WHEN THE TEACHER IS ONE OF THE GIRLS
I remember my Grade One teacher with great fondness. And mind you, I was in Grade One a very long time ago! Growing up everyone just called me Fadzi. Many more people still call me Fadzi. My Grade One teacher back in the dusty streets of Rimuka Township, Kadoma always called me by my full name. When I began Grade One I did not understand why she would call me Fadzayi while everyone else round me called me Fadzi.
By Fadzai Maposah (ZNFPC Mash East)
Article published in The Herald Newspaper
Actually I initially suspected that she did not really like me! I was coming from a home where my mother Ma Ncube and my father WaMambo simply called me Fadzi. Each morning if WaMambo was around, he would drive me to school before going to his workplace. It was not just me who was excited to be in school, my parents were basically over the moon.
I am the eldest child so my going to school was testimony that they too were grown-ups! From the very first day at school, my parents were there for me. They supported me in all ways possible, in ways that I imagined and in ways that I never thought of. When my siblings started school too, we were always assured that our parents always did their very best for us.
Anything to do with school has always received high priority attention in our family when we were young and even as adults the attention never waned, it simply extended even to our offspring. Ma Ncube knows who is studying what, where, she even knows the school calendar!
My Grade one teacher emphasised that every learner was to say their full name proudly. She always added that the full name had more meaning than the shortened version. I remember the fraternal twin boys who were in my Grade One class. I did not know then that they were fraternal twins. What I knew is that they were not identical and they did not sit at the same table because we sat in groups.
Group One was for the high performers. There were five groups in our Grade one class. One twin moved between group three and five while the other twin was either in group one or group two. One twin`s shortened name was just a letter while the other twin`s name was a few letters! On some occasions our teacher would send us to get something from the other Grade One class.
She always emphasised that we were to greet the teacher, introduce ourselves and then present our request. My teacher taught me courtesy. I would initially say Fadzi Maposah and quickly change to Fadzayi Maposah. It was difficult. It got easier with time. I only had to add an “a” and a “y” but I struggled. I can imagine what the twin who was used to being called only by a letter faced, he had to add seven more letters!
Besides equipping us to fully appreciate the meanings of our full names, my teacher had meet the teacher sessions with our parents when such consultations were rare or non-existent and there was no social media to show off the activity. She got to know our parents and would tell them how we were doing and how she wanted us to be assisted.
I am sure that our backgrounds were varied but as soon as we got to that class, in our green uniforms we were the same and our teacher encouraged that. Through the various schools that I went to up to Advanced level, I met many teachers. Some who were directly involved in my education and some indirectly because they taught my siblings or were at the extra curriculum activities that I participated in. Some teachers were wonderful, others, all I can say: we were oil and water.
I have always loved story writing and reading but my first English Literature teacher greatly influenced my love for the arts and books. My first literature teacher was young, not many years older than us. We never got to know her age but we were sure she was just old enough to be a big sister or an aunt! With her interesting Irish accent, she brought to life all the characters in the set books we did. During each literature lesson we literally moved from our classroom into the books where we mingled with the characters until we understood each one of them. Character analysis was not difficult, we knew these people!
She would stand by the window or on some occasions sit on the teachers table, yes on the table while she transported us through the pages. At the sound of the bell, she would say always ` And that’s it!` close her book, give work to do and walk out. On one occasion as she walked out, we noticed a stain on her skirt. We had never witnessed such a stain on a teacher`s skirt! With her back to the class walking out as swiftly as usual, the stain was obvious and the class full of girls knew what it was. Our teacher had just had an `it` mishap.
The class monitor reached her as she touched the door handle and whispered in Ms` ear. Maybe in disbelief, Ms pulled her skirt and turned it just for confirmation. I am sure right there like Lady Macbeth she wanted to say: ` Out, damned spot! Out, I say!, But she just said ` I should hurry and get this cleaned up` then wound up the skirt as if she was adjusting a ball room gown so that she could walk on some staircase and left the room. No drama. Just an older sister, an aunt who had had a mishap. When she came to class again she was her usual self and started by explaining that the mishap could happen to any woman. Then together we journeyed to meet the characters.
https://www.herald.co.zw/when-the-teacher-is-one-of-the-girls/