in July. No teachers are learning anything from me while I am in the classroom. And while teaching seems to be my 'job' here, the title "education volunteer" does not necessarily mean "classroom teacher." If I can get teachers at my school to see the importance of teaching aids and hands-on learning, this behavior change would have a far greater impact on Tanzanian education over time than any teaching I could do in my short two years here.
In short, I'm trying to see this schedule change as a blessing in disguise. Less time with my students, but more time to make an impact in different areas. And who knows? Maybe I'll be recruited to teach even more periods now that I'm a free agent again.
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