Reflections on my first semester and some thoughts for prospective volunteers

As my second semester of teaching begins, I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on teaching and my life in Tanzania over the course of the first semester, specifically with an eye for people who are considering applying and teaching for WorldTeach Tanzania over the course of the next program year. I have already received a couple questions over email, and I know that around this time last year, as I was beginning to explore my plans for the following year, I spent a lot of time pouring over the blogs of people doing Teach for America, the Peace Corps, and WorldTeach. What follows are some thoughts about teaching in Tanzanian Secondary Schools.

1) Teaching in a Tanzanian Secondary School can be a very rewarding experience, but the worst thing you can do is come in with high expectations. The best thing about my experience so far has been making connections with my students. The reality of Tanzanian Secondary School education is that most of the students will not move on to advanced studies, or go to university. A year spent teaching English, Science, or Math will help a select few students, who by some accident, or incredible dedication, were already on a path to success. However, the vast majority of students simply do not know enough to pass their exams. These students either do not care about school, find it too difficult, or the circumstances of their life make success at school next to impossible. You may not be able to help these students much academically, but you are positioned to make a positive impact on their life by being an adult human they can talk with, ask questions of, and learn about the greater world from. This is a powerful contribution in a globalized world where many Tanzanians have no knowledge of what life outside of Tanzania is actually like.

2) Your ability to teach and make connections will be circumscribed by the Tanzanian school system, and Tanzanian society. The school system is full of problems, and it is a rare day when I can leave school and not have a single complaint about something that (to my mind) was silly and detrimental to the learning environment of my students. Something that many volunteers have specific issues with is corporal punishment, which is pervasive in Tanzanian schools. There is nothing that one volunteer can do to change this, and frequently I must remind myself that I am not only living in a different society with different values, but also that I can only do so much. I can provide an example of a different way to do things, but advocacy too far outside of the mold of what Tanzanians are used to is simply not effective, because your views will be discounted: “This American, he just does not understand how or why we do things here.”

3) It is essential that you find things you enjoy doing outside of school. School will not take over 40 hours a week of your time, so you must be able to entertain yourself outside of school. You may not have electricity or running water, so you should not rely on either of these amenities as a source of entertainment (though I am not sure that many people consider long showers a source of entertainment). I spend most of my time outside of school reading, cooking, and playing sports (in that order). These are all things that I enjoy, so I am mostly pretty happy and not bored, but without these things I would probably hate Tanzania. I am so thankful that I have an e-reader that I loaded with hundreds of books, because I don’t think a single week has gone by where I have not read at least two books. I also don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t like cooking, because cooking is non-negotiable here. You have to do it, and probably, you have to do it on charcoal stoves. You need to get inventive with your ingredients, and you have to like the idea of eating a lot of beans. Thankfully, cooking is something I enjoy very much, and is a very relaxing activity for me. Finally, playing sports (in Ngara, volleyball, football, and basketball) is an opportunity for me to get out into the community, and have fun running around. I have taught many people in Ngara to play Ultimate, and have had some friends send discs, so I have been teaching my students to play. This has been a great success so far.

4) Learning Swahili is one of the most important things you can do here. It will make your interactions with fellow teachers, and the general community, so much more interesting and engaging. I know enough to get around effectively, but I can’t hold a conversation of any substance, and this means that I will always be an outsider here (even if I knew well Swahili I would be an outsider, but at least I’d understand what people are saying). While English is technically the language of instruction in Secondary School, everyone speaks Swahili, and being able to use Swahili (even in my limited sense) integrates me into the community and shows the teachers that I am serious about living and working in Tanzania.

5) Making friends can be difficult, or easy, depending on your placement, but it is essential that you make at least a couple good friends. Most of the teachers at my school are older than me, and don’t seem very interested in being friends outside of school (though they are, by in large, very friendly). Most of the people in your community will not know much English, so if you don’t know Swahili becoming friendly with people in the community can also be difficult. I was lucky enough to meet a teacher from a nearby school who speaks excellent English, and he has been an invaluable resource and fantastic friend. Some other friends have been made from former students, who I was lucky enough to teach for a short time before their graduation, and they too have been fantastic. Life without no local friends would be rough.

If I had to choose whether to do WorldTeach Tanzania over again, knowing what I know now, would I? Absolutely, because I have had an overall fantastic experience so far, but it is certainly an experience that not everyone can handle. I hope these reflections and advice have shed some light on my experience. If you are considering WorldTeach Tanzania next year, please feel free to shoot me an email and pick my brain. While a lot of the recruitment materials are useful and informative, I don’t know how well they capture what the experience is really like, or, at least, are so extensive that it’s easy to get bogged down in the details.