Tips for RLECTIVE JOURNALING by Janna De Gouveia

Educational biographies and Tips for success at Lebone

DI ROBERTS

Fell in love with school  as a young child, and still loves it. Driven by the question what makes a person thrive, when they have learning challenges.

Never take everything for granted. Why is this child behaving this way? Why does my colleague do this? German nun under a tree learning poetry. Really loved the experience of school. Found myself critting teachers whose classes I sat in.

Teachers College in Graaf Reniet. Longed for my own class with own children and own things.

Learned not to judge my parents, who are simply trying to do the best they know how. Lesson plan for the day was done by 10am each day, despite my efforts to be so organised. 

Relationships: with children. You are the significant adult in their lives. You are not their friend. Same with parents. Make sure you are surrounded by a supportive group of colleagues. Friends at school. At times you may work with someone you cannot relate to. The answer is to respect the position and leave the person out of it. Work smart and not harder. Never complain as a first year teacher - comply and (complain afterwards). Headmaster asked, "Are you a professional?". Doctors don't stay up at night fretting. Your family needs your emotional support. Keep balance and humour.

Be fit - physically, spiritually, mentally. Must FIT in terms of your person and the expectations we have. External locus of control. We don't overdo affirmation. We don't sit back, take initiative. Trust yourself to make a difference here. Trust your team. The leadership to guide, mentor, monitor and stretch.

Don't take anything for granted. Test assumptions. Plan, ACTION/DO and reflect.

The expert in anything was once a beginner….

I knew that I was faced with an enormous challenge when I accepted the position at Lebone II College, but I also appreciated the fact that this is an amazing opportunity – the opportunity to touch lives. 

“Work fills a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work and the only way to do great work is to love what you do” – Steve Jobs

 The first few days at Lebone II were, to put it mildly, overwhelming.  Survival mode kicked in.  One thing was very clear – this school demands excellence.  It touched my heart deeply to observe the great deal of mutual respect the Lebone family exhibited.  

During the first session of the New Teacher Café, I was confronted with the question “What were your first impressions of the school?”   One thing was indisputable – expectations are high.  The expectations imposed on learners and teachers are not verbalized, but it lives in the soul and culture of the entire Bafokeng family.  Trying to live up to these expectations came with a degree of internal conflict.  You become own worst enemy.     

Crucial to survival is to come to the realization that everybody was a beginner at some stage in their career.  One tends to become subjective when confronted with such high levels of excellence.  The more I engaged in conversation with fellow teachers, I came to realize the importance of reflection.  Without reflection, growth is impossible.  What an eye-opening experience to listen to the personal roads that experienced teachers have traveled throughout their teaching careers.  They made mistakes, went through some tough times, felt uncomfortable and tried to be perfect.  In spite of these stumbling blocks, they all learned a valuable lesson – trust your instincts.  Your instincts might not always be spot on, but as with all great inventions, mistakes can create vital tools.  Growth and discovery is essential because if we teach today’s students like we did yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow.  It is an impossible task to try and perfect everything all at once – it is going to take years.

Reflecting on my own experiences and the experiences of other teachers I can conclude that:

• I am strong, because I’ve been weak.
• I am fearless, because I’ve been afraid.
• I am wise, because I’ve made mistakes.
• If you’re not willing to learn, no one can help you.  If you’re determined to learn, no one can stop you.

The Image of Lebone

When I left Lebone in 2010 to begin university studies at Wits, I never thought I would actually come back to be part of Lebone again and especially in the teaching field. Nevertheless, to my own disbelief I was appointed to be among the science interns at Lebone.  Lebone produced an amazing person who I am today. To begin  with I never thought I would be able to meet the university of Watersrand standard  when I was looking at the back ground of  my late school before I would be part of 13^th Year here at Lebone in 2010.

Lebone is more than just an ordinary school; I would personally say is much like a university in the way it is structured and the way learning and students development is taken so seriously. The Faculty of Science here is fully equipped and students have an opportunity to learn and to perform some practical experiments related to what they have learnt in theory. I strongly support the idea of practicals because true learning is proven scientifically by its results. I was observing one of the Grade 11 classes where they were differentiating between animal and plant cells under the microscope, and the response from the learners were absolutely phenomenal as they were building up on what they had  already learnt in theory in relation to what they were seeing practically.

The school has a unique way of doing things. I was really moved by how Mrs Rachel du Toit was getting involved with parents of Grade One on how they can also help to groom the future of their kids by showing them how to read and pronounce difficult words. That made me realize how education and students development is taken so seriously right from the Foundation Phase.

