Katrina Shiwaya Basimike

When I went to the teachers’ college in 2006, I didn’t have the slightest idea of what I was getting into.

In fact, the only thing I had imagined about becoming a teacher was the salary and independence I’d be getting. 

The pupils whom I was going to teach as well as the work itself did not at all feature in that imagination. 

That means that I’d never really given it any thought, never researched about the job, what it entails, or the individual character traits it required. 

It was simply a route to a job that would provide me with financial freedom. 

Despite the lack of prior
enlightenment, I caught on in the job, and as I furthered my studies. 

I realised that teaching is not just a job; it is a task, a noble one, of impacting lives by modelling knowledge that would bear the transformational power of lives as well as the many routes to arriving at that knowledge. I also realised that teaching requires more than a certificate. It requires passion, foresight, oversight and most importantly unwavering and unconditional devotion. Educating someone is a cause that requires the teacher’s belief in that cause, even when the pupils or their parents were not committed to it. This would be the driving force when, not if, the going gets tough. When the salary is little, when the workload is unbearable, and the list goes on. 

Moreover, I believe that learners are the future leaders of any generation. Thus, they require quality education. 

That means any material delivered to the learners has to be carefully planned, prepared or selected. It is the best there is, and that it is presented or communicated to them in the most efficient way possible. 

Additionally, I believe that the curriculum that I deliver should, in addition to the government’s pre-set objectives, produce whole individuals who have the intellectual, emotional and social capacity to contribute to the leadership roles they would hold in future. 

However, I do realise that learners are not empty vessels. 

They bring to class many positive and negative ideas, beliefs and values which are as a result mainly of their experiences. While this can be a benefit, it can also be a challenge when those very experiences create negative ideas, beliefs and values which become a barrier to learning, and therefore the transformation of the learners into whole beings. I, therefore, believe that the teacher must try their best to play a rehabilitative role in order for transformation to occur among misguided learners. 

Additionally, I have experienced that government education systems, ours included, leave a lot to be desired. The politics and inadequacies among managers in education are detrimental to the delivery of quality education. Among other things, unrealistic expectations, the lack of resources, and little or lack of professional guidance to teachers also affect the delivery of quality education in Namibia. 

Moreover, the transfer system in Namibia
has left schools overwhelmed with learners who lack the basic foundations on which high school teachers can build. Special learning disabilities and conditions among learners have gone undetected and the necessary support not offered, causing these children to achieve little to nothing academically. However, I have learnt that a teacher should be versatile and make the most of any situation to maintain quality amidst challenges, wherever possible. 

I have proven this by attaining good results in the subject that I teach
(English) in a very poorly-resourced government school which underperforms in other subjects. 

This however, does not mean the performance of miracles. 

What I have described above about teaching is what I endeavour to maintain, as I carry out my duties as a teacher. To effectively do that, I ensure to broaden and deepen my subject knowledge, equip myself with the pedagogic skills necessary to transfer my knowledge and transform my thinking for the better, which in turn helps me to reflect and improve on my craft. I do this via formal courses and personal informal research. 

While I do this on a personal level, very little is being done at national level to deliver quality education. Thus, it remains a dream yet to be realised in Namibia. 

* Katrina Shiwaya Basimike is an English teacher at the Augustineum Secondary School with 15 years' experience as a teacher, holds a Master of Arts in English, and is a second-year law student Unam.