Up Close … with Rachel Lionnet, a passionate educator and doting mother |21 April 2020
With her two daughters
‘No child is without talent!’
By Elsie Pointe
This week we meet up with 32-year-old Rachel Lionnet, a passionate educator and doting mother of two girls. Born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Seychelles, the geography teacher talks to us about her childhood, the women who shaped her life, the precarious state of the education system, keeping fit and life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Childhood
“I was born in Havana, Cuba but I have lived in Seychelles all my life. I spent a lot of time on Fregate island as a toddler when my grandmother – Marlene Lionnet – was based there. I was adventurous and loved to go on tours with her and the many tourists who came to the island. My adventurous self ended up cracking my head once and it was stitched up by mother’s step-father right there and then. You can say I started developing a strong threshold for pain at that stage. I also developed a love for the sea at a young age thanks to my aunt and uncles. Once I started going to school I lived at Plaisance with my mother and grand-father – Guy Lionnet.”
“Being an only child, you could say I was quite lonely and always begged my mum for a sibling. But the upside was that I was spoilt rotten by everyone, especially my aunty who lived abroad. My room was my favourite place to be because I had all the toys kids my age wanted. I actually remember moments where I would line up all my soft toys and Barbie dolls, and ‘teach’ them! I enjoyed playing video games and watching The Lion King which to date is still my favourite Disney cartoon. It is also how I developed a love for my favorite animal – the lions.”
“Looking back, I can say with certitude that my childhood was amazing. I grew up in the era where being outside was safe and fun, my imagination was my best friend (if that makes sense) and I had people who loved me and always made sure I was happy. I wouldn’t change a thing even if I could.”
Education and career path
“I never wanted to be a teacher; I was into web design and the likes. Somehow I ended up teaching and I like to say that teaching found me and I fell in love with the job,” Rachel admits.
“I started kindergarten at the Independent school the year it opened. I finished S5 in 2004 and went on to study Mathematics, Geography and Computer Science at the Seychelles Polytechnic.”
After completing her studies at Polytechnic, in 2007 Rachel pursued a diploma in secondary education at the National Institute of Education (NIE) to become a social science teacher. Her first teaching gig was at Pointe Larue in 2009, followed by Plaisance secondary in 2010 where she remained up until 2014 when she undertook a Bachelor’s in Education, specialising in Environmental Science, at the University of Botswana.
“I returned to Seychelles in May 2016 and started teaching at English River secondary school but in March 2019 I made the decision to resign from the Ministry of Education and went to teach at the Independent School. Leaving the ministry was extremely hard because I had many plans for the low ability learners who I feel are neglected in the education system. But who knows, the option to return is always there after a couple of years.”
Strong, fierce and bold women
“In my life, I have had many strong women to look up to. In fact I had five of them.
First off, my mother Genevieve Lionnet who ensured I had the best education, a happy childhood and she constantly shows me that nothing can be achieved without hard work.
My aunt Nâne Lionnet showed me the world through books. I loved to read from a very early age and had a whole library of books she would buy for me. A bad day easily vanishes when you open a book. She also took me on adventures and introduced me to the sea.
I spent a few years with my grandmother when my mother worked on Praslin and she toughened me up and made me the ‘lioness’ I am today. She showed me that respect is earned and nothing in life should be taken for granted. I miss her every single day!
Meanwhile, Manmi Marie-Neige Mathiot was everything wrapped in one incredible lady. She was a real-life superwoman. I wasn’t her biological daughter but she would tell everyone I was. When my mother was working, I had Manmi around. I never felt unloved at any point in my childhood thanks to these four women.”
“The last person who has helped shape me not just as a woman, but also as a teacher is Miss Cecile Marcel. I strongly believe that were it not for her daily words of encouragement I probably would have resigned after my first year. She was the best mentor I could have asked for during my first year as a teacher. She never let me give up and she always knew what to say. She taught me that it’s not just about completing a syllabus but showing your students that they matter as individuals and that they are each special in their own way. That is the basis of my life as a teacher and one of the reasons why even when my students complete S5 they are never completely gone from my life. They always remain in touch. Life’s syllabus is much harder to complete than maths or physics or geography.”
Ms Marcel, a former head teacher, passed away in July last year.
“This brings a lot of emotion because I am without 3 of these women! I can only hope that I am making them proud.”
‘No child is without talent’
Something very dear to me is the lack of support for low ability learners. In fact, this is one of the reasons I gave up at the Ministry of Education in the end. How can we examine a non-reader the same way we examine a high achiever? That is just like taking a fish and a monkey and saying the first to reach the top of the tree is a genius and I am not the first to say this! Many educators with higher qualifications have said it. No child is without talent! They all have something they are good at, but we force them to sit in a class and learn geometry, history, science because they will be assessed.”
“What do you expect to happen? Complete chaos in the classroom. Take the same group of children and ask them each “what is it you like to do?” And give them the opportunity to do it and see how they brighten up and glow. Some of them do well in the school garden, in the kitchen or in the art room. So what if he cannot explain the formation of a destructive plate boundary? Can you?
“The way these children are treated is painful to see, especially those with very sad social backgrounds. Many teachers just make their lives even more miserable. And now with fewer and fewer Seychellois teachers, it is only getting worse. Many expatriate teachers don’t care about the students; they are here for the money and the benefits. There are very few who really try to understand the children. A lot more needs to be done for our Seychellois teachers and even more for our low ability students.”
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to ask parents to be more involved in their children’s education. Be present at school meetings, exhibitions, and parent-teacher conferences. I know with the way many people work some parents cannot come on given dates. But it doesn’t mean you don’t show up at all. It is important that children know they always have their parents by their side.”
