My My guiding question was: “How are students prepared for life after high school”. I wanted to know specifically are school providing instruction on topics like money management, planning for life after graduation and retirement. I quickly learned that it isn’t taught in schools and furthermore it is discussed in homes. There is an unwritten expectation that young people will take care of their parents in their old age. Based on conversations with my partner teachers, there’s nothing else. It left me to wonder how can a country move toward industrialization when there is no discussion of about career pathways, career development, money matters or wealth building all of which are essential to my district and courses I teach.
Peruvian education is administered by the Peruvian Government Ministry of education. The Ministry as they are referred to is responsible for guidance and direction in every subject and every grade/age level. They provide lessons and resources with what appears to be little consideration of teaching abilities or student needs. The advantage in that method of administration is that they ensure that all student are learning the same material across the country, the disadvantage is the socio-economic factors that impact students, teacher and school facilities across the country differ a greatly as the terrain of Peru. It was unclear how schools were funded. It is my assumption that the Ministry of Education also allocated funds to each of the state (public schools). However, beyond Ministry expectations in curriculum implementation schools across Peru are dissimilar in various ways. My assignment was Carlos Wiesse school in the city of Comas, which was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Miraflores, Peru. Driving out of the city, I was struck by the stark contrast in the landscape, areas littered with trash, community areas that lacked grass and trees covered with dust. The population seemed to multiply exponentially. There were people everywhere, and traffic was congested at all times of the day. To gain access to the school, we had to pass through an iron gate with a security guard. Behind the gate was a large playground with classrooms around the perimeter. I remember thinking, wow at high school age, students still ‘play’. It was nice to observe several students playing soccer. In the classroom things were different. The classrooms with crammed with students who didn’t move for several hours because the teachers traveled to them to teach subject matter. Walls and whiteboards were covered with words, smears, and damage. The desk was tightly packed to accommodate class sizes of more than 30 students. I only observed one teacher formally address her class and receive a respectful response. Teachers appeared to overwhelmed while students appeared to be under-engaged. I found my days at Carlos Wiesse to be very frustrating as I could not follow the organization of the shift. According to my partner teacher, students in the morning were more focused than those in the afternoon. I saw no evidence of this assertion. In speaking with students, my greatest take-a-way was Peruvian students have the same hopes and dream that US students. The greatest difference being opportunity and accessibility. My school district operates very different from schools in Comas. A student has the ability to matriculate through the school system from the age of 3-18. The student from the moment they enter our doors is being prepared for high ed enrollment, employment with a job or enlistment in the United States military. My school district is comprised of: 1 Early Childhood Center, 8 Elementary Schools,2 Middle Schools, 1 High School and 1 International Welcome Center (designed to meet and support the needs of international students); serving 6,500 students. Education falls under the purview of the state and local government. As such, our school district determines what are the best resources to meet our population. Teachers have the freedom to creatively present curriculum in a way that they believe will be most valuable to their students. At the high school level, students move through the halls daily to travel to each class. Teachers learn student names and vise versa. I understand now how the political system of democracy and an economic system of free enterprise and capitalism play a unique role in every part of our society.
