Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Argentina. Show all posts
16 June 2010
13 June 2010
My thoughts on Schools
This is the story of education in Argentina. All public education is free for students, and there is no age limit for students in secondary or tertiary schools.
The first thing that jumps out at a US teacher when visiting schools is the turno system. There are not enough schools in Argentina so one building must operate for multiple sessions in order to educate all of the children. There are three turno sessions: morning, afternoon, and evening. The same school building may function as a primary, secondary, and tertiary school throughout the course of the day, or may hold three sessions of the same level.
Teachers are not assigned to a particular school but rather must gather periods throughout the county. Periods are chosen by rank order, those with the most credits having first choice. Credits are earned through years of experience and professional development or higher education. Teachers must have 36 class periods a week to be considered full-time. During my two week tenure I did not meet any teachers who exclusively worked in one school or at one time. Rather, they typically worked in 3-4 schools in at least 2 turnos.
There are three levels of public education in Argentina: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary level functions much like elementary education in America. The students have only a couple of teachers throughout the day, and receive basic instruction in math, geography, history, Spanish language, and sciences. Schools are local, with no provided transportation. Primary school is 6 or 7 years, depending on the secondary program in use.
Secondary schools are quite different than in the United States. Students are assigned to a classroom and stay there for the course of the turno. Teachers float in for a class. The turno is divided into six classes and classes are grouped together into three modules with breaks in between. A student rarely has 6 different subjects in a day because of the way teachers float. Often two periods, or even three, are the same subject. Classes do not meet daily and seem to vary from 1-2 times a week. Breaks are typically 10 minutes, during which the students are watched by monitors while teachers retreat to a tiny workroom that is no more than a table and a few chairs. During breaks students visit a snack bar or hang out in the hallways. Bells signal the end of breaks and classes.
There are two systems of organization at secondary school. The first is a simple years 1-5 system, the equivalent of our grades 8-12. This is the old system and is coming back into practice. The current system in most schools, however, is a general curriculum for years 1-2 called EGB, and then years 1-3 of polimodal, which focuses students on either a science or humanities track.
The number of students assigned per class is quite large, however only two months into the school year it had shrunk to numbers comparable or even smaller than typical US classes due to truancy. One class of 60 had only 18 attendees. Efforts are being made to stop such significant drop out rates.
The first sign of this was the Colegio Secundario, a night school session for older students who worked during the day. Most arrived tired, without supplies, or with a poor attitude. A sandwich was provided mid-way through the evening since many students came straight from work with no time to eat. Though students lacked effort, simply the fact that they were attending was a sign that the school was succeeding somewhat.
Another way to keep students in school seems to have more detrimental effects than advantages. Administrators in the district have taken a “do not scare them away” approach, a “keep the students happy and they will come” attitude. This transfers into the way teachers interact with students. Bells ring to signal the start of classes or the end of breaks but students make no move to leave the halls and go into classrooms. They wander in for up to 10 minutes after the bell. Teachers are not allowed to discipline late students or refuse them entry. The same holds true for students who are disruptive or disrespectful during the class period. This creates constant interruptions in classes. Students who chose not to do work are not penalized unless they perform poorly on exams. Teacher also cannot force students to work, as that might cause them to stop coming. When teachers have tried this, parents complained to administration that their children did not enjoy the class, and teachers were told to back down. When homework was assigned during my two weeks of observation, it was usually not done. This has created an atmosphere where there is extreme disrespect for the teacher with no consequence for bad behavior. Much of the classes are repetition of previous learned material.
Students who are doing poorly often stop coming and start fresh again the next year. Because there is no age limit for public education, it was not uncommon for people in their mid-20s to still be attending secondary school classes.
In addition to drop outs there is also the problem of new students. Because it is close to the Bolivian border and the farms that surround Ledesma provide work for a constant flow of migrant workers, it is not uncommon for there to be two or three new students a week in a class. Some stay for the year but most attend only a few months and then move on. Each time there are new students teachers must spend significant time catching them up, to the deterrent of the rest of the class.