Challenges
“Before becoming a mum of two, I would have said that my greatest challenge was leaving my home to go to university. Having been spoilt all my life, I was suddenly alone fending for myself. I failed one assessment and called my mother crying. It’s true what they say, we always look for our mothers during the hard times!
Also, my child was only 3 when I left. I missed her first day of school and a lot of other ‘firsts’. It was even harder when she refused to talk to me when I would video call.
I was also facing other challenges at the same time but being away also showed me who really care and who are the ones who will never abandon me. During those two years I lost two extremely important women in my life. Early 2015 I lost ‘Manmi’, the lady who was my nanny when I came to Seychelles. She had been my second mother and I loved her immensely. Seven days before I was due back home for good, I lost my grandmother in a car accident. To date, this has been the most painful event of my life. I got through each moment by training harder in the gym and then swimming (during my second year). The gym literally saved me from going insane during those two years.”
Fitness
“As a student I was very active. I used to run, swim and play volleyball throughout my primary and secondary years. After my first child, I gained a lot of weight. One day I was going to watch a basketball match at Palais de Sport and my jeans wouldn’t fit. I burst into tears and decided there and then I had to make a change. I started boot camp classes. It was extremely hard. I thought that since I was very active before becoming a mother, that exercise would be easy for me. Quite the contrary. It took a lot of commitment and support from my family and the other boot camp members to be able to complete the H.I.I.T training. Unfortunately, the classes soon stopped and I had to go to Bostwana for further studies.
That is truly where my love for fitness started. I was in a big city pretty much by myself (I did have an amazing housemate though), and I was depressed. I couldn’t settle, I was desperate to go back home. My housemate – Rama, knew how much I had been wanting to lose weight and he suggested we find a gym. At first, I was reluctant, but I had nothing else to do once done with school work and we enrolled at a gym five minutes from where we lived.”
In my second year, I started swimming again. The feeling of being in the pool was like no other. Swimming had always been my favourite sport as a teenager. I joined the swim team and another Seychellois, Dean, enlisted me to go represent the university at the Intervarsity games in Lesotho. He was also on the swim team and ‘didn’t want to go alone’. I wasn’t keen. I had a dissertation to write and no time to train. Nonetheless, I went and I am glad I did so. It was over eight hours in a coach from Botswana to Roma, Lesotho. But the views were spectacular. I won two medals, silver and gold! I had come a long way from the girl who couldn’t fit in her size 14 jeans in 2011.
I had my second child in 2017 and the cycle repeated itself! So I joined the gym towards the end of 2018 and had a trainer who whipped me back into shape. The work is hard and contrary to what they say it never gets easier. Most days I do between 5 - 20 minutes of cardio and at least an hour of strength training. With each weight my trainer added I would glare at him and complain and then one day I found myself able to lift heavier than my own weight. I wasn’t weak anymore, I was getting stronger and I was feeling happier. Nothing beats the release of endorphins after a heavy gym session: the gym is indeed my happy place!
Life as a blogger
“I actually started blogging at university. Again I was looking for ways to pass the time. As the work piled up I forgot about blogging. A few months back I started looking at other blogs by teachers abroad. I decided that during the April holidays I would start one. I guess this is one of the upsides to being home for the past three weeks now. I finally found time to start my blog. Initially, it was meant to be just that, a simple blog with a range of topics. But then I started thinking bigger. I wanted a website where I could share ideas, lesson plans, weekly schemes for various topics to help other teachers. I’m a very reserved person so putting myself out there isn’t easy. But having left the Ministry of Education I still wanted to find ways to help my fellow colleagues. I do not claim to be the best, I simply want to make use of technology and have a place where not just geography teachers (although my resources are aimed more at geography) but others can come and share their own stories and teaching strategies.”
‘The Great Lockdown of 2020’
“As a mother, I am going mad during this pandemic! Trying to ensure my 9-year-old does her school work, my 3-year-old isn’t up to mischief or that they are not arguing with one another and then conduct online classes with my own students is a monumental task. It’s so easy to give the kids an iPad and let them explore for themselves. My children and I are lucky to have a large outdoor space where they can roam about when they wish. So at least they are not always inside the house although my eldest prefers it that way. My youngest will escape the first chance she gets. Coping with two completely different personalities is another task on its own. “
“I let them sleep in most of the time, only because I love the extra hours of sleep myself! And I will give my eldest one subject to do per day. It’s important that parents realise homeschooling isn’t like being in an actual school where kids are used to sitting in class for a set period of time. At home, the kids will have plenty of distractions (and so will you) and hence if you feel that homeschooling will end badly for you both, don’t do it! Instead, bond with your children and nurture whatever interest your child has! My daughter loves to dance and has started learning to play basketball. So I make proper use of technology and she watches a lot of dance and basketball documentaries on youtube. Then she will go outside and I will attempt to coach her with the much-needed help of youtube of course. If she’s happy, then I’m happy. Happy kids, happy mum, happy life!”
Words of wisdom
“Unity is key to overcoming everything! Put everything aside, your religious beliefs, your political beliefs, your race, your status. None of that matter. We need to follow the directives of the health authority and people really need to stop spreading rumours just to scare the masses!
Might I add, that around us, Mother Nature is healing herself! In Italy, dolphins can be seen swimming through Venice! There is evidence that the Ozone layer is healing itself! So let us all stop and think for a minute. We, humans, are causing so much destruction and we are leaving a chaotic world for the future generation. Once the world overcomes the COVID-19 pandemic please let us think twice about what we do!”
Photo sources: Rachel Lionnet