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Final Reflection...It’s hard to believe that my time as a Fulbright Teacher’s for Global Classrooms Fellow is drawing to a close. It is difficult to truly express all that I have gained in this last year, but alas I will take a deep breath and put my best foot forward. I the fall of 2016, I received an email from a friend with a link to the IREX Teachers for Global Classroom Fellowship. The message that accompanied the link said, “This sounds like something that would interest you”. I clicked the link and began to read and within minutes I created an account and began to complete the application. I thought to myself, ‘This program sounds incredible! I want to be a part of this!’ As quickly as my fingers would type I feverishly, yet carefully completed each field and each form. I copied the essay questions into a separate document so that I could carefully craft each answer to convey my intelligence and passion for my students, entrepreneurship, and desire to learn if the world thought the same as I about these things. Thinking back I worked on those essay questions for about eight weeks! In my mind, if the answers were written well and my words passionate enough, the evaluators at IREX would be unable to deny my participation in this program. In March of 2017, I submitted my application and waited. Time passed. That summer my husband and I started planning for our 20th anniversary. It was to be a trip to an island destination with family and friends who would stand and witness our vows renewed. We made our deposit and a week later, I learned that I was accepted into the program. My husband didn’t bat an eye, as he told me I HAD to accept my position as a member of the 2017-2018 cohort of the IREX TGC Fellowship! While I was disappointed about canceling the trip and angered at the thought of losing our deposit, I was elated, to share this news with family, friends, peers and other district personnel. As I signed documents, completed forms, made travel selections and attempted to read through all of the information provided IREX I was both overwhelmed and intrigued by the journey ahead. The school year began as usual, but it was far from business as usual for me because I was honored to be a fellow in a program of prestige. I thought to myself, if I can do this, I’m ready to go back to school to pursue my doctorate! In late August we were introduced to the OBA online classroom platform and my group’s online professor Craig Perrier. In September we were off to the races. While I’m sure I read the Welcome page as well as the initial post, nothing prepared me for the intensity of the course. Each week I struggled to juggle the demands of teaching, parenting, daughtering, reading, posting and interacting with the OBA platform, which in my opinion is antiquated and less than user-friendly. But at the beginning of December, I emerged victorious with hair on my head (albeit a little grayer) with coursework completed, assignments graded for work and the relationships with friends and family still intact. As I headed into the holiday season I learned that I would be traveling to Peru! I breathed a sigh of relief that the coursework was completed and I waited to experience what was next, the Global Symposium and the International Field Experience. In a blink, February was upon me and I boarded a flight to Washington, DC to meet the wonderful people I only had an opportunity to interact with online, I was going to meet my ‘people’, the Peru Crew. People who had a thirst for knowledge, travel, and youth that matched my own. (Before the program I thought I was a unicorn). Upon landing in DC, I met my classmates and toured the African American Smithsonian! It was amazing. I checked into the Mayfair Hotel and I immediately thought...WOW...I must really matter! The symposium was filled with global education, intentional programming, phenomenal food and the beginnings of great friendships. As I left DC to return home, I was all aflutter with anticipation. The next step, the International Field Experience to Peru in June! The preparation for the trip was clear, concise, comforting. Based on the way that IREX had handled everything up to this point, I was sure there was nothing to worry about. June 18th arrived and I was off to Peru. While I was sure that the travel an IREX lead portion of the trip would be wonderful, my heart carried worry because my conversations with them in country teacher Violeta did not yield a clear plan for what my schedule would look like in her community of Comas. Half of the cohort flew in from Miami, the other from Texas. We were all face to face about midnight. Quietly we observed each other making polite small talk, I sure each of us trying to figure out what next 3 weeks would bring. We gathered all of our luggage at the airport and scurried off to the bus and then to our hotel the Radisson Decapolis in Lima Peru! We were greeted by a friendly staff and even food even though as one o'clock in the morning! Early the next morning we were on our way I was in Lima. For next week with IREX and our in-country expert Karina we had training and tours and food, training and tours, and food. It was all very informative and enlightening. That first weekend myself and 3 of new found friends traveled to Paracas Peru. The journey by car allowed us to see all of the Geo-diversity that Karina discussed in our training sessions. Peru is a country of city, countryside, desert, and sea. The impromptu trip was amazing. When we