Heshima

The breaking point. The "that's it!" moment. The time-out. In any classroom, this intervention is inevitable. You can be mid-lesson and you just stop and ask, "Am I not speaking your language?" While I've had this moment before, today was the first time I had to say, "No... The problem is I'm not speaking your language."

Teenagers are energetic; they are talkative, high strung, antsy. Teens are children by nature, adults by societal standard. Despite years of unsparing discipline, Tanzanian students are no exception to this observation. The more students sit, the more likely a spontaneous outburst. The more I talk, the more hushed conversations I hear. Luckily, I've prepared for such textbook teenagerness from the start. Our first lesson, Classroom Instructions, included phrases like "quiet, please" and "listen carefully." Over the past month, students have proved their thorough comprehension of such phrases by always refocusing attention when needed. However, today, they also proved their natural teenage spirit through an irrepressible energy... And by pushing their teacher to the "that's it!" mentality.

As we completed a class activity, I called on numerous volunteers to stand and give answers. During this lesson, I had to pause frequently and use my go-to one liners to redirect attention. Finally, in the midst of one student's response (I'm sorry, Mwanaisha), I put down my chalk and said "I will not teach." There was an aftermath silence, the kind that is always paired with shock, followed by a small "please, madam" from one student. This encouraged many more "please, madam" and "teach us!"

After achieving their attentive surprise, I decided to try a brief mini lesson. In big letters, I wrote REPECT on our dusty black board. Given the context, it only took students a few minutes to understand and translate the idea of respect, or heshima. We then used our Swahilish (Swahili-English) dialect to discuss who we gave respect to. Tanzanian students are taught, or more like trained, to give respect to teachers. However, the commandment to give respect to their peers is a foreign concept, one we had to take time to dissect.

Our post-peptalk afternoon went mostly glitch free. I sensed that students appreciated that I didn't just demand their respect as an authority figure, but rather stressed the need for consideration as an equal. I assume for the first time in their school career, a teacher actually respected the students as a way of leading by example.




Of course, I will love if my students suddenly gift me with robot-like attentiveness, but I also hope their energy and personality continue to drive our class in a positive direction!