Propósitos?

As I attended the provincial conference to introduce new secondary school curriculum, I was surround by talk talk talk (all in Portuguese by the way). Talk about student centered learning and developing critical thinking projects. Talk about interdisciplinary learning. Talk about the need for development, and how Mozambique is so reluctant to accept such changes.

And yet, when we split into small groups to discuss further these grand idealistic theories, we were given no real task or directions as to how go about working. So despite all this talk, instead of fruitfully discussing the manual enumerating the ideals behind the new curriculum given to us, we proceeded to read aloud said manual, and copy word for word the most important passages, “because it is most important that we know this material” There was no shorthand notetaking, no paraphrasing, no picking out the main ideas. Nope. Straight dictation and memorization. Do you see the hypocrisy?

The seminar was a week long fiasco, where I learned a lot of Portuguese… but not much else. Ok, not a fiasco, but it involved a lot of meat and xima (so I was uncomfortably full all the time), a lot of sweating in a non-air-conditioned room that was full of about 300 people, and a lot of not working. Oh, and it was in Xai-Xai, so I was staying in the dormitory, which is basically one big room with lots of beds and lockers in it. The lights don't work during the day, totally fine, enough sun light. But then they turn on automatically at about 6pm and remain burning bright all night long. Is that really necessary? Also, I swear the air was constantly tinged with the slightest scent of urine. But I suppose I should be used to this by now.

As with so many things in Mozambique, there is a great disparity between the idealism behind development projects and the practical reality of their implementation. In truth, the teachers, well most of them, want to be better, want to follow this new, revamped, dynamic curriculum. The problem is that they don't know how.

If you grew up writing in your notebook only exactly what your teacher instructed you to, memorized it, and then regurgitated it word for word on a test, could you teach students how to, to quote one of my high school English teachers, “dig deeper”?

The most overwhelming problem I noticed plaguing the conference was an incredibly debilitating passivity. No one took a leadership role. Rather, every other minute the moderators were calling for “propósitos?”

For example, just breaking into groups was a sort of ridiculous ordeal. The moderators split us up by district into two large groups. Well, instead of telling us it was by district, they said “Group One” and proceeded to read an entire list of about 150 names. The large group was then supposed to break into smaller groups. So we milled around, eventually formed the big group, and then discussed the best way to break into smaller groups.


As we formed smaller groups, people were offering propósitos on the best way to go about it, then we finally settled on counting off into groups of five. Then no one really knew how to count off. Then everyone forgot or ignored their number and just went with whoever they wanted. Then, since we didn't really have any instructions on what to do in our groups, we discussed the best way to go about beginning work for about an hour. And then it was time for lunch.

After consuming my weight in meat, and about another 45 mintues of milling around putting off work, we reconvened. I piped up, hoping to lend some sort of direction to our wandering work:
“ok, I propose that instead of just reading this entire book on the philosophy behind the new curriculum out loud, because none of us are paying attention anyway, I say we pick the section we find most important and discuss how we can use these ideals practically in the classroom. How can we use these tools to become better teachers?”
“No no, it is more important we read this and summarize the important parts.”

**note to self: teach summary skills in class, because their version of ‘summarizing’ was copying paragraphs word for word.

I pondered a minor dilemma. This is why I am here, to teach students but also help to reform teaching methods. And yet they just ignore me, and then I get frustrated and flustered, which hinders my Portuguese and obviously doesn't help anything.

So I couldn't help but wonder, should I just shut the f up?

So I listened. I listened in my group. I listened as we reconvened as a whole in that hot hot room while my sweat rag was working overtime. I listened as teacher after teacher complained about:

New curriculum
Lack of materials
This new curriculum is being introduced the week before school starts
This new curriculum is being introduced, but there are no books to teach the curriculum – “we want to see how the curriculum works out before we make books”
Teachers are overworked
Schools have no computers
IT classes are now mandatory, but schools don't have any IT equipment
Classes with 70 students
Students ill prepared coming into secondary school
No teachers for the new courses being introduced (ex: I have been told I might be teaching French this year. FYI I don't speak French. “But there is a book in the library, you can learn.”)
No money
The list goes on…

Yes, these are all problems. Yes they are all awful, debilitating problems. But we already know all of these problems. So I listened to complaint, after complaint, after complaint, to which the mediators responded by asking for more thoughts, which of course prompted more complaints. It was like the moderators were making such an effort of have a democratic forum, but all we did was wallow in sad and angry list of our challenges.

The problem isn’t the lack of materials or money. I mean it is, but more so it is this incredible idleness and aversion to change. Yes, I get that change is scary, and this country is coming out of decades of devastating internal conflict. It is trying. But development comes through trial, failure, reformulation, and then another trial. There just isn’t any way around it.

At this conference, there was no recognition that one could be a good teacher despite the less than desirable circumstances. Instead we made excuses. We blamed someone else for the lack of quality education in Mozambican schools, and did nothing to ameliorate the problems in front off us. And then we ate.

So instead of capitalizing on this opportunity to learn from one another, to share experiences and creative ideas to overcome such challenges, we sat around complaining about such deficiencies as if someone is going to all of a sudden wake up, listen, and give us some amazing hand out. FYI: Not gonna happen.

In the past I have been told I am insensitive because of my “shut up and work harder if you want something” mentality… and I suppose I sort of am. But it is that very mentality that always gets me where I want to go. So I’m stickin to my guns.

My school director now wants me to share what I learned at the conference with the rest of the teachers at my school. Would it be acceptable to say, “Well my Portuguese improved, but I didn't learn anything about teaching.”

Or better yet, “I learned that Mozambicans like to complain complain complain, and not actually do any work.” I guess that might be a gross generalization and probably even just down right offensive.