Because school buildings are used by multiple turnos, there is absolutely no after school activity at school. Teachers do not give extra help to students, and there are no clubs or sports teams practicing after classes have ended. There is also little sense of school pride or loyalty. Schools are covered in grafitti, some of which incredibly inappropriate for a building that is used by primary students. Students write their names on everything- walls, boards, desks, bathrooms, - with permanent markers and white-out pens. There is gum under desks and in cracks in the wall. Classrooms are kept as clean as possible, swept between every turno, but it is obvious that there is little respect or ownership of the buildings.
Being used by multiple turnos also means that classrooms cannot be decorated. In other countries where students stay in one room but teachers rotate, the walls are covered with student work. In Argentina, the only student projects on display were posters in the halls celebrating the bicentennial that occurred in May. The classroom walls were blank except for the graffiti. It gave the buildings an institutional feel, emphasized by the bars on the windows and the flickering fluorescent lights.
Tertiary education is similar to the US university system, though it remains free for all students who wish to attend. It is strictly focused on skill development for a specific field- there is no general education. Students attend a school dedicated to a particular field: economic sciences, the profesorado for teacher training, medicine, law, etc. This level also suffers high drop out rates and there were students who were repeating the classes for the third time after failing twice before.
My work with Alicia took me to four schools: Calilegua, Fraile, Colegio Secondario in Libertador, and the Profesorado for English Teachers.
Calilegua is a small town north of Libertador. The school is a simple one story structure with classes on either side of one long hallway with a large covered gymnasium and outdoor basketball court. Alicia’s class here is a group who are repeating first year. They were completely unmotivated and spent most of the class making fun of each other at the back of the room. One day they all skipped school- we arrived and had no class. Another day the school was closed because the well ran dry and there was no water.
Fraile is a larger town south of Libertador. This school building was more impressive, with a grand foyer and two levels of classrooms. It is five years old and aside from the graffiti was in good condition. The school used the polimodal system. Alicia taught three classes there, all first year. One class stood out as being particularly motivated: students answered questions, attempted to speak in English, volunteered to write on the board, and worked without much prompting. Of the other two, the afternoon class seemed average and the evening class more interested in talking than working.
At the Colegio Secondario, Alicia taught two night classes. One was second year, the other first. Her first year class made almost no progress. She repeated the same lesson three classes in a row because students could not remember. The second year class was more interested but were clearly exhausted, meeting 10:30 – 11:20.
The profesorado was specifically to train English teachers. Classes are taught fully in English. Students attend for four years and then get licensed to teach. Alicia teaches two British history/society and literature classes. They are both teaching the content and how to break it down and teach it to students. The profesorado does not belong to any school and must rent space in a school building. Students come from throughout the district to attend training classes.
I think that's everything. Obviously there's some bias in my thoughts here, but I've tried to get down as much as possible, because I'm sure I'll forget a lot soon.
The first thing that jumps out at a US teacher when visiting schools is the turno system. There are not enough schools in Argentina so one building must operate for multiple sessions in order to educate all of the children. There are three turno sessions: morning, afternoon, and evening. The same school building may function as a primary, secondary, and tertiary school throughout the course of the day, or may hold three sessions of the same level.
Teachers are not assigned to a particular school but rather must gather periods throughout the county. Periods are chosen by rank order, those with the most credits having first choice. Credits are earned through years of experience and professional development or higher education. Teachers must have 36 class periods a week to be considered full-time. During my two week tenure I did not meet any teachers who exclusively worked in one school or at one time. Rather, they typically worked in 3-4 schools in at least 2 turnos.
There are three levels of public education in Argentina: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary level functions much like elementary education in America. The students have only a couple of teachers throughout the day, and receive basic instruction in math, geography, history, Spanish language, and sciences. Schools are local, with no provided transportation. Primary school is 6 or 7 years, depending on the secondary program in use.
