A lot of people have been asking me to compare the school I've visited in Boston with the ones I've seen in Cape Verde. Not only is it not the goal of this research to be comparing schools, but the comparison itself would never be possible.
Because the culture is not the same, because the social-economic status are almost in opposite sides of the spectrum and, first and foremost, because the development of each of those countries is as distanced from each other as it could be.
The school I've visited in Boston would never be possible in Cape Verde. It gave me, nonetheless, a lot of ideas that I can adapt to the reality here and use in poorer communities, like the one I live in nowadays.
But so did the schools I've been in here. I learned a lot of interesting ideas, I've seen strategies being used that I didn't know before and those could just as easily be adapted to an American reality, or a Portuguese or a Chinese one.
It does not matter how rich or how poor the school is, so long as the teachers and the people involved in the learning process are as passionate and as committed to their jobs.
Like I said in my last post, some of the best ideas I got at Chickering School were also some of the simplest. They didn't require iPads or computers. Of course those help and they play a huge part in motivating and engaging the students in their own learning process. But if they wouldn't have great teachers, passionate people, around them their education would be just as poor.
This does not mean that there aren't things I would like to change in the educational system here in Cape Verde. I would, because it is still very traditional, very castrating of the creativity and autonomy of the students. The children do as they are told. And this I want to change, because it doesn't make any sense to think and act like that in the 21st century. But I do understand that it's how they were always raised. It's their culture, strongly shaped by the Portuguese colonialists that occupied the country up until 40 years ago.
The education system needs to give students responsibility, it needs to give them freedom and teach them how to deal with it, because up until now students are not given that freedom. And I think this is a problem that exist worldwide, not just in Cape Verde.
Children HAVE to go to school, children HAVE to learn to read, children HAVE to know how to do math. They don't reflect on WHY they have to learn that. They are not questioned nor can they question the necessity of knowing those things. They are imposed upon them.
Why?!
I think dialogue is one of the strongest tools a teacher can use. Ask your students, make them think, show th em where to look but don't tell them what to see (famous quote from Alexandra K. Trenfor).
And this is something that I've seen happening a lot more at Chickering, than I did here. That is the only comparison I can make for now. I can only hope to look back in a few years and see that comparison being put to waste.
Because the culture is not the same, because the social-economic status are almost in opposite sides of the spectrum and, first and foremost, because the development of each of those countries is as distanced from each other as it could be.
The school I've visited in Boston would never be possible in Cape Verde. It gave me, nonetheless, a lot of ideas that I can adapt to the reality here and use in poorer communities, like the one I live in nowadays.
But so did the schools I've been in here. I learned a lot of interesting ideas, I've seen strategies being used that I didn't know before and those could just as easily be adapted to an American reality, or a Portuguese or a Chinese one.
It does not matter how rich or how poor the school is, so long as the teachers and the people involved in the learning process are as passionate and as committed to their jobs.
Like I said in my last post, some of the best ideas I got at Chickering School were also some of the simplest. They didn't require iPads or computers. Of course those help and they play a huge part in motivating and engaging the students in their own learning process. But if they wouldn't have great teachers, passionate people, around them their education would be just as poor.
This does not mean that there aren't things I would like to change in the educational system here in Cape Verde. I would, because it is still very traditional, very castrating of the creativity and autonomy of the students. The children do as they are told. And this I want to change, because it doesn't make any sense to think and act like that in the 21st century. But I do understand that it's how they were always raised. It's their culture, strongly shaped by the Portuguese colonialists that occupied the country up until 40 years ago.
The education system needs to give students responsibility, it needs to give them freedom and teach them how to deal with it, because up until now students are not given that freedom. And I think this is a problem that exist worldwide, not just in Cape Verde.
Children HAVE to go to school, children HAVE to learn to read, children HAVE to know how to do math. They don't reflect on WHY they have to learn that. They are not questioned nor can they question the necessity of knowing those things. They are imposed upon them.
Why?!
I think dialogue is one of the strongest tools a teacher can use. Ask your students, make them think, show th em where to look but don't tell them what to see (famous quote from Alexandra K. Trenfor).
And this is something that I've seen happening a lot more at Chickering, than I did here. That is the only comparison I can make for now. I can only hope to look back in a few years and see that comparison being put to waste.