I moved to England
at the age of five, although coming from a country where English is an official
language, my English was not as advanced as my counterparts in this country.
Upon arrival my teacher advised my mother to only speak to me in English and stop
using Ndebele and Zulu to communicate with me. She refused. I am so grateful
she did. Instead my mother turned to a different method, I had always loved
hearing bedtime stories, my mother’s voice was very soothing, still is in fact.
She would often tell me stories in our native tongue that her mother had told
her. One night she told me that I would now read bedtime stories in English to
her, whilst at first I disapproved of this method, I grew to appreciate then
love this tradition with my mother. Thus my love of reading was born. That is
one of my earliest memories, thus I often tell people I have always loved
reading. Thanks to my mother’s rebellion from my year one teacher’s advise and
her innovation, by the time I was six, I had the reading age of an eleven year
old. From then my love of reading only grew, consequently I thoroughly enjoyed
English lessons along with other classes such as Math class. I didn’t always know I would study English in
university, but looking back now it was one of the greatest decisions I ever
made. Studying English has not only improved my communication skills but
in general has made me more culturally aware, something necessary in the
diverse world we live in. Studying English at university allowed me to learn
that literature was diverse, and that not all literature was written by
Europeans. That is one thing I can fault about the education system that often
many other children grown up with that myth.
This summer I went
back to school to change that. Growing up I always loved school and rarely
missed a day at school; as a result my school played a fundamental role in
shaping me to be the person I am today. Holy Family is a great school with even
better teachers who are passionate about what they do. So when planning my event
I could not think of a better place to start.
I devised the
Isocrates wider reading program in in order to
encourage students to read books, which aren’t often present in the national
curriculum.
With the help of my childhood friends we
conceived a plan to work with key stage three students (year nine students) for
three days in July. We introduce the children to literary theories including
Marxism, Feminism and Post colonialism.
When the children where asked to sign up, out of all the classes Post
colonialism proved to be the most popular. Thorough the project we familiarised
the children with the theories and examples of texts, which collate with
theorists ideas. Although the course heavily focused on the literary criticism
of the former, we also taught the children how each theory related to society
and its history.
There were about 70 children involved in the
project. When we first met the children, most had been selected for the
program. So not all where so keen to participate but after the first awareness
meeting, the children seemed excited. It only got better as the program
continued, each day the children where more interested, became better learners,
social and literary critics. Another highlight was seeing the children
realising the power of literature and that most literary texts often have a
social message, even a book such as Animal Farm by George Orwell, a children’s
book with a political message. It was really interesting to see the
thoughts of these year nine students who where mostly 13 years old and ranged
in ability all do so well in understanding these theories which are often
deemed by academia as something that has to be learnt at the penultimate stages
of higher education. It was amazing to witness the children grow in that short space
of time, learning about these theories and placing them in the context of their
own lives, and thus assessing what role they play in society. I hope the
children continue to explore other theories and texts outside of the curriculum
and that they continue to realize the power one individual holds simply in
their beliefs.
This experience has also aided me. As a
literary critic, you are always growing and learning, being around such astute,
creative and intelligent children was a great honor to which I must thank them,
their school and their parents. Being around the children allowed me to
reconsider these theories allowing for my knowledge to not only be strengthened
but to grow. This knowledge will undoubtedly serve as helpful in my future
studies.
We hope this program is the first of many
and one which can be extended across Waltham Forest and other boroughs of
London. As a start up charity, we couldn’t have done without the major support
we received not only from our sponsors and the school but our two volunteers,
double award winning actor Nathan Hector and the amazing Nego True who is a
poet now on a sold out tour. I am so thankful for their time. I also have
to say thank you to my team including my Vice President Mr Kalm Paul-Christian,
and my Marxist coordinator Elliott Lazarus. We would also like to thank our
local MP Stella Creasy for her support, who regretfully couldn’t attend the
program but sent her profuse apologies and hopes to support our charity in
future endeavours with our community.
Check out the articles about the project below:
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/13366467.Oxford_bound_student_returns_to_school_to_promote_reading/
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/13508389.Oxford_bound_student_amazed_by_pupils__ability_to_grasp_feminism_and_marxism_in_new_class/
