Teaching at Xia (Lower) Geza School
by Mark Rummans
November, 2006
§ The international language of lager
§ Children fight to help with chores
§ Students impress donors with their spoken English
§ Heading for middle school not far behind their city counterparts
I arrived at the school by bus, with no idea where I was or what to expect. The bus came to a halt and everyone looked at me, so I guessed this was my stop. I stood on the road looking lost until an old man approached me, showed me the way to the school and helped me with my bags. As I approached the school, teachers recognized me as the new volunteer. They let me know straight away that the previous teacher had spoken excellent Chinese. Mine was terrible. They must have been wondering what they would do with me.
This is how I arrived at Geza village near Zhongdian, in Yunnan province, at
the start of a nine-month placement as a volunteer English teacher. It was the
start of an overwhelmingly positive experience. The natural surroundings, the
locals, other
teachers, and especially the students meant I would have an awesome time.
Are you okay?
When she was free, the Chinese teacher of English showed me around. And in
the evening two of the other teachers, who spoke little or no English, took me
out for a beer. Using the international language of lager, a few barriers
were broken
down that night and we laughed. I think they began to realize that I could speak
a little Chinese and, despite my limited language skills, we would manage to
communicate.
For some time, however, the teachers continued to be a little concerned about me. They were worried that I might be isolated and lonely, and would leave. They would often ask if I was okay. One evening, two female teachers one of whom speaks good English came to my room to have a chat and check on me. It was then that they went beyond asking whether I was okay, and told me that they were worried about me. I was able to put their minds at ease, and they must have passed the message on to the other staff: the frequency with which I was asked “Are you okay?” slowed and then stopped.
My students
Initially I taught six classes, aged about nine to 14 (grades 4-6), for two
40-minute sessions each a week, as well as teaching the teachers for an hour on
Friday afternoons. After about a month, the teachers began to be called away for
different reasons, so the Friday afternoon classes were cancelled. In my last
two months there I also started to teach a class of six to eight-year-olds
(grade 1).
I was impressed with the condition of the school, which was better than I
expected. The ‘old’ building had been donated in 2000 by a Hong Kong
businessman, while the new Tibetan-style building had only just started to be
used. It is still not
quite completed as the school had planned to install running water and flushing
toilets, but has not yet been able to get the water running.
I warmed to the kids immediately; they were typically inquisitive about the new foreigner, but it was more than that. When they realized I only spoke a little Chinese they spoke more slowly so that I could understand better, or tried to think of the simplest way to say things.
They were very well-behaved in the classroom and not just in the early
days, but consistently. There were very few times that I left a classroom angry,
and I raised my voice in only two classes.
Outside the classroom the students were just as good. They were polite, and
always greeted teachers, helped fetch water, wash clothes or any do other chore
than needed to be done. They would fight among themselves to help me, and begged
me to join in their games, especially basketball. All of this made adjusting to
life at the school very easy.
What was taught
I focused my teaching on practical spoken English that the students
could use straight away. Several teachers had told me that, in middle school,
students have English classes every day, but are still unable to speak as the
focus is on reading and writing. So I decided to concentrate on speaking, giving
written homework but rarely teaching reading and writing
skills. I hoped some of the students would pick up reading and writing naturally
through their study materials. This did occur to the extent that students were
able to recognize many words, but few could write them and they struggled to
read words. I wasn’t too concerned with this as they would get plenty of
practice in middle school.
I used the textbook the school already had, together with some of my own
materials. I wanted the students to be able to use their English when foreigners
came to the school, or when they met foreigners in Zhongdian. So I taught
greetings,
introductions, some countries, family, sport, food, drink, likes, dislikes. In
all classrooms and dormitories I put up English signs labeling common objects so
that the students would see English every day. I introduced games into the
classes to try to break up the routine of learning and keep the students
interested. Resources were limited, though. A good set of
flash cards would have been very useful.
The students did very well in their oral exams, and when visitors came to the
school they got a thrill out of being able to communicate in English. By
focusing on spoken English, the students were able to see tangible progress and
grew in confidence. Even several students who generally scored very low grades
in all subjects had the confidence to put their hands up to answer questions.
Visiting donors were very gratified to see students speaking English and
even approaching them to ask questions in English.
My classes
I had a particularly soft spot for the older students, whose classrooms were
closest to my room. The boys were quite extrovert right from the beginning (in a
positive and a negative way) while the girls took a little longer to come out
of their shells. The students, particularly the boys, tended to be noisy and
active but responded quickly when I asked them to settle back down. Students
participated well, listened well, often came to me with questions and used their
English
outside the classroom (all of which showed in their oral exam results).
