More About Teaching

In addition to teaching I had to choose a class to be their form mistress. I had heard a lot of negative talk about how dim the "D" streamers were, Classes were divided into four streams, according to their intelligence scores. The A and B classes were for the more academic students, while the C and D classes were for those who would never be able to attend a university. When I heard all the negative comments about the C and D classes my sympathy was aroused and so I asked to teach in those classes and see what I could do to raise their sense of worth, so I chose to be the form 1D class teacher. There were about 20 kids in the class. My job would be to try and teach them some arithmetic and English skills.  The British School system divided the high schools into "forms" not "standards". I would also be responsible for teaching those two subjects to the forms 2 and 3.

It did not take me long to get to know the kids and to assess their abilities. There was one girl in my form  1 class who immediately caught my attention and I was aware that she was vastly more talented than the  other children, for three reasons —  1. She was a natural leader and sat in the back row and kept them in an uproar — but in a charming way,  2. Her English vocabulary was vastly superior to that of the others, and 3. She had a much more adult sense of humour.  I brought this to the notice of the head-master and asked that she be put up several streams. He protested at first and showed me her entrance exam results which were pathetically low. I was not taken in by those results and protested that they did not reflect her natural ability. He said, "I will ask the other teachers what they think." After they  thought about it they eventually agreed with me and moved her up. At the end of the year she came SECOND in her class!! After getting to know the kids I came to the conclusion that they did not come from stable families, and I was proved right  again. I learned to love those young people, and they recognized that I was an encourager and showed their appreciation by working very hard for me. It was obvious that they were of lower intelligence than the academic students, but they did their best.

The form 2 class consisted of boys only. The school had determined that at that age their behaviour in class was very disruptive when there were girls to impress. I made it a policy with all the English classes I taught I would read to them on Fridays — if they had behaved themselves during the week.The Head of the English Department had brought me a play to read to them. But I knew the play — it was a psychological murder with considerable sexual undertones and I was not happy with the choice. In a speech class I had taken in university the teacher had asked me to take part in the play — she assured me that they were going to change it considerably because it was not appropriate for a Christian College as it was. I declined, though, because I was about to graduate and still had to much to do before graduation.   More about my teaching experience in my next blog