arrived back in Lima we checked into our hotel in Comas, this was the hotel that our host teacher suggested. Although looking back, I’m not sure she ever went to look at it prior to our arrival. Let’s just say the first hotel was less than appropriate, I felt unsafe and I had a major meltdown. There was no lock on my door, the room was cold with no blanket on my bed and there was a party that went on until the wee hours of the morning. When I woke up about 6 am, I said to my partner Kim Wells we can't stay here. She agreed because she had no toilet tissue and no hot water to shower. Our host teacher Violeta, met us that morning and agreed to help us negotiate a refund and find better accommodations. Luckily the other pair of teachers in our city of Comas had found a much better hotel and agreed to help us secure accommodations for the rest of the week. Prior to the trip, Kim and I work diligently to put together at some type of schedule with our host teacher where we would be able to add value to the school and be able to learn with the students and the teachers. But on that Monday our plans for the week were not any clearer. The schedule that our host teacher attempted to put together for us as it left great amounts of time where we were in a city alone. More or less at the end of the school day, she was done working with us. We asked to visit local venues to experience culture and music. I asked to visit the universities just to experience the campus. Perhaps even a religious event. There was one day in our schedule set aside for 2 cultural experience. Our schedule included visits to 2 schools, Carlos Wiesse, and Luciana where Violeta’s husband worked. In the 2 days, I visited the schools I was unclear as to why classes seemed to be so chaotic. Carlos Wiesse students attended school in shifts of four hours. The administration post a weekly schedule of where and what teachers would be teaching. Many of the classrooms are damaged, cluttered and unkept. I don’t subscribe to the idea that money is required the create engaging learning spaces. I also don’t believe that income equates unruly behavior. I believe much of what we witnessed was due to poor planning and efficient policies and procedures. It was interesting to watch teachers move from class to class and watch students remain in the room. The student that referred to their teachers as ‘Teacher’ and teachers said ‘hey you’. In an effort to ensure that all students receive a quality education, the Ministry of Education left schools like Carlos Wiesse paralyzed unable to make the progress necessary to move from a developing country to an industrial. In our 4 days at the schools, we met a few administrators. We observed a few classes. I had a chance to teach 2 lessons each for about 20 minutes each. We had a meeting with 3 teachers to discuss challenges teachers face with behavior. Each day we ate at the local restaurant. Thursday we visited Luciana school where students performed an impromptu song and dance. Friday we toured parts of the city and that was it. Saturday we spent the day preparing to return to Miraflores on Sunday. My Essential Question was about Personal Finance. I asked where it was taught. I quickly learned that it isn’t discussed. In fact, I found that money management and retirement are foreign concepts. It left me to wonder how can a country move toward industrialization when there is no discussion of about money matters. As we came together that final week, I was surprised to hear about the different experiences. I was jealous of their experiences. In many of their host communities, they were greeted by students. They had opportunities to teach relevant lessons and share the strategies with other professionals. I felt as if they were able to develop meaningful relationships through meaningful conversations. I did not and I felt cheated. In the weeks that I have been home I have reflected and attempted to the think about could I have done differently what could have been done differently and I'm not sure. Perhaps there could have been better conversations with our host teacher in Peru perhaps there could have been better directions and instructions from IREX, I'm not sure. I do know that we were the first group to travel to PERU. I do know that we were the first American teachers that our schools hosted. And I do know this was the first opportunity for Violeta to host teachers in her home city. I'm hopeful that the feedback we provide is enough to her and the other Peruvian teachers develop better relationships and experiences for teachers in the future. So what's next? I will continue to cultivate a relationship with my partner teacher Kim Wells and work to have an opportunity to visit Peru again, either as teachers individually away from the fellowship or with our students. The one thing we heard clearly, during our visit they are seeking opportunities for their students to talk with native English speakers to practice and we need the same with Spanish speakers. I’m working with our technical department and administration to create a global group for video chatting. I have also launched Teaching Beyond Borders, LLC a consulting company that will facilitate learning around educational travel, service learning, and project-based learning for the 21st century. The trip to Paracas was about two things - paragliding and penguins. Your eyes aren't deceiving you, I typed paragliding and penguins. One of the women in my cohort had previously visited Peru and learned about this opportunity and wanted to