“Sister, can we come in?”

This week I finally got some experience working with the kids. After hearing many times “tomorrow you will work with the kids” the day finally came! We got to work in a large room with tables and a thatched roof and I set up three palates of paint for 7 girls. They came to me with wide eyes and smiles on their faces.

First of all, let me admit, I have no idea how to teach these kids watercolor. I don’t even know how I learned watercolor. I never took a class, I always just did it. I also forgot that it takes some time to learn how to work with this medium, and that made me unsure as to what to teach these kids about it. Even if I knew how to teach them, I don’t speak their language. I was kind of stuck.

That being said, I showed them some of my paintings, demonstrated how to use the brush, gave them flowers to paint and they were off. The classroom was quiet and filled with concentration for about 5 minutes, until we were surrounded by a group of ten or so other girls from the school. If you’ve been reading, you’ll know that I can only work with the kids during their “work experience” period, and I am under the impression that this time is not heavily monitored. The girls were very distracting and I did not know what to do about them. I told them that they would get to paint at some point, but I didn’t know when. I felt bad watching them stand there and wish they could work with us, but I was reminded that whether I want to or not, I can’t teach everyone at once.

We all continued working, but I felt terrible that those students couldn’t come in and paint as well. Though, if they had, I think I would have had even more trouble maintaining order. It’s difficult enough to contain students in a classroom, and without knowing the language, it felt near impossible.

Some of the girls got very distracted by the students outside, others continued working diligently. I knew they were enjoying what they were doing because regardless of what was distracting them, they kept painting and laughing. There was a bit of fighting amongst the students about using the different sized paintbrushes, but nothing too difficult to remedy.

Upon completion of their work I told them I wanted to take their picture. They were so excited about this!”fr We had a whole series going, each girl with her painting. I wrote down all of their names so I would remember, but boy, these names are hard to remember. I am trying nonetheless. We may try and make my painting course an after school activity for the students, but we’ll see. For now, I’m just happy for one successful hour!

Misconceptions

Written Wednesday, June 23rd

How strange how quick the computer screen becomes foreign after a day or so here. Maybe since I can’t get online there doesn’t seem to be much reason to waste my time on here, regardless, I’ve never spent so much time away from the keyboard. It’s probably better that way.

This morning I learned how to sweep the floor of my room. It sounds silly, but they sweep differently here. The broom is smaller and the brush is a series of long bristles that come together in a round brush. It’s pretty efficient and eco-friendly. I also did some more laundry, I’ve written before about the deep calm that washing laundry can bring, it’s something to do for some time. It’s good.  I had breakfast and went down to the school with Olya. Olya is a woman from Russia who has four masters degrees and on her way to her PhD. She is brilliant and sweet and it’s nice to have another person around here. I sat in on part of an economics class taught in Kannada, and then sat in for a full college level english class. They were reading a story that the teacher told me was turned into a movie in the US. It was about some girl who had been lost in the jungle on her way to Christmas dinner with her father in America. She was in the Amazon jungle, and the writer described how she had encounters with all kinds of creatures and people where she was.

When the story mentioned Christmas, the teacher told the students that everyone in the Americas is Christian. He stated that everyone celebrates Christmas with a tree and a cake, and they’re all Christian. He said 90% of people are Christian in North and South America. I tried not to laugh out loud when I heard this. I wanted to tell him that this is impossible and that I go to a mainly Jewish University, but I felt like it wasn’t my place to correct. I wanted to tell him that Christmas, while having Christian roots, has become a very Americanized-holiday, that many people celebrate regardless of religious affiliation. I began to wonder how many things these kids are told that are incorrect. Even worse, how many incorrect facts have I been fed in my lifetime? I think this is something teachers need to make note of in their work- if you don’t know, don’t make something up! How can anyone say that any place is 90% one religion? It just seemed extreme.

Another instance that upset me was when they discussed the relationship between the black and white people in the Amazon. Why was this even a part of the piece? The story blatantly discussed how the black people and the white people did not get along. The teacher asked me if I knew about “white racism”

..

I sat there with red cheeks and nearly put my head down as I quietly responded, “Yes”. With that the class continued, as if no one cared about it. The students seemed completely desensitized to it, as if it was something they always knew about and still had no concerns with me. In that moment my whiteness brought me guilt, yet the students seemed to care little about this history of racism they were learning about. They were too busy admiring my white skin. This concerns me. This is how deep that white myth is- the depths of the culture that it has reached. I am revered, but I am spoken negatively about in the textbook. But nobody seems to care what the text says here.

Reality Bites.

So Janaki and I spoke about what I want to do here in the school. After spending a few afternoons in and out of classrooms, I’ve come to realize that there is a real communication lapse between the students and myself because I do not speak Kannada. I had thought I’d come here to speak English, but without the Kannada, I really can’t. I feel pretty useless sometimes.

