My first full time teaching position was beginning as a member of the TEA group 1C starting Janurary 1962.   Now I was a maths teacher at Sir Samuel Baker Senior Secondary School located in Acholi Province, twenty miles from Gulu in the north of Uganda. My background in education came out of a small high school in Banning, California and a small liberal arts college called  Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin.  Both had very small classes and plenty of informal interaction between teachers and students.  I loved that and brought that innovative teaching method to Sambaker and was going to enjoy practicing my teaching in that manner.  Was I in for a surprise!  

            Setting the ground work: As I walked into my first class on my first day of teaching, all the students stood up, and said together,  "Good Morning, sir." I said, "Good Morning. Please sit down."   Oh, thought I, not in my classroom:  Too formal and silly.  So I made new rules: Standing and greeting me when I entered the room was no longer necessary.  Then, raising hands to be recognized for comments or questions, no longer necessary.  New rule:  Just ask your questions.   Soon, my new teaching experience became a nightmare.  My classes were chaos.

             Uganda was on its way to independence from Mother Great Britain in 1962.  The students were very aware of the political situation, and my maths classes were full of questions concerning items other than maths.  One question came up often concerning the real reason why we Americans were in Uganda and especially whether we Americans were spying on Uganda.  "Oh," I said finally, "yes, we are here to get information on Uganda's bicycle manufacturing capabilities."   This did not go over well.  Then, because of the recent behavior problems I was having, students did not fully completed their homework.  So my threats came out. "I don't care if you are Milton Obote himself," I said, "you will be punished for not completing homework."

            STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE.  Mr. First-Year-Innovative Teacher had now initiated a school strike, and, yes, the Sambaker students went on strike.  My inappropriate comments and what the students presumed were insults to the future president of Uganda upset them, and they acted on their feelings.  You might well wonder how it was resolved.  And you can guess: I formally apologized in front  all students at a  school meeting, my heart in my hand.  The students were forgiving, and I certainly modified my behavior during the rest of my time at Sambaker.