I figured out why kids REALLY soak up books and handout literature like it was going to self-destruct in 30 seconds.
There are no big libraries. Internet and TV are rare luxuries. The radio plays a lot of music. People don't make enough to buy books. So there is a dearth of available information, and people are constantly seeking out resources.
When people here find something to read, they disappear into it. You can be in the middle of conversation, and the next thing you know, the other person's picked up a book and is in their own little world. It's a wonderful thing to see, but every time it happens, it seems so childish, that it's quite jarring. Often my students will crowd around some new piece of information like they were half their age.
So, on first glance, it seemslike American kids are just lazy and ignorant. But the truth is, American kids know a ton more about the world around them because they are always being barraged with information from every direction. American kids don't need to pick up a book to be informed - their very basic human need for information is satiated (and saturated) by American culture.
So where does that leave school? One might think that school would be radically different, with students who are completely attentive, thankful for the opportunity, etc., but it's not that way. Kids are kids and adapt very quickly to any situation. So they're used to getting talked to and soaking up what they're told, but not trying to understand it. It's enough to simply have access to this information, so education has been very understandably left at that.
So now I take this to my HIV/AIDS course - how do I teach in such a situation? I've taken the approach that the information presented needs to be stripped down to the bare necessities, and the crux of the lessons needs to be internalizing the concepts. Which, of course, is the crux and ideal of most educational programs, but can rarely be implemented due to other problems. Like time. The biggest enemy of a teacher here is not apathy, but time. "If I just had another week", "If I hadn't ended class early that one day...", etc. There are so many questions to answer, it's overwhelming.
In other news, I'm going to be playing in a school-organized volleyball game on our day off, Monday. We have the day off because it's Mozambique Women's Day and also World Health Day. But I never signed up for this game, I was just assigned to be in it like a local celebrity who has a community as his booking agent. I'll be playing with the director of my school and the district director, among others. And due to the formality of address here, I'm wondering how communication on the court will work.
"Prof!"
"Prof!"
"Mr. Director!"
"Mr. District Director!"
"Prof!"
Of course, I'm not really expecting all these people to play, but it could be quite entertaining.
Peace
John
