Wednesday 8 December 2010

teaching Shakespeare to orphans

"Right, so open your books to the opening Prologue in Act I: Scene I".

Nobody moves. Mostly a language barrier issue, for some, trepidation at what is to come. I repeat myself in the vain hope books will be flung open. Students are whipped up into a frenzy by dramatic irony and iambic pentameter.

No. Students are not coxed into a frenzy. My Chichewa, the mother tongue of the majority of the 50 students in the classroom, is not fluent. It stretches to greetings, getting what I want in a market and describing myself. Admittedly I've picked up a fair bit. But what I do not know the Chichewa for is 'ambiguity' or 'rhyming couplets'. Nor can my Chichewa lexicon articulate the dramatic implications of protagonists speaking in verse or prose.

By strict Malawian government guidelines, all lessons, except Chichewa, are taught in English. A language that perhaps 10% of the class are genuinely proficient in. The other 90% are at varying levels of utter bewilderment, vague confusion, and everywhere in between.

So we begin by explaining the animosity between the Montagues and Capulets. My opening 'bite-sized chunk' of information. Seems to have been gobbled up.
"Understand?"
"Yes"
"Chabwino" I figure it's only fair for me to reply 'Okay' in their language. Hope the government isn't watching.

We soldier on through Act I in about a week. It culminates in a test. Four or so of fifty perform well (above about 55%). The rest are shit. The buck stops with me. I have failed them.

Apparently not. The Headmaster is delighted with my results and progress, and recommends me to stay for the year. Confusion ensues.

As it turns out they have had results much worse than that ever since Romeo and Juliet was introduced onto the Malawian curriculum. The problem lies with the teachers understanding what they are teaching. It would appear that having a teacher that has a vague understanding of Shakespeare actually enriches the education of students. Who'd have thought? I've written notes for the teachers on the whole play so they can teach what actually happens in the play.

My placement finished after one term and I managed to finish up to Act IV. Will Romeo and Juliet be together for ever? Will the Friar's plan work? Will the Montagues and Capulets settle their differences?

Guess they'll never know.

More alarmingly however, is why Shakespeare is taught in the first place. Malawi seems intent on mirroring the education system of its previous colonial occupiers. The beauty of Shakespeare after all is in the language... which they don't understand. The clever imagery, jokes and nice rhythm are lost on all but a few, and it becomes a case of just teaching plot. Which is difficult enough.

I happen to enjoy a bit of Shakespeare. Not everyday, but I'll watch the odd play. And in exceptional circumstances I'll fork out in a vain attempt to feign literature knowledge to impress a date. Drinking during the interval can add to enjoyment.

The students ultimately quite enjoy it. But that maybe lies in their teacher having novelty white person factor and being naively enthusiastic when teaching..... Or maybe they're feigning interest to impress me.

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