Much of what I wanted to do here I realize I can’t. While I sit in on classes here I often know exactly what is being taught but no idea what is being said. I feel like I’m quite a distraction to the children, since upon entering the school they stop what they’re doing and jump to say “Hi!” It’s quite adorable and sweet, but I don’t know if this kind of attention is good for teaching.

The school has also just started again for the year, and the schedule is not fully set. That being said, the times when I can work with the students is unknown.

Furthermore, there is a system already in place that I have to find a way to work with. I need a translator and way to convince teachers that painting time fits into their curriculum and will benefit their students. How do I explain the educational value of painting to Indians? Even with a rich cultural appreciation of the arts- studying and books are the words for kids here. These are issues with going into classrooms in the states, but at least my passion can be tangible in my language. Here, I can’t rely on English to make sense of my plans.  I have a feeling the translation for “pretty pretty please let me finger paint with your students” will not go over very well.

I guess it may be possible for me to work with five kids during their study period, but how do I choose which ones? No matter what, the majority of students are left out. When the other college students come there is the opportunity for all of us to teah at once, so we can all take different groups of students, but for the next two weeks, it’s just me, trying to figure something out.

I asked about afterschool activities, but Janaki said it’s much like the states- there must be permission slips, and the problem is that many of the student’s parents are illiterate. Also, the teachers would have to approve because they are ultimately responsible. Students have to be able to get home and if it gets dark or there isn’t a group for them to walk with, they may not be safe.

There are so many hoops to jump through, it’s discouraging. I can’t say that it’s much easier in the states, but at least we speak the same language.

I’d like to paint the walls, to build a board to display the children’s work- but this is all time and money and coordination, and it sounds like I’ll have an hour a day where I can work with students, if that.

I never came here to save everyone, I knew I wouldn’t be able to change any systems, and that was not my intention, the system is working here- but it’s difficult to realize that I can barely even be a part of it.

I just hope I can have some interaction with the students soon. I think it will really bring some of my questions and interests here into a culmination of sorts.

Learning to Teach

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
— John Cotton Dana

Kids Teach Themselves

Okay, today we’re having a multimedia overload on my blog. I am just so moved by this Ted talk I need to share it.

This study of student’s learning in India by Mitra is fascinating. Mitra argues that not only does technology need to be brought to more rural areas, but that if this is done- students will teach themselves. By bringing one computer to a remote village where students do not even speak English, students were able to learn 200 english words and begin using them in their everyday conversation. Furthermore, there was no instruction needed for these kids to learn how to use the computer- and once they learned, they taught their friends.

(if you don’t have 20 mins, start 8 mins in)

I like how Mitra concludes that not only do we need to bring technology to these students, but educators need to look at technology and adapt it to their needs. Computers and technology were created not necessarily for classrooms, and now classrooms need to figure out exactly what it is that they can use technology for. How can technology not only assist our classrooms, but potentially be the classroom for students where classrooms aren’t available?

Truths

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
– Will Durant

Response

So theres a facebook group in response to the Texas education reform. I will suggest it to you to join or to challenge or to explore thoughts with. I am happy to see it exist for (hopefully) thoughtful discussion… but you know how facebook groups can be.

Click.

Real Learning

As I read outdated facts and figures about gender issues in education I feel a profound excitement to be learning from a more credible source this summer: real live people.

There’s something to be said about the space that is between our understanding and a study when it comes to education. It is difficult to put faces to words when I’m learning about educational concerns outside of a classroom. There are students behind these facts and the interaction with them is where the real learning happens. It is not until we are faced with understanding another person that we can learn how to teach. It is not until we put down the books that we can listen to the voices of those in need.

I hope that remember the importance of learning in a more direct way when one day I am writing policy and studying the necessary components of an education.

For now, I’ll go back to rambling off facts and figures about how boys and girls learn in this four to five page paper. In three months I will be looking into the eyes of students with many deeper problems, hopefully not looking at them with calculating eyes. You see, I am afraid that we spend so much time in our studies that we forget there are people who make these figures. Let us all never become just a statistic in an anthology. Let us not become nameless in a crowd.

Let us learn to study the meanings of things, not just the facts themselves.

Now it’s coming home: Boston laying off teachers and principals

And so it continues- the firing of teachers in inner city schools has now hit the Boston sphere. Front page of the Globe today reads that staff at six schools and five principals will lose their jobs.

Are schools, superintendents and politicians looking at themselves, the environment, the external factors that impact students’ educational careers?

See here: http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/03/05/dramatic_shake_up_planned_at_12_boston_public_schools/See

Central Falls, RI

It’s all the news: 88 teachers fired. Students are failing so the teachers need to go. Obama has praised the superintendent for this choice. Where is the accountability for administration? When does the upper-level leadership become responsible for their employees? I find it fascinating how accountability is completely lost here in America. Leadership is lost.

See: http://cchronicle.com/2010/02/rhode-island-teachers-take-the-blame/comment-page-1/