One of the most interesting classes that I’ve enrolled in this semester here in Galway is one offered specifically to American students. We not only have class twice a week where we learn about literacy acquisition, but we also are sent out into the Galway community to help local children at various homework clubs. These are after school programs geared to students from lower income families that would otherwise not have somewhere to go after school to get a snack and have a quiet place to do their homework. Think of it like the Irish version of the Boys and Girls Club. Well, I do a lot of community service in the US with the USC Helenes and other organizations, so I thought this class would be the perfect outlet for me to still be able to have this need met. I just wanted to update you all on how it’s going so far!
I began my work at the Scoil Bhride (pronounced skawl breejeh) homework club on Tuesday, 25 January 2011. After getting a bit lost and finally finding the school after wandering around for a while, I found the school and met Sister Margaret (the club’s leader). I was immediately struck by how warm and welcoming Sister Margaret was, which helped to put me at ease for the afternoon. However I really did not end up spending much time with her, nor did she actually learn my name. In fact the entire process of getting settled that first day was very disorganized, and we were really just thrown into a classroom and urged to begin to help the children. I did not meet the teacher in charge of the room, and wasn’t introduced to the group of students clustered around their desks; it made for quite an intimidating introduction to homework club.
As I walked awkwardly into the classroom one young boy immediately stood up, yelled that he needed help, and aggressively pointed at me to assist him. As the other helpers scattered away from the already sensed “problem child” I cheerfully albeit reluctantly went to his side. This was Brooklyn. Throughout the rest of the session I would begin to realize that he was a bit of a ringleader with the other young boys in the room, rallying them all together to make inappropriate sexual and homophobic jokes. In fact, during this session I had multiple interactions with Brooklyn and his friends there were unsavory at best. A boy named Garreth wrote “Fuck you” on his maths homework (they say maths, not math), Garreth’s older brother Nicky called me gay, and Brooklyn kept mimicking sexual acts. By the way, Brooklyn and Nicky are 10, while Garreth is only seven (the same age as my younger sister..which kind of sent me for a loop. She would NEVER have gotten away with that!). Herein lies what I foresee to be the largest challenge I will face at homework club. How do I respond to such poor behavior?! Well my attitude at the time was to not give the boys the attention they were so obviously seeking and instead to minimize the incidents, responding with quiet but firm rebukes like, “That’s not appropriate” or “We don’t speak like that here” etc…. I think it worked because they didn’t continue with the behavior and saw that I wasn’t about to be riled up or massively annoyed with whatever they did. In fact, I think the children are so used to an immediate and loud rebuke from teachers that they almost don’t know how to handle quiet firmness. We’ll see how it goes.
I did overall enjoy the experience though, and I’ve gone back once since. I go every Tuesday in fact. This past Tuesday I worked with a lovely 8 year old named Gendressa who was fascinated by the idea of university, and told me that she never thought she could go. It was sad really, she had never heard of anyone going to college, and wanted to know everything about it. I helped her with math and spelling, while encouraging and praising her efforts. I imagined that my little sister Maire would have been a lot like her if Maire didn’t get all of the attention that she is so lucky to get. Gendressa seemed to beam when I complimented her handwriting and we bonded over our shared love of singing. So, I think my experience will vary week-to-week depending on which kids need help (I’ll always be with the same group in the same room though to give them some sort of stability).
Anyways, moral of the story: teaching is HARD work, and I don’t think our society (particularly in the US) gives them nearly enough credit. How those people have the patience to deal with young children all day while actually imparting knowledge AND remaining sane is truly impressive. I mean, I know I could be a piece of work sometimes, could you imagine how your teachers dealt with you in your worst moments?
I'm really proud of you.
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