We met again as a whole group to debrief our experiences in our host communities. We discussed the similarities and differences about our schools and next steps. The range of our schools was wide. There was one pair of teachers that spent their week at an International Baccalaureate (IB) school and saw the IB curriculum in full effect. Two pairs of teachers stayed near Lima and worked at schools in some of poorest area. A pair of teachers near Trujillo also worked at an all-girls school and sounded like they had a similar experience to ours in Tarma. Part of our debrief was to revisit our guiding question as well as provide insight to our colleagues questions. Because I teach in an alternative school in Denver, my guiding question focused around alternatives for Peruvian students who do not find success in the traditional school models. From my observations in Tarma, alternative education did not seem prevalent and I did not observe what happened to students who did not succeed in school (we didn't even see a student misbehave...they were excellent). I believe part of this was due to the all-girl environment where I was teaching. Clever would explain to the students where I worked (defining what an alternative school was in the United States) and the girls would literally gasp...in each class...11 classes in total! I am not exactly sure what he said to them but I think he mentioned their past troubles and how the majority of them had been expelled from their previous schools. This was a moment that I wished I knew Spanish and could explain more fully that even though my students have had troubles, they were capable learners who needed a second chance and a different environment to learn in. I think I will be able to convey this message as I continue to work with Clever and virtually introduce our students to no another. In addition to discussing our guiding questions, our group had time to brainstorm and discuss next steps.
My Next Steps:
-EB
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What a week! We had a busy and fulfilling four days of teaching in Tarma. Shaun and I consider ourselves very lucky to have been paired with Clever as our host teacher because he is very well connected and we were able to teach in three unique settings during our week here.
-EB On Saturday, we flew from Lima to Tarma and were warmly greeted by our host teacher, Clever. He was kind enough to pick us up an hour away from the Jauja airport and take us back to Tarma. Shaun, my American teaching partner, and I were happy for less traffic, more sunshine, and mountain fresh air (Tarma has an elevation of about 10,000 feet). We had a great weekend exploring Tarma and had a great Monday meeting Clever's students and teaching English.
First Days in Tarma Highlights:
-EB We have arrived in Lima, Peru! Monday was spent traveling from the US to Peru. The TGC Fellows, our US IREX coordinator, Max, and our in-country coordinator, Karina, met at the Lima airport in the evening and took a bus ride to our hotel in Miraflores. The past three days have been spent catching up with TGC Fellows (we have a very fun group), learning about Peruvian history and culture, and taking bus adventures around Lima.
Days 1-3 Highlights:
-EB The last three days I attended the Global Education Symposium in Washington, D.C. as a Teachers for Global Classroom (TGC) fellow. It was an incredible experience and I am leaving D.C. feeling excited and optimistic about implementing global education into my high school science curriculum.
Symposium Highlights:
Thank you IREX for putting together this wonderful professional development opportunity! -EB |
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