Secondary schools are quite different than in the United States. Students are assigned to a classroom and stay there for the course of the turno. Teachers float in for a class. The turno is divided into six classes and classes are grouped together into three modules with breaks in between. A student rarely has 6 different subjects in a day because of the way teachers float. Often two periods, or even three, are the same subject. Classes do not meet daily and seem to vary from 1-2 times a week. Breaks are typically 10 minutes, during which the students are watched by monitors while teachers retreat to a tiny workroom that is no more than a table and a few chairs. During breaks students visit a snack bar or hang out in the hallways. Bells signal the end of breaks and classes.
There are two systems of organization at secondary school. The first is a simple years 1-5 system, the equivalent of our grades 8-12. This is the old system and is coming back into practice. The current system in most schools, however, is a general curriculum for years 1-2 called EGB, and then years 1-3 of polimodal, which focuses students on either a science or humanities track.
The number of students assigned per class is quite large, however only two months into the school year it had shrunk to numbers comparable or even smaller than typical US classes due to truancy. One class of 60 had only 18 attendees. Efforts are being made to stop such significant drop out rates.
The first sign of this was the Colegio Secundario, a night school session for older students who worked during the day. Most arrived tired, without supplies, or with a poor attitude. A sandwich was provided mid-way through the evening since many students came straight from work with no time to eat. Though students lacked effort, simply the fact that they were attending was a sign that the school was succeeding somewhat.
Another way to keep students in school seems to have more detrimental effects than advantages. Administrators in the district have taken a “do not scare them away” approach, a “keep the students happy and they will come” attitude. This transfers into the way teachers interact with students. Bells ring to signal the start of classes or the end of breaks but students make no move to leave the halls and go into classrooms. They wander in for up to 10 minutes after the bell. Teachers are not allowed to discipline late students or refuse them entry. The same holds true for students who are disruptive or disrespectful during the class period. This creates constant interruptions in classes. Students who chose not to do work are not penalized unless they perform poorly on exams. Teacher also cannot force students to work, as that might cause them to stop coming. When teachers have tried this, parents complained to administration that their children did not enjoy the class, and teachers were told to back down. When homework was assigned during my two weeks of observation, it was usually not done. This has created an atmosphere where there is extreme disrespect for the teacher with no consequence for bad behavior. Much of the classes are repetition of previous learned material.
Students who are doing poorly often stop coming and start fresh again the next year. Because there is no age limit for public education, it was not uncommon for people in their mid-20s to still be attending secondary school classes.
In addition to drop outs there is also the problem of new students. Because it is close to the Bolivian border and the farms that surround Ledesma provide work for a constant flow of migrant workers, it is not uncommon for there to be two or three new students a week in a class. Some stay for the year but most attend only a few months and then move on. Each time there are new students teachers must spend significant time catching them up, to the deterrent of the rest of the class.
Because school buildings are used by multiple turnos, there is absolutely no after school activity at school. Teachers do not give extra help to students, and there are no clubs or sports teams practicing after classes have ended. There is also little sense of school pride or loyalty. Schools are covered in grafitti, some of which incredibly inappropriate for a building that is used by primary students. Students write their names on everything- walls, boards, desks, bathrooms, - with permanent markers and white-out pens. There is gum under desks and in cracks in the wall. Classrooms are kept as clean as possible, swept between every turno, but it is obvious that there is little respect or ownership of the buildings.
Being used by multiple turnos also means that classrooms cannot be decorated. In other countries where students stay in one room but teachers rotate, the walls are covered with student work. In Argentina, the only student projects on display were posters in the halls celebrating the bicentennial that occurred in May. The classroom walls were blank except for the graffiti. It gave the buildings an institutional feel, emphasized by the bars on the windows and the flickering fluorescent lights.
Tertiary education is similar to the US university system, though it remains free for all students who wish to attend. It is strictly focused on skill development for a specific field- there is no general education. Students attend a school dedicated to a particular field: economic sciences, the profesorado for teacher training, medicine, law, etc. This level also suffers high drop out rates and there were students who were repeating the classes for the third time after failing twice before.
My work with Alicia took me to four schools: Calilegua, Fraile, Colegio Secondario in Libertador, and the Profesorado for English Teachers.
