Nicaragua: The wind talks back
I imagine that the current trend in the states has everything to do with "back-to-school" sales. Everybody is trying to fit in their end-of-summer activities and either looking forward to or dreading the (drumroll please) first day of school. Here in Nicaragua we are one month into the second semester of the school year. In my few month's experience with the Nicaraguan education system I have gained incredible insight and appreciation regarding a few school-related facts of life. Here are my thoughts:
- School custodians make a world of difference. Here students are responsible for cleaning classrooms. Whereas a school in the states has hired staff to take out the garbage and mop the floors, here the students are assigned days to complete their janitorial chores. Sometimes they do it after class, but often times they will get up in the middle of class to sweep and mop the floor, creating a distraction for everyone. And more often than not teachers spend quite a bit of class time lecturing the students about the importance of keeping a clean classroom and making sure everyone knows their daily cleaning duty. Students will also be excused from class to pick up garbage on the school property and complete other maintenance tasks.
- Access to textbooks saves a ridiculous amount of time. It also opens the door for particularly curious and self-motivated students. Students here spend at least half of every class period copying word-for-word what the teacher dictates out of his or her teacher guide. There are no overhead projectors, no Powerpoint presentations, and no Smartboards, leaving classes fairly monotonous.
- Students here have to pay for any photocopies that the teacher requires them to make. This includes for tests. If a student doesn't pay, he or she cannot take the test, and therefore will accept a failing grade. On occasion a teacher will charge four times what the photocopy is worth in a selfish effort to make a profit and will spend more time collecting money than proctoring the test.
- The mentality of the majority of teachers, principals, and superintendents here is that more teacher workshops are the answer to improving the education of the students. Therefore students will be dismissed from class at random so that teachers can attend their specific training sessions. This happens quite frequently.
Many of my observations deal with time, which is an obvious cultural difference. My preference is to be time-efficient and accomplish as much student learning in a given period. This is opposed to the "there is more time than life" approach taken by people here. Cancelled class and loss of class time in general will probably never gain acceptability in my mind, especially here where the potential seems to be higher than performance.
So what can I say in conclusion? No education system is perfect; improvements can be made in any situation. I send my best wishes to all my teacher friends and students preparing for another year of educational fun. Thank your custodians and support staff for their work, read an extra chapter of your textbook simply because you can, and recognize the opportunities for learning which abound.
- School custodians make a world of difference. Here students are responsible for cleaning classrooms. Whereas a school in the states has hired staff to take out the garbage and mop the floors, here the students are assigned days to complete their janitorial chores. Sometimes they do it after class, but often times they will get up in the middle of class to sweep and mop the floor, creating a distraction for everyone. And more often than not teachers spend quite a bit of class time lecturing the students about the importance of keeping a clean classroom and making sure everyone knows their daily cleaning duty. Students will also be excused from class to pick up garbage on the school property and complete other maintenance tasks.
- Access to textbooks saves a ridiculous amount of time. It also opens the door for particularly curious and self-motivated students. Students here spend at least half of every class period copying word-for-word what the teacher dictates out of his or her teacher guide. There are no overhead projectors, no Powerpoint presentations, and no Smartboards, leaving classes fairly monotonous.
- Students here have to pay for any photocopies that the teacher requires them to make. This includes for tests. If a student doesn't pay, he or she cannot take the test, and therefore will accept a failing grade. On occasion a teacher will charge four times what the photocopy is worth in a selfish effort to make a profit and will spend more time collecting money than proctoring the test.
- The mentality of the majority of teachers, principals, and superintendents here is that more teacher workshops are the answer to improving the education of the students. Therefore students will be dismissed from class at random so that teachers can attend their specific training sessions. This happens quite frequently.
Many of my observations deal with time, which is an obvious cultural difference. My preference is to be time-efficient and accomplish as much student learning in a given period. This is opposed to the "there is more time than life" approach taken by people here. Cancelled class and loss of class time in general will probably never gain acceptability in my mind, especially here where the potential seems to be higher than performance.
So what can I say in conclusion? No education system is perfect; improvements can be made in any situation. I send my best wishes to all my teacher friends and students preparing for another year of educational fun. Thank your custodians and support staff for their work, read an extra chapter of your textbook simply because you can, and recognize the opportunities for learning which abound.
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