Sketches..........

The other day as I was sorting through my many thousands of photos  I came across these scanned copies of drawings by two different artists and I thought I'd  share them with you.

They were drawn by two of Ron's students in Dungun, Malaysia.  The sleepy little fishing village on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia where we were first posted by CfBT in the first 2 years of our contracts there. The drawings were sketched during some of the teacher training courses Ron was involved in way back in 2004.  When I came across them it made me think and I had so many questions relating to when and how they were drawn.

Were the students so bored they felt the need to doodle during class?   How well were they listening?  What did they get out of their lessons (this is the teacher coming out in me now)? How long did it take them?  Do they do this in every teacher training session?   Are they professional sketchers? All I could come up with was, they seem like some very talented doodlers!!!!

The one on the left was written affectionately, 'special for Mr Ron' and signed by the artist himself so obviously he  thought a lot of his teacher and he was proud of his own work. He's drawn his 'Mr Ron' as a balding westerner with a blue shirt and pink tie on.  I can't remember him ever wearing that combination !!!  Ron is standing and drawing on the board, hopefully instructing his student well in how to teach English in his kampong school.

For the vast majority of these teachers this would have been their first time being taught by a westerner and therefore the experience was unique as they grappled with the different methodologies being used in teaching English. Maybe it got too much for him and he needed a creative outlet.

The drawing to the right is a face on, head and shoulders pen drawing sketched by one of the headmasters of a Primary School in the district. This depiction Ron look very severe (This is far from reality as in his classes he is always joking around). I wonder if Ron had caught him drawing and wasn't happy with his lack of attention in the lesson? This could explain why the right shoulder hasn't been completed or maybe this was just the artist's style. Am I trying to read too much into it?

They make you think though don't they.  We'll never know what really happened during those classes but it's been fun guessing.  Feel free to add your thoughts?