By Katherine Ferry
As the end of March rushes at us, Rachel and I are stirred by the reality that only a few weeks of English classes remain (two weeks of April will be consumed by Easter vacation), and feel the anxiety surrounding the inevitable questions of: Have our students learned enough? Will they be prepared if their next step in life is leaving for the United States?
I have tried to have a constructive response to these questions. I have thought a lot about what we can expect from our work in Ziquítaro, and the absolute necessity of being realistic about the progress we can achieve. One of the essential bits of guidance I would like to impart to our future volunteer English teachers is that, in an educational and cultural system so drastically unlike our American version, with what we consider hopelessly irresponsible practices being the norm, we must do our best to adapt in order to reach our goals. We must remember: Our job here is to give English classes. While we wish we could reform the unfortunate quality of the schools (make sure classes take place every day, teachers remain in their classrooms at all times, and so forth), attempting a sweeping reform is not what we came here for and may be inappropriate. We do our best to remove the impediments which keep us from executing our classes well, and will be satisfied with the effects of our doing so.
Previous blog entries have already revealed that the work here can be exasperating. We can’t reach all the students. Repeated attempts to transform a student with behavior problems who refuses to study may fail. There will be some disinterested parents, careless teachers, and school days missed because the teachers have to go to a barbeque. But I know (I know!) that I reached some of them, and some of them will have the basic English skills they will need if they journey North.
Recently Rachel and I had a very encouraging conversation with an elementary school teacher who is delighted with her job. She glowed when she showed us some assignments of her top students as she repeated, “See? I taught them all this!”. She pointed out students she’d taught since they entered the Primaria, saying how proud she was that she was the teacher who taught them to read. I thought of this as I gave my students their second oral exam. I’ll demonstrate with the example of a particular student named Miguel. When I first arrived, he mixed with the most difficult of his classmates and his behavior was lamentable, his work below average. This semester he has transformed himself, staying after class to make sure his assignments are perfect, showing up for study sessions, and ignoring his loud friends during English class. He flew through his oral exam, comfortably answering questions and easily scoring the points necessary to earn an English Champ award. Miguel has put in the effort, and I am the one who taught him these basics. Now that is a result I can be proud of.
As the end of March rushes at us, Rachel and I are stirred by the reality that only a few weeks of English classes remain (two weeks of April will be consumed by Easter vacation), and feel the anxiety surrounding the inevitable questions of: Have our students learned enough? Will they be prepared if their next step in life is leaving for the United States?
I have tried to have a constructive response to these questions. I have thought a lot about what we can expect from our work in Ziquítaro, and the absolute necessity of being realistic about the progress we can achieve. One of the essential bits of guidance I would like to impart to our future volunteer English teachers is that, in an educational and cultural system so drastically unlike our American version, with what we consider hopelessly irresponsible practices being the norm, we must do our best to adapt in order to reach our goals. We must remember: Our job here is to give English classes. While we wish we could reform the unfortunate quality of the schools (make sure classes take place every day, teachers remain in their classrooms at all times, and so forth), attempting a sweeping reform is not what we came here for and may be inappropriate. We do our best to remove the impediments which keep us from executing our classes well, and will be satisfied with the effects of our doing so.
Previous blog entries have already revealed that the work here can be exasperating. We can’t reach all the students. Repeated attempts to transform a student with behavior problems who refuses to study may fail. There will be some disinterested parents, careless teachers, and school days missed because the teachers have to go to a barbeque. But I know (I know!) that I reached some of them, and some of them will have the basic English skills they will need if they journey North.
Recently Rachel and I had a very encouraging conversation with an elementary school teacher who is delighted with her job. She glowed when she showed us some assignments of her top students as she repeated, “See? I taught them all this!”. She pointed out students she’d taught since they entered the Primaria, saying how proud she was that she was the teacher who taught them to read. I thought of this as I gave my students their second oral exam. I’ll demonstrate with the example of a particular student named Miguel. When I first arrived, he mixed with the most difficult of his classmates and his behavior was lamentable, his work below average. This semester he has transformed himself, staying after class to make sure his assignments are perfect, showing up for study sessions, and ignoring his loud friends during English class. He flew through his oral exam, comfortably answering questions and easily scoring the points necessary to earn an English Champ award. Miguel has put in the effort, and I am the one who taught him these basics. Now that is a result I can be proud of.
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