JONATHAN JANSEN: My day in an American classrooom
“I need to go,” says one pupil. “Why and where to?” asks the teacher. “Stuff,” says the boy. Several pupils are on their phones
What is it like to teach in an American classroom? We started with two pupils in the class. Then another one strolled in. “What’s happening?” Ten minutes later another. She does not speak at all. Moves right past the teacher while I continue teaching in the art classroom. Two more slip into the class even as one moves out with his backpack. I continue to teach while taking in the migration patterns.It took me several days to prepare this multimedia lesson, an introduction to the politics and aesthetics of South African art. I fine-tuned the two 45-minute lessons for context — senior high school kids with little knowledge of South Africa and, as I anticipated, a very limited concentration span. I would talk very little and they would paint, guided by the geometric shapes and bright colours of Ndebele artworks projected from the computer screen. They would listen to a powerful recording of Nelson Mandela’s life as he appeared in his arty T-shirts. And then a discussion on Sam Nzima’s ...
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