Through the support I got from Lebone staff, I really don’t feel so bad about the decision I took about considering teaching as a career. Teachers here are open and so courageous hence it didn’t take me so long to get along with them and to freely to discuss how I feel about teaching.

New Teachers Café plays a major role to shape better teachers of tomorrow, and is one of the greatest weapons that keeps me pushing and striving for the best.

Dreams, Davidic inspiration and a school visit to Orange Farm

Prior to my arrival at Lebone II College of the Royal Bafokeng, I had paced myself through the possible activities that I would take part in. The concept of visualising a series of events that would change the course of my life and the lives of others, proved to be significantly challenging. This had never happened to me before. Anticipating a goal or dream in the past had always been effortless because I had managed to surround myself with information that would reinforce my ambitions. It has been said that the significance of ones aspirations is determined by the amount of fear generated by the thought of achieving that goal. The fear generated by my inability to visualise my experience as a teacher put a veil over that statement. I could neither see the advantages or the disadvantages of the art of teaching. I remember, upon my arrival on the campus grounds of Lebone, thinking, “God had better answer my question today” How will my role in this establishment serve a function in the lives of the student I address daily?

I don’t think I was ready for the response that he had for me. Come to think of it, even as I contemplate every other response that followed that one, my reaction hasn’t wavered.  Our Principal presented the staff with a lovely opening speech where he spoke about the complex dynamics between David and Goliath. David, who was seemingly small and out matched by Goliath's stature and sheer magnitude, actually had the upper hand. Not only did he arrive without the armour that anchored Goliath to the ground, but he had been harnessing his speed and accuracy with a sling shot with wild beasts. It was then evident, that though David arrived at the battle field seemingly unarmed, unprepared and inexperienced for the task that was presented before him, the little he had was sufficient enough to help him complete the task.

The weeks that followed our induction into the teaching realm, was an influx of answers for questions I subconsciously asked myself. Not only was my fear alleviated, but my sense of significance was reinforced. I keep telling my co-teacher what a blessing it is to work in an environment where I feel God's presence at every moment. After the privilege of attending the South African Extra Ordinary Schools Coalition meeting in Orange Farm, I was able to see what other schools were doing to make a lasting positive impact on students'  futures on a multi-dimensional level. I have experienced that the Lebone staff make a collective effort to improve the schooling career of their students, by giving them equal opportunities in their academic, sport and cultural activities. Lebone’s ethos that resonates that everyone is equally significant to the next person is a significant part of Lebone’s DNA. The idea that there is no system of hierarchy ensures that when a student leaves the school, they leave with enough knowledge to assist them in overcoming the “Goliaths” of their lives whilst being anchored by good values to carry on developing a healthy sense of self-worth.  

I haven’t quite ironed out all the wrinkles in my fabric as a teacher but I’m quite glad with the work that I have done so far. Each day is a new experience that brings new rewards and challenges that will assist me in mastering this art. 

Being at Lebone has changed my perspective of teaching so much!

Being at Lebone has changed my perspective of teaching so much compared to the level of education I got in my school days. Teachers are committed to providing each student with a high quality holistic education by using an array of innovative learning practises to foster a teaching climate that is self-driven, highly reflective and always thoughtful about the evidence of impact on student learning.

As a student-teacher at Lebone, I regard myself very privileged because here you are given all the tools necessary to make you a great teacher and the technology used, is of great quality. The school is also blessed with the best IT staff that makes communication and facilitation effective. Even the class layout is very different to help group and differentiate amongst students according to their level of understanding.

Lebone is greatly focused on student and teacher development as we attend programmes to enrich us with knowledge of developing new ideas and methods of teaching and learning.  So the long hours spent here are very profitable for people new like myself, as they give you time to interact with colleagues and students and get used to the space and be open to mingle with others. Lebone operates as a research driven school, where high quality learning programmes are developed in line with international best practices.

 Race is not an issue at Lebone as others want to learn languages that are foreign to them. Yes there is a language barrier that others use to denigrate other through distractive slogans and so forth. Students must get used to diverse cultures from an early age, to eliminate misunderstandings and avoid using language as a bullying tool to exclude others as Gerda indicated in her reflection.

The school is academically orientated, with many co-curricular activities to balance. The truth is Lebone has been generously staffed for its student numbers. For the most part, we all have a much lighter teaching load, and an exceptionally light co-curricular load compared to other schools. This means we have more time during the school day for lesson preparations, marking and meetings compared to teachers at other schools, and therefore more time to give to students in other arenas besides academically.

