Teacher embraces rappers and soapies to keep pupils excited
Published: January 9, 2006
While English teacher Ingrid Barnsley is not a particularly big fan of former gangster and US rapper 50 Cent, she uses his music to spice up her English lessons.
This mother-of-two reckons that 50 Cent’s language is “too strong” but she has learnt to tolerate him for the sake of her pupils.
Music, cartoons and soap operas are just some of the props Barnsley uses in class to make lessons more stimulating, and if she believes they will help her pupils have a better understanding of English.
“I use the media to communicate with my pupils and to make lessons interesting. I don’t like rap music, but I have to listen to it because some of the rappers are poets and it is the kind of music that children listen to.”
Barnsley, a teacher at Sandringham High School in Johannesburg, has taught English for the past 18 years but sees herself more as a saleslady than a teacher.
“When I get into a classroom, I behave as though I am a sales rep selling a product called English. I cannot be badly dressed, badly prepared, sleepy or stressed.
“If rap music is relevant to what I am teaching, then I use it, and if the skaterboy rebel is listening and learning something, then I have made a sale. Winning over rebels will lead to a lovely atmosphere in class.”
As teachers and pupils prepared to return to class this week, Barnsley said: “I am looking forward to this year. There is no point in getting up for a job if it makes you miserable. There are so many challenges out there and I cannot wait to meet them.”
This attitude to teaching and dedication to her job helped Barnsley to win three awards last year in the Excellence in High School Awards.
She won the Central District award in August, then went on to win the provincial award in October, and she came second overall in the national awards in November.
Although Barnsley’s job is her passion, it wasn’t her first choice when she went to university. She initially wanted to become a journalist, but changed her mind and joined a bank.
Three years later she was sent on a trainer’s course and realised that she enjoyed seeing the immediate results that came with imparting information.
The quality of government schools was an issue which Barnsley believed should be addressed urgently. “State schools are neglected by the government, and ministers who earn a lot of money send their children to private schools. Why would they have an interest in a making our schools excellent when their children are not there?
“They impose rules on us and aren’t the ones experiencing the consequences of those changes - it’s us and the children.”
bmol@star.co.za
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