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Published: June 14th 2008
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(written last night)
I am currently on a coche cama suite bus heading for Salta. This is the common mode of transportation here. It is a double decker bus. This particular bus is all first class accomodations. There are six other passengers upstairs with me and four downstairs. I am in a wide leather seat that reclines 180 degrees and has a privacy curtian that extends around me. There is an on-board waitress who comes around offering coffee, tea, mate, and sodas, which are all included in the price of the trip. There is also a dinner and a breakfast.
I spent the day today doing what every educator longs to do during summer vacation, namely present to classes of students. Actually it was a lot of fun, if not much more involved than I had previously understood. About two or three weeks ago, Sebastián asked me if I would come speak to his geography class about life in Arizona, and that this would mostly consist of me showing photos and answering student questions. As it turns out, I spoke to classes of several different teachers in several different subject areas, and actually did a bit of actual lesson
preparation. It wound up being all kinds of fun.
I need to start by describing this school, which is a very unique institution in and of itself. It is called Escuela Popular Latinoamerica, and services students from ages 5 to 18. It is a community school, which is on the spectrum between public and private education. The state pays the teacher salaries but the families who can afford it pay for the upkeep of the facilities and for materials. The school draws from a variety of communities in suburban Buenos Aires and maintains a careful balance of students from all walks of life. It is somewhat of a utopian experiment, where there is an important role played by staff, students, and family, and involves a large community piece as well. Emphasis is placed on a well rounded liberal arts education that exposes students to different opinions and experiences, and encourages independent, analytical thinking. The students have a much longer day than is typical in Argentina. In addition to the typical subject areas, all students take a variety of visual and performing arts classes, a variety of social studies type classes (they study Argentine culture as well as other world
cultures), and all study English daily. I am the first foreign guest they have had in to speak to them.
The way that grades are numbered here is different than in the US. Kindergarten (jardin de infantiles) is a separate program that is often housed separately. Primary school is for students in grades 1-7. Then, in secondary school, they start over with the numbers and have years 1 (the equivalent of 8th grade) through 5 (the equivalent of high school seniors). I spoke with one sixth grade group and the rest were secondary students.
As a professional educator with 9 years experience working in US public schools in four districts in two states, I cannot express how impressed I was with this school, and with Seba´s class in particular. I would never have guessed this was his first year with what I would call eighth graders (his previous teaching was all at the university level). These students were all polite, enthusiastic, articulate, and very much engaged in their lessons. You could tell he ran a tight ship too, as all the students were taking notes on everything I said. This did not happen in any of the other
classes I visited.
Most of the classes were VERY well behaved. The only exception was the first period of the day when I spoke to a group of second years (think freshman) during their sex ed class. But I suppose that´s to be expected, and even they were ok, if not for a few side conversations.
The students were also very friendly to me in the hallways. Several stopped to ask me more questions. A few of the older ones noticed my nose ring and showed me some of their piercings and tattoos.
But the best part was lunch time. Apparently, the school has known of my visit longer than I have. Some of the high school Dance students prepared a performance for me of folkloric dance, and then taught me some of their moves. I can´t put the videos up here, but perhaps will put them on youtube another time.
They also made me Tortas Fritas, which are kind of like donut dough but not as greasy and not covered in sugar. The teachers also gave me a beautiful tea set to thank me for coming in.
By far my favorite teacher that I
met today was one of the English teachers, Eva. She is a lot like me. In addition to teaching at this school, she co-runs an institute for English study that has pupils of all ages, including adults. She asked if I would come there one day as well. Then she and I got into a really interesting conversation about global politics, and that afternoon she opened it up again with a group of third year (sophomore) students, several of whom had interesting opinons to share.
I want to work at this school!!!
Seriously though, something that was driven home hard today was how much I miss working with young teenagers.
(written in the moment)
I´m finally in Salta, and I finally can publish my blog entries!!!
Well, I have experienced long distance bus travel in Argentina. I´m now perfectly content to fly everywhere. Seriously though, it was not bad. I saw a lot of the countryside that I never would have seen without it. As my camera battery is dead, I have not yet taken pictures, but they are coming. Salta looks a lot more like South America than it does like Europe (or for the
matter, exteremely euro-esque places like Buenos Aires and Bariloche). I have excursions galore this week, so look forward to some of my best photos yet!
Also, of interest. Yesterday Sebastián had asked me to write my email address on the board for his students. Today, I had half a dozen emails from students thanking me and asking me even more questions about my life (as well as some myspace friend requests). The school does not have an internet connection, so I know that even if this was prompted, it was done independently.
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