Break the Cycle

27/7/12

Today it started

It felt a bit strange because what I’m doing in the classroom now is a bit unorthodox. For the first time in one and a half years I did not come to school with a conventional literacy or numeracy plan.

Break the cycle

Instead, we looked at a song my students love called ‘Break the Cycle’, which is made by a group of Aboriginal girls from a community near Alice Springs. The girls sing about the sad things that are happening in their community such as their families drinking and fighting, and the girls being bored, having nothing to do, making trouble and struggling to stay in school. The chorus repeats the words: ‘Gotta break the cycle’. So we had a closer look at the lyrics, spoke about what problems the girls were facing and what sort of things they wanted to change. We then started a discussion about what 'break the cycle' means.

Hoping to get some rich discussion, I encouraged the kids to as a group, speak in their first language (so as not to inhibit the discussion) to see if they could come to a conclusion on what break the cycle might mean. I was met with blank faces and the kids urged me to just give them the answer.

Break the what?

We had to start with what cycle means – as I was met with blank faces on that one too. I explained a cycle in terms that they could relate to, such as bicycle, tricycle, motorcycle, and the life cycle of a frog.  I explained that all of these things have parts that go round and round and doesn’t ever stop and that’s what a cycle is.

Where’d you get that t-shirt?

I then explained that cycles can occur in peoples lives. I shared the story of Carpets for Communities (CfC) an NGO in Poipet Cambodia which empowers mothers to break the cycle of poverty. I wore my CfC t-shirt and the students were amazed to see the words ‘Break the Cycle’ on my back. They were totally spun out that the words they have been singing were written on my t-shirt! They urged me to tell them where I got the t-shirt from and what it meant.

But what about welfare?

I shared the story of how some families in Cambodia have no money because the parents never got an education and so their children have to work to provide money for the family. The children don’t get to go to school, because they are out working. These kids end up growing up without an education and cant earn money so their kids will have to work to support the family too, and the cycle continues. The kids were really thinking about this and one student asked me "but what about welfare? What about their tjitji money (child payments)?" I explained that there was no such thing as tjitji money in this country. I was met with silence and I hoped that meant they were putting their situation into perspective. 

A happy ending 

Pleased with their engagement we looked up CfC on the net and I showed them the handmade rugs that the mothers now make instead of getting their kids to work. I explained that the rugs get shipped to Australia to be sold and now their kids get to go to school. I told them that was what ‘breaking the cycle’ means. There were smiles all round the classroom, to hear such a happy ending to the story and one of the kids suggested we buy a rug for our classroom. 

A true story?

Bringing the kids attention back to the group of Aboriginal girls who sing ‘Break the Cycle’ I asked the kids if they thought it was a true story. There was a unanimous ‘Yes’ from my students and there was a bit of discussion about how all of the sad things also happen in our community. The kids said they wanted the girls to break the cycle but couldn't offer any suggestions on how they could do that beyond "call the police when someone is fighting". I understood that it was hard to work out ways to break this cycle, when we weren't even sure what this cycle actually looked like.. so I knew that was where we had to go next.