Kids will be kids
Tracey, ex-South African Teacher & HOD, recently imigrated and is currently
teaching at a top independent school in Brisbane, Australia So what is an Aus School like?
As the aeroplane slowly taxied along the OR Tambo runway on the 19 September 2013 at 18:00, I knew the sun was also setting on everything I knew teaching to be … not only was I leaving behind beloved family and friends but also 22 years of teaching high school pupils in Gauteng and KZN.
Other than the sadness to be leaving behind everything I knew about teaching – or what I thought I knew – I was extremely nervous at the thought of starting all over again and having to work up the ranks to Head of department again (if ever) in a new system and one that I still needed to master.
The one thing I thought I would never miss was the 7:30 school-starting times and I relished in the thoughts of late lie-ins and only stating school at 9:00. And yes that was wonderful for the first 6 months where getting out the door, with two primary school-aged boys, was no longer a tornado event but more like a breeze. Then reality set in and the finishing school at 15:00 even at the end of the term (break up days) and very few public holidays to refresh made me reminisce about the early starts and generally finishing by 14:30.
When I got my first full time teaching post at a top independent school in Brisbane I was very pleased to be going back to full time employment rather than relief teaching days here and there that I had been doing. I was excited about stepping back into the class – something I was so familiar with- as then this move would be a reality and not just feel like an extended holiday overseas.
I was employed (and still am) to teach yr. 10, 11, 12 English…wow, this is what I was teaching in SA – how different could it be? My first class and in fact first few weeks were a massive eye opener and learning curve for me as there was so much to learn and to realise that each state (province) has its own system and that the government is just starting to phase in a national system (ACARA).
As I stood in front of my first class, I could see things were already different – the students in front of me were different: not only the obvious accent but appearance - some boys had long hair (tied up or lose) and girls although they wore their skirts below the knee (one of my biggest dress code infringements I had to deal with in SA) they had on light make up, some had hair loose and some wore jewellery. Gosh, I thought my detention would be overflowing if I was in SA but I needed to bite my tongue and remember within reason this was acceptable.
I have since found out that it gets much worse at low income schools and the private schools are what we are more used to in SA where on the whole dress code is adhered to by most, if not all. Hats are also very big here, and down our corridors and near the common area in the school are dispensers of sunblock for all to use as we are constantly reminded to “slip-slop-slap” which is the marketing campaign for sun safety in schools in Queensland.
I was then to discover that English is not just English – we have three main strains of English in our schools in QLD. Mainstream English is what SA would call English, then there is English Communication (for those who cannot cope with the work and pressures of mainstream English) and then for the top achievers there is also English Literature which really focuses on all aspects of Literature. The mainstream English classes are not exposed to Poetry, much language or the variety of conventions that the SA students are expected to cover.
However, the demands of the tasks and level of analytical writing is much more indepth than I could ever have imagined my senior English classes would have coped with and considering I taught at one of the Top 25 government schools in SA while living in KZN, I realise that this is where things are on a different level. So although the yr. 12 texts Othello and The Great Gatsby are the same (what a relief for me as I didn’t have to start totally new) but the assessment pieces and what we demand of our students is very different.
Overall, I have experienced a much lighter load of marking and considering I am comparing the same subjects and levels, I definitely did a lot more formative assessment in SA and I was marking all the time. While here the formative assessment is done with immediate feedback to students and then the summative draft and assessment is the only piece I can really say takes up my spare time to mark.
Coming back to one of my earlier points about only starting at 9:00, most teachers arrive anything between 7:30 and 8:00 for early morning sports training or to mark so our afternoons are our own….so I’ve been lucky enough to say good-bye to the lengthy hours of evening marking – unless it’s exam time then things are similar to SA, although only year 11 and 12s write exams in exam block time.
The salary is definitely a big plus here in Australia and for once I feel I am being paid a salary worth the work I put in and we get paid every fortnight…which brings in a whole new idea to budgeting.
A strange aspect here is the “student free days” which happen at the start of the year and again in October when only teachers go to school (sigh) and we attend meetings …meetings and more meetings – yes, it’s the same as in SA.
There is so much I have taken in and learnt in the past 2 years and it has been both a wonderful journey and lesson but I do miss the teaching in SA – it was different. But in conclusion students are students and as many good kids I had in classes in SA, I’ve had here and just as many issues. As the old saying goes “kids will be kids”.