The Nigerian vs American classroom!

Call it culture shock but I was in a daze here for the first few days of getting into the American classroom! Why was I in such a state? It was not the blackboards or the nice seats, afterall we have those where I was coming from in some schools:), and who has not seen a blackboard before? Even children in Kewu classes have blackboards!

Anyway to the reason for my altered mental state. It was the attitudes of students to the teachers and the teachers to the students my people that made me stare so much. Instead of following the classes I would follow in amazement the mouths of my colleagues who ate in class! Yes you are not mistaken, they munch and chew and swallow under the gaze of the professors! That was enough to tell me that I was certainly not in a Nigerian classroom!

These meals are not chewing gum or chin chin, which one can surreptitiously munch in silence ensured by softening the offending morsels before attempting to 'gbe mi'* just before the lecturer catches you if it was in Naija. The meals consist breakfast cereal, yoghurt eaten with spoons from the cups, once it was indian meal whose spices assailed my nostrils all through the class, and they are munched and swallowed vigorously all through the class.

And what is the reaction from the prof? Zilch, nada, zero, he continues teaching as if teaching in a mini restaurant is something he has done everyday of his life, which I guess he has! In the classes I attended at Ibadan, it was a mortal crime to even chew gum talk less of sitting down to a meal of eba and okra in the middle of a lecture. The words 'where do you think you are, that you have the audacity to chew gum in my class?' would most probably awaken you from your slumber if you fell into a dreamy state and proceeded to chew with motions that could be noticed from the lecturer standing in front of the class. you would most likely be marked for your life years spent in the school by this lecturer!

Other non Nigerian habits include slouching in their chairs even when they are asking questions. Our chairs are of the reclining kind in some classes (akin to rocking chairs but on a rotating axis), and several times I have witnessed students who are almost on a horizontal level asking a question and are busy pushing their chairs in all directions like someone on a trampoline frame and still the prof politely answers their questions.

Politeness on the part of the lecturers is also another surprise. Even if the question derails his thoughts or interrupts him mid sentence he politely answers and does not show any outward irritation for having his magnificent train of words disrupted! You can also ask any and every question even if it borders on stupidity and all you get is a patient explanation on why your thoughts are not in line with the projected trajectory of the class. I can almost hear the outburst of some lecturer after some particularly stupid question was asked years ago 'you must have spent the whole weekend frolicking with your girlfriend for you to ask such a stupid question':) God really delivered us!

Another culture shock precipitating agent is the informality of classes. The students can actually challenge the lecturers without the kind of rebuff that would make you wish that you had never been born. One example of this was when a lecturer gave some facts about an issue, and a student in class raised her hand and disputed the facts saying she had lived in the town he was talking about and his facts were actually not accurate. The result was not the crashing of thunder and an attempt to save face but he apologised and just stated that he may have got the facts wrong but the source of his facts was so and so and so. Cest finis! For Naija who born you make you talk like that! I may be wrong but I did not get that impression in any of my classes.

One which is more in line with informality is the fact that the lecturers save one or two can be addressed by name. I cant imagine calling any of my profs by name or sending them mail and say Hello John, which is now what I regular do:) I don become bigz girl o!:))

Anyway these are just my ten kobos worth on the differences in the two classrooms, What do you think?

*gbe mi means to swallow!