Friends' Ed. Blogs

Kelsey

www.lutherpsych-kelsey.blogspot.com

Trevor

www.ketttr01.blogspot.com

Lauran

www.lauran23.blogspot.com

Emily

www.emilyrasmusson.blogspot.com

More thoughts

The last couple of nights I ended up sleeping around 3-4Am. I just could not fall asleep because something was bugging me: we need more effective education.

I know it sounds like I am trying to convey the message that I am the good guy who's desperately looking for some type of recognition, or something like that (you can draw your own opinion), but I can assure you I am not. However, I am extremely concerned about the education system in my country (Brazil).

Just for your information, Brazil occupies the 76th position in the education ranking (data from Unicef). This information just gives me goosebumps. It is just devastating to hear governors state that our country is getting better economically when only 30% of the population can effectively write, read, and understand. 70% is falling behind - just like in the colonial times.

I watched on youtube a Brazilian documentary that was held in the state of Para - one of the poorest states in Brazil. In fact, this state - like some others - is still run by colonels, who are the rich minority that rules over the big mass of ignorant people. the documentary called "What are schools for?" interviews people from very poor background and ask them what education is for. We obverse different points of view; some of them are hard to be heard. But what kept me awake late those nights was when a very old man gave an interview about education. Although we was very poor, he sounded very upbeat. He stated that he had just learned how to write his name on a paper. He was happy because he thought that from that moment on he would be able to have new opportunities in life. That for sure saddened my heart and I almost left tear roll down my eyes.

People ask me "Why do you want to come back to Brazil after you graduate?" "Life is much better in the USA, why dont you just live there?" In fact, I have had this dilemma for a long time. Nowadays, I am more than sure that I want to go back home and help build education in our public schools. I am proud to be Brazilian and I hate to hear when people say that they hate to be Brazilians - mainly because of corruption. I aggree that our country has a lot to improve, but I would betray myself if I just left those 70% deserted. I try my best to be true to what I believe and I think we all should do things to improve the welfare of all.

Just Some Thoughts...

Although I was not assigned to post this comment, I felt in the mood to do so. One of the things that have been bugging me really hard is the educational hypocrisy: teachers pretend to be teaching, and students pretend to be learning.

Today I would like to discuss a little more students' hipocrisy. I honestly can't stand students who are not themselves in the classroom; students who deliver knowledge, but do not internalize it; students who claim something, but act in a different way. Indeed, for me, this is not learning. Let me give you an example that I witnessed in college. One day in a so and so class, we students were discussing a book that pointed out what responsibilities and respect were. Students came up with some ideas - most of those ideas were very beautifully pleasing to our ears - and from that, the teacher implictly asked us to ponder over our own actions, and how responsibility and respect are performed in our own lives. It seemed like a good lecture. Some days went by and one of the students was eating something and threw the snack bag on the floor, and left - and it was evident that the student was aware of what he/she just did. Interestingly, that was one of the students who proclaimed beautiful words about respect and responsibility in class.

Now I ask myself, "What's going on with our education?" Are we machines or something? Are our students really learning meaningfully? I honestly do not think so. Issues like those intrigue me a lot. For one thing I believe, effective learning demands change in behavior. Let's stop pleasing our teachers (and everyone else) if we do not deliver what we vocalize because one thing is for sure: talk is cheap.

Reflectiveness

In my opinion, most teachers and students find it hard to reflect because reflectiveness demands changes in bahavior. If teachers and students reflect upon what they are doing- or not doing- they are more likely to develop a sense of self-criticism, which is necessary as we humans develop. Therefore, it is important for both teachers and students feel as the others do. For example, a teacher, who persists in teaching dull classes, is avoiding reflectveness because it demands deeper understanding of what his purpose is and how his actions are affecting those around him. Dull classes can affect negatively student's motivation, which might have a lifelong outcome. Likewise, students, who claim that education is not that important, are not only doing harm to their own development, but they are also dragging the whole country development down. For this reason, students must be held accountable for the improvement of a country, community, city, and so on. Students must be reminded of how their actions inflict large mass of people. That's when reflectiveness plays and important role. Everyone must realize that we need to be constantly changing according to diverse needs. Reflectiveness demands a change of behavior and cognition.

Reflection Upon Class Discussion

With regard to what I witnessed last Monday, I would say that little of what I was forced to listen to was pleasant to me. However, there was one very important message I am going to take with me for the rest of my teaching life.

Starting off with the negative side of the discussion, I unfortunately confirmed that things in real life happen similarily to what we performed in class last Monday. In other words, groups are very biased about their own needs. For example, business people are very concerned about what their employees can produce. They primarily look for profits. In the end, there is little or no concern at all about the employees' success. Employees are viewed as tools, which need to be shaped accordingly to function in a particular area. Because money rules, little is done by these business people to improve and develop their employees' skills. You are either in or out. There is no concern about your personal development. Another example is those successful kids' parents. It is very easy for those parents to point out that all kids must develop at the pace their kids do, as if these parents never heard of "diversity". Instead of accusing "unsuccessful" kids of lowering the community quality, these parents should be more empathetic towards those who struggle with learning.

But there was a great message I learned from that discussion. I totally agree that EVERYONE should be held accountable for the children's process of learning. Teachers, parents, business people, principals, neighbors, and so on have a great amount of accountability towards kids' social and cognitive development. NO ONE is entitled to claim that only one group or another influence children's learning. That's when reflectiveness falls heavily on people's shoulders.

Teachers and Enthusiasm

I have had tons of teachers who have made a difference in my life. But I will reserve my time to talk about one exclusively now. His name is Zackyeu, and he was my English teacher for almost 4 years in a private language school.
Zackyeu graduated in a Methodist college, and he became a pastor. Interestingly, English is not his expertise. Zackyeu knows just the basic skills of the language. However, I stuck to his classes for 4 years. Why? He is very enthusuastic about the things he does - especially teaching. He might not have the best language skills (he acknowledges that), but he teaches it in a very exciting way.
Zackyeu actually changed my life when he gave me the first oportunity to teach in one of his classes. He stopped in the middle of the class and asked me to teach for the rest of that class. I felt very awkward and shy. In fact, I turned red. But, after teaching for those 10-20 minutes, I realized that teaching was something I enjoyed. After that experience, I told Zackyeu that I liked teaching. As a consequence, he asked the principals of that private school if I could teach basic English. And that's how I started teaching. I was just 16.
I still keep friendship with Zackyeu. In fact, last summer I taught English at his own language school. He really likes my job, and he always ask me to teach students whenever I go back to Brazil. He says he's willing to make me responsible for his school when I graduate, because he sees in me a second Zackyeu. He is very proud of me, because he saw me grow up as an English learner, and now I am studying where I always wanted to study - in the US.
I can say that Zackyeu was one of the parts of this big engine that made my life work. His smiling face and motivational skills have transformed my file for better, and I could not be more thankful.