Days 1 and 2

Talking to my University of Pretoria counterparts this afternoon about the language policies at their schools, it seems as though a lot of it centered on constituent choice. A couple examples: 1) A man from Botswana said in the school he attended, English was the language of choice by most because of its positive association with economic prosperity; 2) A girl from the University of Pretoria was talking about classes at the university being offered in either English or Afrikaans and how one class she wanted to take was not offered in her preferred medium so she had to take it in the other and have students translate; 3) Another lady in my group said that at a school she used to teach at, the parents were allowed to choose the medium of instruction. They selected home-language level English even though English was not the language they spoke at home, because they wanted their children to have a rigorous English education in preparation for higher education. She indicated that there were several levels that language education was presented at, including home-language, second-language, and third-language. This was interesting to me, coming from a largely monolingual context.
-Jessica Sierk

As I collaborated today with students from the University of Pretoria, one of the things I immediately noticed was the relative ease with which they spoke about racial relationships in South Africa. An elder Afrikaner gentleman openly explained to us how his attitudes and interactions have changed over time with the end of Apartheid and the beginning of more inclusive practices. As a classroom teacher, the demographics of his students have changed dramatically, and he expressed the complications, which arose from it to our group (which also included a Nigerian woman). At first I felt uneasy about the level of honesty in his reflection before I realized that his words did not appear to bother the Nigerian woman, but rather they seemed to reaffirm the reality of Apartheid even though it was probably difficult for the man to admit.

 I found this particularly interesting because I feel that in America this type of discourse has become taboo in a way.  In America it is common to hear people say, “I’m not racist” which is often followed by a “but…” that seems to negate everything that was said before it. A professor of mine years ago, Megan Gannon, once said something that has stuck with me ever since. She explained that because of the institutionalization of racism in American culture, it would be nearly impossible for a person to not develop racist thoughts or tendencies. People can actively fight these tendencies and refuse to act on them, but because of our societal influence the process of combating racism will likely be an internal struggle until this institutionalism of racism changes. I wonder if the honesty with which the Afrikaner man spoke today (and I would venture to say perhaps other South Africans based on our larger classroom dialogue) is more conducive to affect change at a deeper level.

-Tiffany Teichmeier

The text Realising the Dream left me with an understanding of the educational system in South Africa, its post-Apartheid development, and its ostensible faults.   The text left me with a negative impression of the system and its “best” schools.  Talking with South African colleagues, however, has been enlightening, as I have realized that Soudien provided one perspective of the system.  Today, I talked with individuals about the type of schools they attended and the schools in which they enroll their children.  They described both private and (ex-) Model C schools as providing quality education.  Ontologically, I think it is important to remain cognizant that multiple realities may exist.  The same schools that scholars may consider a travesty, parents may consider their child’s best hope for education.  I realize I am mixing systemic with individual-level perspectives.  Nevertheless, it raises a dilemma for parents: whether to select a school based on academics or select the school based on social justice and its integration, which may enhance the educational experience in itself. 

-Tim Guetterman

As I spent the day today in my room due to sickness, so I did not have academic input today from class, I decided to write about something more informal in this opportunity, but still signifficant, that I have experienced here. 

Sometimes we take for granted what we have, the food that we eat, or the commodities we can afford in a country like the United States. Last night when we came back from campus I talked to my dad in Colombia on Skype. I was telling him about how wonderful it was to meet all the students from different countries in Africa and the interactions we had in class with them. My dad asked me if I had tried any typical African dishes yet, so I told him about our lunch experience with the small cup of soup yesterday. When I finished the line, there was no bread or bananas left. Some of my UNL classmates and I were commenting on how small the lunch was. I told my dad that this would never happen in a US campus, on the contrary, it seems that there is always too much food and a lot of it is, unfortunately, wasted. This lack of abundance would not be a surprise in many places in Colombia either, but rather the norm. Most people would be very thankful for a free cup of soup. So, my point is that I hope that this trip, besides the academic and cultural experiences we are gaining, helps us open our eyes to a reality that a lot people in a lot of places (definitely more than we could think of) live on a daily basis, and makes us more appreciative of what we have, and hopefully think of ways of contributing to social justice.

-Carolina Bustamante