I arrived halfway through the year and was slotted in as a register teacher to an unruly group of grade six learners. This group had had two register teachers already.
As their third teacher, I had to settle them and establish boundaries. Within the first week, my attention was drawn to a boy named James*. He seemed to be seething over something. When called upon, he would react defensively and would be ready to argue.
It emerged that, the previous year, he and friends had brought alcohol to school. The consequences were obviously not favourable and James had become quite rebellious. Being a new and enthusiastic staff member, I was determined to make a mark. If James had an attitude, I could outmatch his — but in a different way.
I began asking him to help me carry my books or take messages. For the tasks carried out correctly, he received rewards like a merit or a chocolate. And we talked, even when he was angry.
James slowly opened up about his parents’ difficult divorce. I discovered that he was protective of his younger sister. He spoke about his favourite football team, his friends and his mom, among other things.
While connecting the dots, I discovered the drinking incident had come soon after his parents split. Although I could not condone the incident, I could understand how a boy caught up in the whirlwind of peer pressure, hormones and personal problems would look for an outlet to express his pain. At times, James would still become defiant and aggressive.
But James slowly but surely began to improve academically. Then it was time to select prefects for the following year. I decided to take a risk and approached my principal, proposing to make James a prefect. He asked me to justify myself. There was no doubt James had improved, not just academically, but also in his choice of peer influences and accepting the consequences of his actions. I convinced the principal and James was made a prefect. He was ecstatic.
About a year after finishing his primary education, James was killed in a car accident. The sense of loss I felt was overwhelming. Not only had I lost a loved individual who had crept into my heart — I had lost one of the greatest teachers in my life.
James taught me to look past the label. Children are experts at disguising their true feelings. Sometimes, as teachers, we get so caught up in the paperwork that we forget to look further.
Heather Broodryk is a teacher at Tom Newby Primary School in Benoni, east of Jo’burg. She was a runner-up in the category of excellence in primary school leadership in the 2008 National Teaching Awards. *James’s name was changed to protect his identity