Another one of my assignments was to interview and write about my host teacher. I am glad that Mrs. Emma returned just in the nick of time so I could complete this assignment to its fullest.
I am very fortunate to have such a great teacher to work with here in Namibia. My placement for student teaching here is at AI Steenkamp Primary School (Steenkamp) and I am teaching grade seven maths and home ecology with Mrs. Emma Muundjua. Lucky for me, she goes by Mrs. Emma, so I am able to say her name without difficulty and refer to her when needed. Mrs. Emma was born at a hospital in Walvis Bay, Namibia and grew up in Swakopmund, Namibia. She is from the Herero background, but had exposure to many other cultures as she grew up. As a result, she speaks sufficient Herero, Oshiwambo, Khoe Khoegowab, Afrikaans, German, and English. Mrs. Emma grew up living with her mother, grandmother, older sister, two older brothers, and a younger sister. She also lived very near to three of her cousins with whom she shared her childhood.
Mrs. Emma completed her childhood education through grade twelve and then went on to university level education. She moved to Windhoek, Namibia to study at the College of Education for three years. After three years there, she earned her diploma with which she was qualified to teach. She then moved back to Swakopmund and worked in a high school there for two years teaching physical science and maths. After those two years, she got a job working at Steenkamp teaching in the upper-primary grades. Simultaneous to teaching at Steenkamp, she went back to school at the Institute for Open Learning and upon completing the program there she earned her advanced certificate in education. When watching Mrs. Emma teach in the first few days of school at Steenkamp, it was evident to me that she had been trained well in ways of educating learners. She used many strategies in her lessons to keep learners engaged including, but not limit to: choral response, relating to self, direct instruction, individual response, choral reading, kinesthetic movements, linking to prior knowledge, and humor.
Currently Mrs. Emma lives in the township of Katutura with her husband, brother-in-law, her grade ten son who she adopted when he was eight months old, and her biological grade one son and two year old daughter. She calls herself a book worm because she loves reading and is always researching. She describes herself as a very curious person who enjoys experiencing and learning new things. She is also fond of relaxing in front of the television and playing games with her children. Mrs. Emma is a phenomenal singer and used to sing in an internationally known choir in high school and currently sings in her church's choir. She can be seen leading the staff of Steenkamp in morning worship songs before their daily staff devotions.
Mrs. Emma became a teacher because her mother was a teacher and she so admired her and her work. She also really enjoys working with children and wanted to have a job where she could pursue that passion. Mrs. Emma was a little bit confused when I asked her what her educational philosophy was, but through some additional questions, I was able to understand what her thoughts were. She believes you must make the best of each child according to the potential they possess. She also feels strongly that you must realize you are working with learners from many different backgrounds and that every learner is not going to learn in the same way as the next. Mrs. Emma believes in bringing lessons down to the individual level and adding support for learners who need it. I asked her how she did this with so many learners in a class and she explained the after school support she provides to learners who need it.
All the teachers do assessments to get evidence to use in choosing learners who could benefit from extra help. These learners then are sent home with a letter about the compensatory classes which are held Tuesdays and Thursdays after school for one hour. The learners whose parents consent are seen during these times by Mrs. Emma, or other teachers they have, for the remainder of the school year, or until they show improvement enough to where it is evident they are no longer in need of the extra help.
The background Mrs. Emma comes from is quite different than mine. She was raised by her mother and grandmother with many siblings and family all around while I was raised by my mother and father with only one sister. She had many multicultural experiences growing up where as I was primarily around middle class white Americans every day of my childhood. I only really know how to speak one language where she knows how to speak six. We have different interests as well as she loves to read and I would rather not, she loves to sing and is good at it, and I can barely carry a tune in a bucket. Despite our differences, our educational philosophy and ways of teaching are quite similar. I agree with everything I have previously stated as being part of Mrs. Emma's philosophy of teaching. I love watching her teach as it only strengthens my ideas of good teaching and gives me more ideas of how to handle sometimes difficult situations. I look forward to the rest of the time I get to spend with Mrs. Emma and know I will walk away from this experience a better teacher than I walked into it as.
This is Mrs. Emma
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