To Sir With Love by E. R. Braithwaite

Author:E. R. Braithwaite [Braithwaite, E. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Classics, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781446425176
Google: plkdGhCIdp8C
Amazon: 0515105198
Goodreads: 895163
Publisher: Jove
Published: 1959-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Thirteen

THE VISIT TO THE Victoria and Albert featured largely in their reviews that week. They commented on it freely and thoughtfully, and even on their own conduct. When Mr. Florian read reviews he was delighted, and expressed his willingness to help any other visits I might plan in the future.

I had now been with the class two months, and every day our lessons were becoming more and more interesting. I used every device I could think of to stimulate their interest in their schoolwork; there was so much for me to do with them, so much leeway to make up. Our lessons were very informal, each one a kind of discussion in which I gave them a lead, and encouraged them to express their views against the general background of textbook information.

A human skeleton which had long hung unused in the Science Room was pressed into service for practical Physiology, and these lessons soon became very popular. They asked questions and I answered them fully; I treated them as young men and women and they responded admirably. When I said that the skeleton was that of a female they required proof; and my explanation of the angle and depth of the pelvic basin and the reasons for it naturally led to questions and answers on sex, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth. I in turn, was amazed at the extent of their knowledge acquired first hand. As members of large families living cheek by jowl in small rooms they had seen and heard enough to dispel, at an early age, any childish myths about reproduction.

Even the silent Seales now began to speak up in class, and it was soon clear to us all that he was as well-informed as anyone and full of natural good humor.

I began one Geography lesson by saying:

“Geography is the study of places, and the people, flora, fauna and mineral deposits to be found there.”

“What’s that, Sir, flora and that?”

“Flora is a term used to describe all vegetable growths either on land or water, trees, weeds, waterplants, cultivated plants, etc. Fauna refers to all animal life, large or small. Today we shall consider some aspects of life on the African continent.”

“You don’t come from Africa, do you, Sir?” Seales inquired, though I had answered this question many times before.

“No, Seales, I was born in British Guiana.”

“Where’s that, Sir?”

“It’s on the northern coast of South America, the only British Colony there. You can easily find it on the map between Suriname and Venezuela.”

“That’s the same as Demerara, isn’t it, Sir, where the sugar comes from?” Fernman’s question was one which I had been asked even by teachers on the staff, who were in the main sadly uninformed about the Colonial territories, protectorates and dependencies.

They knew that Jamaica produced sugar, rum and bananas, that Nigeria produced cocoa, and that British Guiana had large natural resources; but these names, though as familiar as the products with which they were in the main sadly uninformed about the Colonial seemed really interested in

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