Teachers can direct their pupils by having a positive influence

I AM a student teacher from Nelson Mandela University.

This year, like many other prospective student teachers who must undergo intensive training, I had an opportunity of experiencing what it means to be a teacher.

It is intensive, because it incorporates classroom management, the administrative work of a teacher, being a parent, brother or sister (depending on your gender) as well as being the contentist (a leader in the development of knowledge).

Doing my final year as a prospective teacher made me realise that being a teacher in the 21st century means that you must be influential and recognise that pupils have more information about their rights.

As a teacher, your role is a submissive one rather than a leadership one.

You teach according to the preferences of pupils, and conform to their time slots and their availability.

Arriving at Sakhisizwe High School at the beginning of this year I was taken on the journey of what many teachers are going through. Teachers, in the majority of no fee schools, attend extra classes by themselves and for themselves. Pupils do not pitch up. If they do come, they will be inconsistent in their attendance.

But the question remains as to why are pupils not attending?

The answer is simple: these pupils come from households that do not pay for their kids’ education.

The parents or siblings, therefore, do not feel any burden of educating the pupils.

The only time parents go to school is when they are ready to confront a teacher.

They do not attend parents’ meetings, do not want to contribute for school governing body (SGB) duties (such as for SGB posts).

But more worrying is that teachers do not have any power or control over pupils.

The exciting, and yet worrying part, is that pupils know this fact.

As a teacher, you cannot chase a pupil out of the classroom, beat a pupil or put the pupil on detention. Putting a pupil on detention means unpaid extra hours.

Chasing a pupil out of the classroom, means depriving a pupil of the right to education. Beating a pupil means a criminal offence.

However, the Department of Education insists on alternative punishment of pupils.

These alternative measures have not been clearly defined, neither have they been properly investigated and tested for the South African context, particularly townships.

Therefore, no teacher will argue with me when I say that alternative measures are teachers’ influence on pupils.

Influence will mean the ability of the teacher to control a classroom and thus direct pupils’ energy toward academic excellence.

This means the teacher’s ability to demonstrate content of the subject, while allowing room for engagement by pupils.

A teacher’s influence may also emanate from extramural activities that restore academic discipline and redirect pupils’ drive to academic merit.

It will, therefore, be logical to conclude that a teacher’s role is a persuasive role, encouraging pupils towards academic excellence, rather than superimposing the teacher’s opinion that academics are the future.

Pupils need to be convinced that education will provide a better future for them. This includes activities such as camping, climbing and sport, which the Department of Education does not fund.

Travelling and seeing beautiful landscapes alone could provide an indirect motivation.

Getting pupils involved in arts, sport and many other extramural activities can help with exposure and awareness of what the future holds for pupils.

D G Makalima, Bachelor of Education (FET) student, NMU