go. I thought this served as a unique opportunity to see another part of the country as I mentioned before. The drive was 3 hours 260 km or (162 miles) through miles and miles of sand, dust with random placements of partial construction and chicken farms. After a brief stop in Chincha we arrived in the sleepy coastal town of Paracas on Peru's west coast. After a brief stroll down the pier we checked into our hotel, had dinner and planned for the next day's activity. I must take a moment to mention our family owned hotel Arena Hospedaje. This small hotel is family operated, their home has access to the hotel and the restaurant located directly next door. The proprietor spoke some English, he is very pleasant the food is tasty AND they have WIFI. The next day we planned to visit the Paracas National Reserve 'park' that spans a desert, ocean, islands and the Paracas Peninsula called to 'poor man's Galapagos,' the Islas Ballestas. While the trip was wonderful it was the preparation for the journey that I found most frightening AND enlightening. Only one person in had an above average comprehension of Spanish and she was paragliding - not good. Well my partner and I arrived at our designated pick-up point and were hurriedly instructed to follow. We did. We were pointed in another direction and asked to pay - again. We did it once, why were we paying again we queried. But we paid again. Then we were pointed in a different direction and told to follow the others. Huddled and cold we were told to get a life jacket and board the boat. Why are we boarding a boat to visit a 'park'? My teaching partner said, "This is what it must feel like to be a refugee." Wow! What a teachable moment. While I enjoyed the rest of the activity, my thoughts remained with that statement in that moment. Refugee (n) a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster many times unable to speak the language. I've been home from Peru for a little over a week. As expected friends and family have asked about the trip. Was it awesome? What did you learn? How is the food and how are the people? Those are such loaded questions. I guess my short answer is, it was enlightening. When I learned that I was going to Peru, I was excited because it was South America and I hadn't traveled south before. I was excited because I would have the opportunity to interact with students and teachers on a deeper level than just observation. And I was excited that I would be able to travel to Machu Picchu! I was able to do all of that except travel to Machu Picchu, which makes me really sad! But I'm hopeful that it is foreshadowing an opportunity to go back again. A girl can dream right? The plan was to leave Lima and travel using public transportation and van to Paracas for the weekend, go paragliding and visit a nature reserve park. Now in all honesty, I was only playfully considering the paragliding but totally in favor of a weekend trip. Saturday morning arrived and our guide cancelled! No worries. Our in country host along with our program director helped us find a driver and in a few hours, we were off! Four women, teachers, from 4 different states in the US with a Peruvian driver who spoke little English to parts unknown. Now that I think about it, that was pretty risky, some would even say not so smart...but we did it anyway. The landscape on the drive was incredible. We left the high rises buildings in Lima and journeyed through miles of desert, chicken farms, more desert, then trees, and factories, The first stop on our adventure, Chincha. According to one of my traveling mates, Chicha was a community of Afro-Peruvians, descendants of slaves. A quick visit to the town square and market revealed the African influence as the 'Mammy Doll' in black face and red and white dress was for sale in several shops along with beautifully woven pieces. Honestly, I was put off by this display but I captured a few images because experience is experience. Right? But does cause one to ask why that representation of Africans and why did the imagery stick? Of course we had to eat and the food was delicious but I'm going to do an entire post on nothing but FOOD so stay tuned.
After Chincha we headed due south to Paracas and arrived about 7 in the evening. To a lovely sleeping seaside community. It's winter here so the pier was relatively quiet with only a few shops and restaurants hawking for a few customers to part-take in their offerings. After a full day's drive, we visited the Arena Hospedaje Cafe for a quick bite to eat and then settled into our rooms at the Arena Hospedaje Hotel next door. Look for my next post on a day in Paracas!! Today I taught a lesson on 21st Century skills which are skills students need to be prepared for tomorrow's workforce. My 30 minute lesson included a writing prompt, a group activity, a video and I introduced a new technology tool by using Prezi. In preparing the Prezi, I typed the words of my lesson into a Google Doc and translated it to Spanish. I know just enough Spanish to be pretty clear about what I wanted it to say. I was able to deliver the lesson in both English and Spanish! My pronunciation was awkward but I think they appreciated the effort. I can't be sure that they will really remember anything about what I taught today. But I'm hopeful that they will always remember the day they had a lesson taught by an African American female teacher who challenged them to be creative thinkers who encouraged them to learn foreign languages in preparation for the future work world. Today was a good day!
