Apart from all this, the other children do not generally see Inonge as one of them. She has to supervise and control them, so they see her more as another adult than a sister. Because of this, she often feels quite isolated and alone in her own family. At school, Inonge is not doing very well. Although she is bright, her homework is often poorly done, or not done at all, and she often feels tired in class. The principal and the majority of teachers in this school see school and home as separate - a view that is generally held in this community as well so that little is done to build bridges between the two. Inonge's own class teacher has never enquired about her home circumstances. He is an authoritarian teacher who rules the class very critically and strictly. Thus, a common pattern that has developed in this class is for the teacher to be critical of the students, and the students to be critical of one another. Because Inonge is criticised for her poor scholastic performance and wants to make up for it, she takes on the role of 'teacher's helper' whenever she can. Unfortunately, the teacher often exploits this. It has also not helped her in her peer relationships. The class of 45 children is more or less evenly divided between boys and girls, who are seated in separate rows. The boys and girls tend to have separate friendship groups. The boys tend to dominate and are especially critical of the girls. Because Inonge is quiet and unassertive, the other girls are also critical of her and tend to boss her around. Also, while most other children have friends from around their homes in the class, she has had little time to make such friends, so she tends to be quite isolated in the class. What factor outside the immediate home situation negatively influences the family at the moment? How do you think this affects Inonge?
