Eish! London 16 July

Thursday, 16 July
I couldn’t believe it; the school today was in Shakespeare Road! When I saw that I knew it was going to be a great presentation. The Englishman who was in charge of the Year Sixes greeted me and took me through to the Year Six Hall. He was really chatty and all excited because he had just accepted a teaching post in the countryside. He had had enough of London and wanted to move out and settle down in a calmer, more chilled out place in the world; even though he had apparently taken a salary drop to do so. It was a lifestyle choice for him, and looking at how energized he was, I reckon he had definitely made the right one. He was on the ball and filled me in on who the difficult learners may be, he said there could be a couple of learners who may react to the movie clip, but he’d keep an eye on them, and some who would be great in the interactive role plays, he would send them to me at the appropriate time. Lovely.

I set up the equipment on the stage and waited. The learners all filed in from their registration classes as they were marshaled by their teachers. The one teacher in the back right classroom caught my eye; something about him was really attractive; I had to dismiss the moment as I turned my attention back to the job at hand and went for gold. Of the three presentations, this one was my favourite. The learners were participative, interested and keen to join in. There was a vibrancy that was great for my cause, but also made me glad I wasn’t in the classroom having to discipline and teach them. We were on such a roll together that I barely managed to finish in time and we went slightly into their break. I closed off and said my goodbyes; but this time I wasn’t left to pack up on my own, instead I was accompanied by two girls and a boy who were rattling off lots of questions which I answered as objectively as I could. For reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, the questions evolved from graffiti to knife crime and alcohol. I said to them to be careful because alcohol was a form of poison and people can get into lots of trouble when they are drunk and have knives in hand. I was on unsure ground and was hoping I wouldn’t sound patronising or stop them from being open in their discussions, but I didn’t want to be the one fielding this discussion because I knew nothing about these children or their backgrounds. The 11 year old boy clearly had a lot on his mind:
“But I have friends who drink because it makes the party more fun, and they haven’t been in trouble with their knives. So why do you think it’s trouble?” Was he challenging me, or discussing this with me?
I looked up from my equipment to see what his body language was saying, he seemed unsure: “That worries me.” I said honestly.
“Huh?” he said confused. He looked like he was thinking: Why is that a reason to worry?
“You are in Year Six, why do you have friends who drink and have knives? If they are caught with those knives they’ll go to prison.” He wasn’t sure what to say, but he was listening. I carried on slowly and factually, without judgement, “If you think about it, do you think it’s a good idea to be hanging around with people like that?”
He thought, and gave me a sheepish: “No.”
“I think you are right. Do you want to have awesome things in the future? Do you want to be the best you can be?”
Another thought-provoked answer: “Yes.”
“Well, if you want to be the best you can be will those kinds of people help you to do that?”
“No.”
“Well, then maybe that’s something you need to think about. You know in your heart what’s right for you and what’s not, so maybe you need to start thinking about making the right choices for you.” I had just finished packing everything away and I zipped the last zip closed. “Thanks for helping me pack up, but I have to get going now.”
The awesome teacher stepped up from behind me, “Off you go to break now, Shannan has to go.” The two girls gave me a quick hug and the three of them ran off. I exhaled.
I looked at the teacher, “Where did that question come from?”
“He is the youngest and has older brothers; I think that’s who he has been hanging around with lately.” He handed me my evaluation form and I thanked him.
“What is your background?” he asked with curiosity in his eyes.
“Oh, I was a high school teacher back home in South Africa and I came to London to try supply teaching, and then I ended up with the TC doing this.” I grinned, no need to go into all the hopes and dreams here.
“Well, you are very good at doing this, but I think you are an excellent teacher and the teaching profession is sorely missing you.”
Wow! I was dumbstruck, what a kind thing to say, upon recovering from the overwhelming compliment I said: “Thank-you! I think that this school is going to miss you a lot too.” He smiled.
We wished each other the best with the future and I felt like I could fly; he was absolutely right, I did miss teaching and I would definitely go back when I had achieved a dream or two of my own.