prezi.com/okvv_ajurfwy/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share While I LOVE to travel, I usually don't sleep well. But the first morning I woke up on my own, completely refreshed in LIMA PERU! Breakfast was delicious. I tried a fruit called or Banana Passion Fruit. What did it taste like? Hard to describe - maybe citrus-y maybe, with the usual eggs, coffee and mixed juice (I have no idea what was in the mix, it was just red lol). Then into training, and overview of Peru through the lens of our in-country consultant, Karina Rivera. My day started with a training overviewing the country and its people. A few particularly prudent Peruvian points provided by our in-country consultant Karina Rivera (did you catch that alliteration 😉):
I’m not exactly sure of what I expected when I arrived in Lima Monday night. The day started with a flight out of St. Louis to Miami where I met with half of my Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) cohort. In Miami as we boarded the plane for Peru, I observed people in every shade of brown also boarding the flight. The greatest difference was the language. Instead of American English many of them spoke what I believe to be Spanish. Of course only having a few years of Spanish in high school and college, I was in no place to ‘know’ what I was hearing. The flight was scheduled to take about 5 hours. Long flights and international flights are the best because they usually include time to watch a movie (or more) and a meal with beverages. I sat next to a gentleman in the Exit row. so I had lots of room to relax. As required, our airline steward inquired about our ability and desire to perform the necessary duties should and emergency arise. She spoke to both of use once in Spanish and then in English. I marvelled at how she was perfectly bilingual. She did this several more times during the flight as if it was 'normal', and perhaps for her it was. We arrived in Lima around 10:30 pm and unlike many airports in the US at that time of night, it was filled with family, friends and drivers waiting to retrieve passengers from the plan. As I reflect now, I’m not sure what I expected to see as walked into the terminal. Perhaps I expected to see people dressed in traditional Peruvian attire, like I had in many pictures in books and videos online? Perhaps. But what I actually saw were people in every shade of color in the complexion spectrum. People who were very fair skinned to very dark, with various hair types: straight, wavy, curly, coarse, long, short, blond, sandy brown and black; and stature tall, short, thin and portly. The only common thread I observed to be was language....and I wondered where/why and how did so much diversity come to exist in one space...the airport, Was this a window into the rest of the country? hmm At that time, I had no idea what this trip would consist of...I only knew that in that moment we were waiting for the other group to arrive from Houston. Which finally happened about 12:30am! Baggage claim and a bus ride later we arrived at hotel around 1 am. Again I expected the lobby to be empty, instead 3 gentlemen greeted us and unloaded all our bags from the bus, a 2 people manned the desk and checked us into our rooms quickly and on the second floor a reception of light warm horderves were waiting. All of this at one o’clock in the morning! As I settled into my bed an hour later, I wondered what will the day bring. #TBB #TGCperucrew Traveling internationally requires patience and a lot of other stuff that most people don't think about including me.
Peru is considered a 3rd world country. So for Teachers for Global Classrooms I had to watch a security briefing on the state of criminal activity in some of the lesser traveled areas. I had to register with the U.S. Embassy just incase something/anything should happen. I checked with the CDC (Centers of Disease control) to find out what vaccinations were required or suggested (Hep a&b, typhoid, malaria and yellow fever, if I was going to the Amazon). Having MS means I was unable to get Yellow Fever because the side effects could be fatal! Who knew?! So check before you travel! Finally traveling internationally means arriving at the airport 2 hours in advance. Not only will you pass through airport security but also customs. Next stop, Miami! #teachingbeyondborders #tbb I made a packing list and I checked it twice. I think I have everything. I have to consider the fact that there may not be a Walgreens or CVS near-by to pick up incidentals. I guess at the very worst, I will just live without things for a few days. *shrug* How do I feel? I don't know. I guess I vacillate between excited, anxious and fearful...so many unknown variables.
There are a few things I do know. Peru is in the Central Time Zone, so I don't have to worry about what time I call home. It is currently winter there, so I will get a break from the extreme heat called St. Louis, whose current heat index at 10:30pm is 95 degrees! I know I will spend 2 weeks in Lima and 1 week in a suburban community called Comas, where I will observe and teach Peruvian students! Teaching Beyond Borders |
Photos used under Creative Commons from manoftaste.de, # Jorge Brazilian #