Students are presented with lots of opportunities to prove and show off their talents and gifts. There are sports and cultural programmes for their physical growth. There are also opportunities in their academics for students to shine brightly, like the Eskom Science Expo where two students came up with the idea of making an application to prevent hackers from getting into your accounts. The system at Lebone is rewarding for hard workers so that you do not become reluctant and quit in your efforts of making Lebone a better place.

Furthermore from the teacher-parent meeting observed in the primary school, a question was asked on how do teachers structure a successful parent-teacher interaction? My response would be that you need to communicate and send out the invitation as early as possible. Research has shown that students do better in school when their parents/guardians are involved in their process of learning. Face-to-face contact is the best way to communicate with parents. Parents who attended and saw the video of their kids were overwhelmed and very proud and were given essential tools to help their children at home and developing them to grow.

Second Year B.Ed PUKKE Student-Teacher and Lebone alumnus reflects on the DNA of this space

What impact does a school such as Lebone have on the individual student or staff member?

In the ten days that I have spent at Lebone I have seen both positive and negative aspects of the school. I also have the privilege to have matriculated here and did my first teaching practical here in 2012. Because of my previous experiences here, I think that I have a deeper understanding of the DNA of Lebone than newer individuals would have. I will analyse what impact I think Lebone has on individuals.

Lebone is a private school in Rustenburg, Phokeng and consists of grades R-13. The school follows the IEB curriculum. I think that Lebone has a mostly positive impact on the individuals here and provides opportunities which ordinary schools cannot provide.

Students receive all the needed individual attention. They have special “cc” periods in which they can get help from teachers or complete their homework or tasks. Although the “cc” periods is a good idea in theory, I think that most students do not use the given time correctly. I recommend that teachers be stricter in checking that the students use the time wisely. According to Hayes Mizell, “Good teaching is not an accident. While some teachers are more naturally gifted than others, all effective teaching is the result of study, reflection, practice, and hard work.” Lebone has a special TLC centre where students with learning problems can go. The centre helps these students to gain the needed skills to perform better on their learning level.

Lebone focuses greatly on student and staff development. The staff attend regular meetings where they learn to develop new ideas and methods of teaching. The students go to many activities such as enrichment and the GEAR program which is a program that allow the students to choose between a range of activities such as choir and design which allow them to develop and grow into enlightened young adults. All schools should be places where both teachers and students learn. Most teachers of Lebone who constantly develop their own skills and knowledge create an example for students and show them that learning is important and useful. Their constant development creates an example of learning all throughout the school. It also supports the teacher’s efforts to engage students in learning.  A school such as Lebone that organises team-based professional development and expects all teachers and students to regularly participate- for different purposes, at different times and in different ways- enforces us that it is serious about all individuals performing at higher levels. As a result, the entire school is more focused and effective.

Lebone has many school values such as integrity and trust by which the students as well as the staff are encouraged to live by. These values guide the individuals of Lebone to live a better life. Through my experiences I know that all new individuals attend a candle lighting ceremony which is a symbolic activity symbolising their acceptance into the Lebone family. Truth bracelets are also given to all new individuals to remind them that truth is an underlying commitment by which they must live by. Even though Lebone has great school values, not everyone lives by it. I think that the tutor periods can be used to teach the students more about the values and why the school have them.

The extended hours at Lebone give individuals the opportunity to focus more on their work and develop the needed skills and attain more knowledge. In contrast the long hours at Lebone can also be tiresome at times and it can take a toll on the individual’s attention span.

Although Lebone is a great school, it can be very overwhelming. New individuals that go to Lebone for the first time will experience a totally new and different way of doing things which can be overwhelming at times. The IEB curriculum is also more challenging than other curricula. According to Marc Falconer, headmaster of the King David High School, the IEB is a different kind of assessment. “In the state system it is perfectly possible to achieve a good matric by drill and practice, while this is not true for an IEB candidate.”
 
The IEB curriculum is “cognitively more demanding” than the government curriculum and individuals are better prepared for tertiary education. On a negative note, most individuals agree that the IEB is a much more difficult exam. Individuals might find it harder to gain distinctions and gain university admission. Universities do not distinguish between state or private schools and therefore students could be at a disadvantage when applying at universities.

There is a language barrier at Lebone. There are Setswana, Afrikaans, English and many more languages that can make communication or understanding difficult at times. Language is also sometimes used as a bullying tool to exclude individuals.

The diverse cultures can sometimes create misunderstandings at Lebone as not all cultures have the same traditions or values. I recommend that all individuals should be made aware of the different cultures so that everyone is more understanding of each other.

In my time here I have felt inspired and gained a lot of experience. Therefore I think Lebone impacts individuals on a far greater scale than everyday work. Lebone is a lifestyle and I know that people leave Lebone a better person than when they arrive here.