Kaolack : diary of an African experience

Alice at school :

In the meantime, my daughter Alice had gone through strong feelings about her school. Before leaving home, I had checked the Belgian Education Ministry requirements and found out although education is compulsory (I already knew, of course), attending school is not. Practically, Alice had several options : register for an official correspondence course, bring files from her Brussels teacher, be my student or attend a local school. It was decided she would go to school in Kaolack, work on her teacher’s files and regularly report to her Belgian classmates. When I saw her after the first day at school, she was distressed and, in tears, explained to me the teacher had a little whip which he used to “make pupils understand”. She somehow felt that he wouldn’t use it on her, but was deeply shocked and didn’t want to go back to school. I tried to calm her down and the next day visited her teacher, Barthélémy, to inform him that she would not return because of him using a whip. He smiled at me and said with a gentle voice “Of course, I should have thought of that, the culture shock !” And he promised he wouldn’t use it as long as Alice would attend his classes, i.e. till the end of December ! . He added “If Alice still doesn’t want to come back, I’ll come and speak to her and explain why here, in Africa, …”. Alice and I talked a lot about it and she finally returned to Barthélémy’s class. He kept his promise for a while – using his hand instead of the whip – but the whip reappeared during the week of exams in late December…

The pupils were kind to her, teaching her some words of Wolof and steps of dance and games. When we left, Alice offered them a big illustrated map of Senegal she had drawn and coloured herself.

The “whip affair” was also much discussed among my trainees and they expressed a wide range of opinions : some teachers came up to me “Alice is right : corporal punishment is outlawed ! Teachers should use other methods !” Others tried to explain “Classes are overcrowded. It’s difficult to have authority, you know” … Although I strongly disapprove of it, I feel I have “no lesson to give”. After all, here in Europe, it has existed a long time. Corporal punishment was only abolished in the UK a few years ago, wasn’t

it ? And Alice proved to herself that she could be brave…

By the end of November, trainees and I know each other pretty well. This is also due to the “the interviews”. Anne had started them and I went on (everyday or one day out of two, a volunteer is interviewed by the whole group). This fluency activity is much appreciated : they listen carefully to the questions and answers, ask some tricky ones (“You are married, Charlie. How about having a second or a third wife ?” OR “What are the best and worst moments you’ve experienced as a teacher ?”).

Early December :

when every member of the group – me included – had been interviewed, we started a cycle of “speeches”. This time, the task was to prepare the narration of an event, or a tale, or a childhood memory,… and to give the speech (5 minutes). Inevitably it was followed by a “question time”. I realise that their interest for this activity is so strong that I have to re-consider the timing. The choice of their subjects reveals their personalities and interests in life. They give me an excellent opportunity to explore the customs and habits, beliefs and hopes, traditions and values of Senegal. Besides, it gives them an intensive drill on questions and past tenses.

There’s only one month left before the end of the training and an evaluation takes place. I tell them in a collective letter (as I said earlier, I’m convinced of the power of letter writing) : “../…So, we are about half-way through this course and, to use a metaphor, it’s time “we stopped the engine and looked back on the road we have travelled”. To do this, we’re going to use the “check-your-progress” (note : this is a 5-part test designed by the course book I use) and discuss its results. The CYP are not to be considered as a competition or an examination, they are occasions for you, the learner, to measure up against the objectivity of the language without the judgement of the teacher. At the end of the test, you are able to see clearly the progress you have made and what has yet to be accomplished. Then, I would like you to give me a personal account of your experience as a learner. Please do this in a letter addressed to me. …/…”. This is when I got more letters ! To come back to the evaluation itself, I let them correct their own tests, I answered their questions, but I remained discreet (I didn’t read and note down their scores) and it was obvious that they were not used to being given any responsibility in a correction process, neither room for discussion. So, they talked a lot about this sense of freedom and autonomy, this awareness and how much they could consider leaving their students some responsibility in that field…