The older boys drove me insane sometimes, but I really liked their
personality and character and all the students frequently made me laugh. The
challenge was to maintain their attention. I found that the students who
were least disciplined in class were keenest outside the classroom to practice
their English. More than keeping discipline, I wanted the students to feel
relaxed in the classroom and generally they did.
Some of the older girls were more difficult to draw out especially where
there were loud, extrovert boys in the class. I encouraged the girls to
participate more by getting them to answer in groups or pairs as often as
possible. Over time girls started to volunteer answers more often, although they
were still very quiet. If I had stayed longer I might have been able to bring
them out more.
Generally, however, the level of participation was impressive, and the
students’ enthusiasm continued outside the classroom, constantly wanting to
practice sentences from the oral exam. Homework was invariably completed and
retention of new material very good. When the previous volunteer came for a
visit he was so impressed by
the progress some of the students had made that it was as if they were a
different set of students.
I had particular fun teaching the youngest kids, with only seven in the
class. I didn’t teach them any reading or writing at all as they have enough to
do trying to learn 1,000 Chinese characters. I taught them a few words and
sentences to get them
used to English sounds, and tried to make it as much fun as possible with games
and songs, often taking the class outdoors.
I continued to teach the students new material, unaware that a final English
exam was approaching, so in the end they only benefited from a couple of
revision classes. Without enough time to revise or study, several students did
not do very well in the written exam. Their priorities were Chinese and math and
those teachers were drilling the students in preparation for the exams. The
English results reflected this. I could see the disappointment on some students’
faces and I tried to reassure them that they had not had enough time to focus on
their English. Some, however, got excellent results and I was particularly
satisfied with the students who had made great improvements since I had started
teaching them. In the end, I think all of these kids will go to middle school
knowing a lot of the initial material they will be taught, and should do well
even though for many their final exam would indicate otherwise.
I sat in on some classes at the Eastern Tibetan Language Institute (ELTI)
during their summer school. I was interested to see the English level of the
city primary school children. I was happy to see that they weren’t too far ahead
of the students from Geza; in fact, they seemed to be at a similar level, with a
slightly larger vocabulary. With another year of English classes I believed some
of my students would be on par with their city counterparts a huge achievement
given that on average they are behind in all subjects when they enter middle
school.
Overall impressions
I loved the kids they were the ones who made the whole experience in Geza
so special for me. Every day they made me laugh, and I was thrilled with how
much they learnt. The teachers had warned me not to expect too much, but the
longer
I stayed the more they impressed me with how much they were able to absorb. In
the end, all but one student was going to middle school, and several had
dreams of going to high school and university. My impression from the teachers
and
parents was that perceptions in Geza of the importance of education are changing
for the better.
When the time came to say goodbye, it was difficult for them and for me. When I gave each of them a photo of us all together, a few students started to cry, and I had to leave quickly before I started too.
The teachers played a large part in making it such a positive experience. They always made me feel welcome, and included me in activities from a walk around the fields and a fishing trip to playing in the teachers’ basketball team against the farmers from the whole district. The trips were a great cultural experience as there was always singing and dancing, and I was expected to sing too. The audience was always kind enough to clap when I sang.
The local communities were extremely welcoming. They have great respect for
teachers in general, and that only grew when they realized I was a volunteer.
They couldn’t say thank you enough. Several local politicians approached me,
either
at the school or out in the town, to express their thanks for KhamAid’s work.
Even in Zhongdian, I was recognized by students from both Geza and other areas,
and would be greeted with “Mark laoshi, nihao”.
The school is set in stunning surroundings and not just the immediate surroundings, but extending to all the districts that the students come from. I was lucky enough to travel to most of these. The school is in a valley surrounded by fields and mountains that are quite barren in winter, but spring to life in the warmer months when the grass turns green and is dotted with colored flowers. Beyond the fields in both directions are picturesque small villages.
The districts where the students come from are just as beautiful, but without
the kind of funding that Xia Geza benefits from their schools are in a much
poorer condition. I visited a primary school in a district which is home to
several of the teachers and students. The building was severely cracked on the
second floor, and I lost count of the number of broken windows. It seems many of
the schools in the area are in a similar state.
Living conditions were not quite as luxurious as had been promised by the
previous volunteer. The new building has been designed with a western toilet and
shower, but without any running water they remain redundant. My accommodation
was in the old building, next to a classroom, which was fine unless I wanted to
sleep in especially during exam time when the children would be in class and
chanting by 6am. The school has a non-functioning shower block, and everyone has
sponge baths only. Toilets are communal, open, squat and relatively clean.
Overall, I can’t put into words how much I enjoyed the experience of teaching
in Geza. The natural surroundings, the locals, other teachers, and especially
the students made it an awesome experience. I hope others continue to volunteer
as they will not only be helping the community there, but will also take so much
away from it themselves.
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To find out more about Kham Aid's Volunteer English Teacher Program, see the
program main page.