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. TRAVELLERS' TALES: TEACHING DRAMA - SOUTH AFRICA . |
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| Lucy Walker / Teaching Drama - South Africa / British | ||
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 Things have been so
wonderfully busy in South Africa, with trips climbing up Table Mountain
and experiencing the nightlife of Cape Town, whale-watching in Hermanus,
open-water diving....and of course setting up the drama project.
It's quite magical to be here. Knysna is
better than imagined....the volunteers are all very lovely, friendly,
fun-loving and understanding friends now. Jim [Travellers SA Assistant
Manager] has been the best host we could have wanted...along
with Bill [Travellers SA Manager] and Val [his wife], of
course....but Jim sorts out all our problems...however small or large. And
he entertains us grandly, going out of his way to make sure we're having a
fantastic African experience. The teachers are very
supportive of all Vicky and I are doing...and we've shared many a giggle
with each other in the staff room and beyond. Trying to pick up Xhosa...my
teacher is Jane, the cleaner, who is incredibly patient with my slow
language-learning skills.
So, in answer to your questions:(a) I like, actually love, everything....it's more luxurious than life back home; and (b) [What can we improve on your project?] The only thing to improve is my Xhosa! Just to fill you in on a wee snippet of school life... the teachers (who seemed very distant towards our ideas at first) have been slowly approaching us to do workshops in their lessons. Word has spread after the first few we took. On Tuesday I was teaching a class about floods, earthquakes and volcanoes and yesterday I held a workshop on Maths....yes maths!! I had the children pairing into different numbers, shapes and they loved it. We then had a decimal point quiz involving conversions from fractions and percentages. There were other games fitted in as well and by the end of the 3rd period there was enough time for the children to perform some traditional songs and dances...magic. There seems to be a huge interest from the kids about the drama club after school which Vicky and I will be holding on Wednesdays....we may have to split up different ages and hold a few more workshops each week. Its so lovely to be with such enthusiastic young people...they've never had a drama lesson in their life, but they're natural born performers all of them. Yesterday in the maths lesson there was one little girl...absolutely tiny would looked so scared (excuse the phrase 'runt of the litter' but it's just to give you a picture). Well she seemed to be mocked by some of the other children (predominantly boys) and I couldn't help but feel protective of her. When it came to the kids putting on their own individual performances, she stood up, a few of the boys sniggered and she was muttering to herself in a consoling way. There she stood, this tiny figure in the middle of the classroom with total fear in her eyes. She opened her mouth and the most beautiful little voice came out. After a while some the other girls joined in and harmonised from the sidelines. It was the bravest performance I've ever seen and got the loudest applause. At the end of the lesson I approached her. She looked as though she thought that I was going to swallow her up...and I said "you've got the most wonderful voice. Thank you for singing to us." She gave me a huge smile. I've taken pictures of all the teachers....they are NOT camera shy...they love a digital camera. And with the photos I've made a smart collage of them with names underneath and will be displaying it on the reception wall. It helps me learns their names too. We have such a giggle with them and the head master is very supportive of all we want to do. The kids love playing at break time. I seem to be the only one of the volunteers who lets rip with them at playtime. We've played at funny walks, animals and even had a huge human train going around the playground at one point!!  |
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Jack Gunner / Teaching Drama - South Africa / British |
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Got any questions? Please email us: |
South
Africa is great - the house and other volunteers are really good fun and its
been a great experience - and such a nice place to live for a few months.
I have gained a great experience in teaching, something I have not really
done before, and the placement gives a real insight into how a school works.
It is valuable to have experience on working with children of many different
ages (I have personally taught from 9-16 year olds). It has also given great
experience for me, as a drama student, to teach on a very basic level drama
and acting. This will be of great use to me as I take drama to university.
Teaching English as a second language has also been a fascinating and very
challenging experience.
The best thing
about the placement so far is
having an entire class eager to get up and participate in the drama games,
which takes a while, but is great fun when it happens.
I would
absolutely
recommend this to others, it is a fantastic country, a great town and though
challenging, a very interesting experience. |
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Amy Powell / Teaching Drama - South Africa / British |
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Having
a fantastic time out here
experiencing a complete culture change that tests your adaptability and
awareness. Also an experience of independence on a variety of levels,
although I feel quite looked after in the house with other volunteers and
Sharon is very supportive and attentive, but you still are living with
people you've never met, in a strange new environment etc. There's also
independence within the school in terms of using your initiative. I have
learnt that if you fail to have independence and initiative with enthusiasm
whilst teaching you can fade into the background and attend your placement
but not do an awful lot! (e.g sit and mark work) however if you DO have
that, you can do so much more. For me I am pleased with how much independent
drama teaching time I have been given! What was the best thing about the placement? To be honest all the small things from the teaching/time with the children/the letters they get you/when they sing back a song you taught them - it all adds up and gives you a great feeling! Although jumping the worlds highest bungee jump was a big achievement for me and something unforgettable! So that too! Can you describe a typical day? Wake up/drag ourselves out of bed about 6:45ish, have a quick breakfast and ready to leave at 7:30! Arrive at the school at 8, go to your designated reading class for first period (or assembly if its a Monday), lessons last 50mintues. Then 2 more lessons following your timetable. 10 minute break mid-morning, then 2 more lessons (for me it was English grade 7 or drama grade 4) then a 20 minute break, then 2 more lessons again (however you do find you have some free periods for lesson planning which we usually went to the staffroom or to the small computer room). And then a 2 o clock finish when you feel rather tired!! |
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Caroline Menzies / Teaching Drama - South Africa / British |
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Caroline was one of the first group of volunteers on the DRAMA WORKSHOPS Project
(Caroline helped initiate and set up the Project, laying the ground
work to build on in the future).
We have been very active outside of the
classroom: World's Highest Bungee Jump, Kyaking through the Knysna river
(saw baboons in the forest!) Four day PADI Scuba Diving course (saw a
Ragged Tooth shark!) Sand-boarding Learning to surf etc.... Our teachers are taking us to the Rasta
Community after school tomorrow and the teacher who does the after-school
drama group is taking us to the Cango Caves and
Ostrich Riding on Saturday! We're off to a poetry-reading/Jazz night
tonight and have lots more planned
Got any questions? Please email us: |
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Suite 2A, Caravelle House, 17/19 Goring Road,
Worthing, |
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