no good deed

The main purpose of Fulbright Exchanges is cultural exchange and understanding. This is supposed to be accomplished through a variety of means, including but not limited to teaching. I am supposed to observe other classes at my school and elsewhere as part of this endeavour. My school is supposed to arrange this for me. The first classroom I have visited other than my own was this morning, and was at a local JSS (junior secondary, like a middle school) that is not affiliated with my school at all.

My neighbor, James, is a student there. We had previously talked about my going to visit his Social Studies class to talk about the US, but then his teacher (an intern whose internship was over) left - yes, the school year is not over yet, and yes that means that these students no longer have a Social Studies teacher - so the scheduled visit did not take place. Then his English teacher invited me (through James) to visit their English class as they had read a poem by a Kenyan poet about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I accepted. I spent quite a lot of time re-reading sections of the US history textbook I brought with me, practicing the excerpts from King's I have a dream speech that appear in the book, flagging photos of the Lincoln Memorial in a photo book on DC I brought from home, gathering supplies that I would donate to the teacher to use in her classroom, and finding small prizes to give to students who could answer the questions I planned to pose to the class.

After morning assembly, James took me to his classroom; it was still about 10 minutes before class was due to start. In the absence of his English teacher, I hung up the map of the US (to point out where DC is, where marches and boycotts took place, etc.) and wrote some stuff on the board in preparation for my talk. While I was doing this, James said that the class's Form Master (the teacher who is in charge of that class for things like reporting problems - no working lights, monitoring teacher and student attendance, and the like) wanted to meet me so he could allow me to teach. I thought, "I am not teaching, I am simply a guest speaker," but went to meet him. I explained that I had been invited through James by his English teacher and why, and that I teach at Achimota Secondary School. We shook hands, all seemed well, and I went back and began my talk. I explained who I was and why I was there, and started to give context to the Civil Rights Movement in the US so that the students could have a better understanding of who Dr. King was and what he was fighting against and for.

I was partway into my lesson, giving out a prize to the student who remembered that the case that had established "separate but equal" was Plessy v. Ferguson (I had mentioned it already) when two other teachers showed up outside the door to the classroom. One told me that he is the assistant headmaster of the school (like assistant principal) and told me that I should have spoken to him before teaching the class, he may have said that I needed permission (he certainly implied it). I said that I had been invited by the English teacher, and that I believed she should have taken care of all of that (i.e. even if she failed to do so, it is her responsibility not mine). She had still not shown up, by the way. No one welcomed me to their school, or thanked me for visiting. I gave away all the prizes, but no supplies as the English teacher never arrived. I carted the newsprint and colored pencils and pencil sharpeners back home; they will go with me to Tanzania where I will be visiting two schools during my travels there the end of August.

I am currently sitting in the computer lab that the students here at Achimota use. At the end of last term, March, I gave to the lab mousepads that my home school had provided to my host school. They are nowhere in sight. I asked about them, indicating that I hoped to get a photo of them in use to share with my school back home. One of the ICT teachers said that one student had stolen one and refused to return it, so they were all put away. I have been assured that they will be out this afternoon so that I might snap a picture, but have no idea if they will remain in use or will be stored for "safe keeping" after that. I tried to explain that the purpose of my school donating these items was so they could be used but, like many conversations I have had here, I feel my sentiments were not internalized. I am disappointed, obviously, but am resigned to the fact that there is really only so much I can attempt, and I need to stop beating my head against a brick wall.

P.S. for fun photos from our trip to Kumasi or the Fulbright bowling night, see Leslie's blog at http://www.leslieinghana.blogspot.com/.