Calilegua is a small town north of Libertador. The school is a simple one story structure with classes on either side of one long hallway with a large covered gymnasium and outdoor basketball court. Alicia’s class here is a group who are repeating first year. They were completely unmotivated and spent most of the class making fun of each other at the back of the room. One day they all skipped school- we arrived and had no class. Another day the school was closed because the well ran dry and there was no water.
Fraile is a larger town south of Libertador. This school building was more impressive, with a grand foyer and two levels of classrooms. It is five years old and aside from the graffiti was in good condition. The school used the polimodal system. Alicia taught three classes there, all first year. One class stood out as being particularly motivated: students answered questions, attempted to speak in English, volunteered to write on the board, and worked without much prompting. Of the other two, the afternoon class seemed average and the evening class more interested in talking than working.
At the Colegio Secondario, Alicia taught two night classes. One was second year, the other first. Her first year class made almost no progress. She repeated the same lesson three classes in a row because students could not remember. The second year class was more interested but were clearly exhausted, meeting 10:30 – 11:20.
The profesorado was specifically to train English teachers. Classes are taught fully in English. Students attend for four years and then get licensed to teach. Alicia teaches two British history/society and literature classes. They are both teaching the content and how to break it down and teach it to students. The profesorado does not belong to any school and must rent space in a school building. Students come from throughout the district to attend training classes.
I think that's everything. Obviously there's some bias in my thoughts here, but I've tried to get down as much as possible, because I'm sure I'll forget a lot soon.
Some Argentine Music
This was my absolutely favorite song heard in Argentina. Paula, my host's 14-year-old daughter, played it around the house and the beat was completely addicting. I dare you to stand still while listening. The lyrics are really beautiful, too. English translations are available online if you can't figure out the words.
Home at last, but still more to come
I'm home! I feel terrible that I wasn't able to update more while I was away, but I will continue to post information here about my teaching experiences in Argentina and pictures from the trip. It seemed that everything was conspiring against me to get at any website other than Facebook while in Argentina.
My last few days were amazing. One of the highlights was gathering with Alicia's family for a feast of empanadas and watching the first Argentina game of the world cup. When they defeated Nigeria, there was a huge commotion in the city and an impromptu parade started as everyone got on their motorbikes or piled into the back of trucks and started driving around the city waving flags and beeping the horn. It was awesome!
Back to work tomorrow with many stories. More here soon.
My last few days were amazing. One of the highlights was gathering with Alicia's family for a feast of empanadas and watching the first Argentina game of the world cup. When they defeated Nigeria, there was a huge commotion in the city and an impromptu parade started as everyone got on their motorbikes or piled into the back of trucks and started driving around the city waving flags and beeping the horn. It was awesome!
Back to work tomorrow with many stories. More here soon.
12 June 2010
Farewell to Ledesma
Students at the Profesorado made this presentation for me on the last night I was there. It has much better pictures of the city that I was able to take.
09 June 2010
Short message from Argentina
Hi guys. Internet has been hard to get here and the blog won't recognize my phone because of the country code. I'm having a wonderful time and have tons of stories to share when I return. There was a dance at a school that went from 10pm to 4am, and I went to a beautiful native village in the mountains. I have been very busy but am loving the experience of being immersed in a culture. My Spanish improves daily. Miss you all and see you soon. I can still read comments so please ask questions now and I will return with answers.
05 June 2010
Workshop Presentation
Alicia asked me to do my mandated IREX workshop on writing, something I love to teach. The workshop began with speeches and presentations from local principals and teachers. Then there was a demonstration of local dances, videos of which you can see on the Picasa site. Finally, there was my presentation.
The first presentation was on basic writing skills and teaching them. After lunch, my second presentation was on more advanced ideas like creating cumulative schoolwide writing programs and research-based writing assignments.
Overall I think it went very well!
Information for these presentations came from my district writing guides, located online for High School and Middle School levels
Photo release forms were obtained for all students pictured.
