Author Archives: Alexander Rolnick
Corporal Punishment
Corporal punishment, or “giving the stick,” is very common in Tanzanian schools. Indeed, it is how nearly all teachers punish students and maintain control of their classrooms. Nearly all teachers derive a sense of authority from the stick, and when … Continue reading
Theft in Tanzania
Theft is Tanzania is taken very seriously by most ordinary people. Indeed, in a society without a lot of resources, people have taken to punishing theft very seriously (often by killing the thief), oftentimes outside the bounds of the law, … Continue reading
“English only education”
My most faithful and dedicated readers will notice that a few blog posts ago I used the phrase “English only education” in the same quotation marks that they appear here. You might have wondered why I used these quotation marks, … Continue reading
Mzungu
If there is anything that a white person one cannot forgot while living in Tanzania it is that he or she is a mzungu. This is word literally means a person who walks in circles, but practically is used by … Continue reading
The O-Level Exam and my students
I am teaching Form IV English, which means my students are [very roughly] the equivalent of High School seniors in the states. However, as a result of a national census-shortened Semester, my students are graduating this coming Friday. Nevertheless, they … Continue reading
Routine
I have been in Ngara for a week (as of the writing of this post on September 13… yes, it has taken a while to post this), yet already I find myself falling into routine. I wake up by 6:10 … Continue reading
A gracious welcome
I arrived in Ngara yesterday (07/09/1012), after a long and sometimes stressful bus ride. More may follow on that, but I want to begin by thinking a little about the warm welcome my fellow volunteers and I have received. As … Continue reading
This is Tanzania
Do you know that sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize that a plan you’ve made is just not fated to work out? That moment when you realize at you will have to revisit your expectations? Earlier today was … Continue reading
Orientation
I began this post over a week ago (on a bus), but I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to finish it. Unfortunately, this is not a post with an overriding theme, because there are … Continue reading
Briefly
I am really busy with training at the moment, but I didn’t want it to seem like I am dropping the blog, so a brief update follows. I will be teaching at Ngara Secondary School in the Kagera region of … Continue reading