The first presentation was on basic writing skills and teaching them. After lunch, my second presentation was on more advanced ideas like creating cumulative schoolwide writing programs and research-based writing assignments.
Overall I think it went very well!
Information for these presentations came from my district writing guides, located online for High School and Middle School levels
Photo release forms were obtained for all students pictured.
03 June 2010
Day Four
Still fighting to get internet easily in the hotel, but Alicia is letting me use hers. I´m loving Argentina so far. The people are so nice and friendly here, and very helpful. Most of the classes ask a lot of questions. They want to know about Halloween and what we do for Christmas, about sports in the USA, and about what teenagers do. Here teens go to the disco at night, and the drinking and smoking ages are much lower. They only have about 20 minutes of homework, usually on the weekends. They say life in America sounds boring. Oh well. It´s better than the other idea from movies that it is all organized crime.
I went to the national park yesterday morning and it was beautiful. Afterwards I saw a private primary school and then went to another school that had to be cancelled because there was no water. Today I went to a high school in the morning for three classes and then to a lunch at Alicia´s house of traditional tamales, huaritos (corn and pumpkin in a leaf), and some kind of cookie with dulce de leche. This afternoon we took the bus to another school and I saw some presentations students had made in one English class and watched a lesson on using FOR or SINCE in another. Tonight there is one more class and then I am going to the teacher training program for some classes.
I am tired. The days are long here, but I am seeing and doing so much.
I went to the national park yesterday morning and it was beautiful. Afterwards I saw a private primary school and then went to another school that had to be cancelled because there was no water. Today I went to a high school in the morning for three classes and then to a lunch at Alicia´s house of traditional tamales, huaritos (corn and pumpkin in a leaf), and some kind of cookie with dulce de leche. This afternoon we took the bus to another school and I saw some presentations students had made in one English class and watched a lesson on using FOR or SINCE in another. Tonight there is one more class and then I am going to the teacher training program for some classes.
I am tired. The days are long here, but I am seeing and doing so much.
02 June 2010
First Impressions of Schools
I have had some trouble getting to the internet, but hopefully it will be resolved soon. All is well here. Went to three schools yesterday and it was really different than in the US. Students attend one of three turns a day, morning, afternoon, or evening. Evening classes go past 10 PM. There is little in terms of books and the classes can be very large, but most I saw were the size of American school classes. The students are only just starting to learn English but enjoy hearing about life in the USA. One girl really wanted to know about St. Patrick´s Day. The teachers go to different schools, some that are very far away, and they teach only one class and then go back to a school in the complete opposite direction.
28 May 2010
Last Minute Preparations
I can't believe I'm leaving the country in two days! I feel so unprepared even though I know I'm packed and ready to go. It's going to be so strange flying to someplace COLDER than Boston- I don't know that I've ever done that before, except maybe flying to Colorado and going up the mountains when I was 12. Still, colder is relative- weather.com reports that it's going to be in the high 50s/60s during the day and in the 40s at night- that's not that far off from our temperatures! It certainly won't be winter clothing weather, for which I'm thankful.
Packing is rough. I know I'm going to be over the Argentinian Airline limit, but I'll just have to pay the extra fee at the point. I learned this last year, but having to pack for work and play is rough, and bringing teaching supplies and gifts takes up a LOT of room in luggage. Generally I'm the light packer of the group, so I hate that for this trip I will be bogged down with stuff.
Technology is charging at the moment. My nook is filled with the new Sookie Stackhouse, the new Jodi Picoult, the 3 books from the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series, "The Botticelli Secret" which Anne recommended, as well as some other randoms. My SD chips are loaded with movies (Dirty Dancing, Hairspray, Twilight and New Moon) and tv episodes (a salute to the best Angel/Buffy moments this time) for entertainment on the plane, and my favorite songs are loaded into my nook, which doubles as an MP3 player (lots of Airborne Toxic Event and Gaslight Anthem for this trip, as well as a few poppier numbers).
So, my work here is done: Ottoson Yearbook has gone to print, lesson plans are left and reviewed with the sub, students threatened to behave (Yes, you, if you're reading this. Be good.) Packing is done, workshop is outlined and prepped, electronics are ready to go. Next time I write, I'll be on my way!
Packing is rough. I know I'm going to be over the Argentinian Airline limit, but I'll just have to pay the extra fee at the point. I learned this last year, but having to pack for work and play is rough, and bringing teaching supplies and gifts takes up a LOT of room in luggage. Generally I'm the light packer of the group, so I hate that for this trip I will be bogged down with stuff.
Technology is charging at the moment. My nook is filled with the new Sookie Stackhouse, the new Jodi Picoult, the 3 books from the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series, "The Botticelli Secret" which Anne recommended, as well as some other randoms. My SD chips are loaded with movies (Dirty Dancing, Hairspray, Twilight and New Moon) and tv episodes (a salute to the best Angel/Buffy moments this time) for entertainment on the plane, and my favorite songs are loaded into my nook, which doubles as an MP3 player (lots of Airborne Toxic Event and Gaslight Anthem for this trip, as well as a few poppier numbers).
So, my work here is done: Ottoson Yearbook has gone to print, lesson plans are left and reviewed with the sub, students threatened to behave (Yes, you, if you're reading this. Be good.) Packing is done, workshop is outlined and prepped, electronics are ready to go. Next time I write, I'll be on my way!
17 May 2010
02 May 2010
29 March 2010
A slight delay
With any great plan comes bumps in the road. Sometimes they are easy to navigate around, but other times you have to stop and recalculate your route. It's a hard lesson to learn, and one that doesn't necessarily get easier as you get older.
I was supposed to be in Argentina a week from today, but that's not going to happen. Because there have been a series of teachers' strikes in the province of Argentina that I was to visit, schools have not yet opened for the year. If there are no schools in session, a teachers' exchange cannot occur. Add to that the instability reported from the strikes and IREX has decided that I should not be going.
I can't debate the logic, but that doesn't help the disappointment!
The plan right now is to wait and see what the situation is at the beginning of June. Hopefully, I can travel then. If that is not possible, they will look into sending me someplace else. I just hope things settle quickly in JuJuy, and the trip can be rescheduled soon.
I was supposed to be in Argentina a week from today, but that's not going to happen. Because there have been a series of teachers' strikes in the province of Argentina that I was to visit, schools have not yet opened for the year. If there are no schools in session, a teachers' exchange cannot occur. Add to that the instability reported from the strikes and IREX has decided that I should not be going.
I can't debate the logic, but that doesn't help the disappointment!
The plan right now is to wait and see what the situation is at the beginning of June. Hopefully, I can travel then. If that is not possible, they will look into sending me someplace else. I just hope things settle quickly in JuJuy, and the trip can be rescheduled soon.
07 March 2010
Getting ready
As I sit swamped with my own student research papers, I'm delighted that one of the workshops I will be running in Argentina will be on teaching research writing. After a few panic attacks, we settled on something comfortable for me, and something that I feel I have worked down to a nuanced science. It's always a little bittersweet when this unit ends, so I will be happy to revisit it in April.
My other teaching assignments are in US History (early colonial period) and in Didactics, which I'm still a little bit fuzzy on. Time for some digging and talking to my colleagues about the best methods for that one.
Less than a month until I leave! It's approaching so quickly I hope I can get everything done on time.
My other teaching assignments are in US History (early colonial period) and in Didactics, which I'm still a little bit fuzzy on. Time for some digging and talking to my colleagues about the best methods for that one.
Less than a month until I leave! It's approaching so quickly I hope I can get everything done on time.
30 November 2009
Publicity
It's also in the Ottoson Newsletter and was in the local paper (article scanned here).
I hope that these articles start to get my students excited about the trip- right now they are more interested in who the sub will be for the time that I am gone!
30 August 2009
Acceptance!
The letter came soon though, and it was Argentina, my first choice! I just had to do a little celebrating... Malbec, my favorite wine, IS from Argentina, after all!
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