Colegio Menor is actually very similar to a bilingual school
in the United States. In fact, the
schools are even divided into elementary school and upper school (as opposed to
the different system of básica and colegio that Ecuador uses). The classroom set-up is also basically the
same as in the United States. In my
classroom, there is a carpeted area to one side that is used for reading,
morning meeting, extra space for groups to work, etc. The desks are individual, but set up in
groups of three or four. The teacher
often gives class from the front of the room, where there is a white board and
a projector. The teacher’s desk is located
in the front right hand side of the classroom.
In the back of the classroom the students have their cubbies. The teaching styles, at least of the teachers
of English subjects, is similar to that of the United States. Although my cooperating teacher is
Ecuadorian, she went to an American school in Ecuador. I believe this influenced her teaching
style. She uses many similar classroom
bonding techniques, such as morning meetings.
She also uses similar ways of controlling the classroom. For example, she rings a xylophone to quiet
people down, plays a song for clean up time, and has a chart for discipline.
Nonetheless,
there are still some aspects of Ecuadorian culture that are present in the
school. My teacher has told me that some
of the other teachers sometimes are late to commitments or take their time
eating breakfast/lunch. In Ecuador, time
is very relative and not all people are worried about being punctual. In addition, similar to Ecuadorian culture,
the culture of the school is very friendly and open. Children call all of their teachers by their
first names. Teachers will joke around
with other teachers in front of the students.
At parents meetings, the teachers great the parents with hugs and kisses
on the cheek (typical greeting of Ecuador).
The teachers and students all great each other and say bye to each other
each time they enter and exit the room.
It has been
very interesting for me to get the opportunity to work at Colegio Menor. It sometimes is confusing for me because I am
not positive what cultural traditions or language I should be using. However, it is amazing to see how easily some
of the teachers and students switch between two different cultures and
languages. In my opinion, bilingual
education is a fantastic concept.
Erin, I am also student-teaching in a bilingual school and have noticed the interesting mixing of cultures this type of schooling provides. For example, in Spain it is also common to call teachers by their first name, but at my placement students use the titles Miss and Mr. and then the teacher's first name. My students call me Miss Amanda. I find it a nice mix of the Spanish friendliness and the authority of the position. The most striking mixture for me though, was on the first day, listening to all the English teachers talk. I spent my first day with the English coordinator thinking, gosh I know you're Spanish, but you sound vaguely Australian. Most of the teachers are Spanish born, but most studied English in another English-speaking country, so have Australian, or British, or Irish English accents but also a number of them have a vaguely Spanish accent as well. I just think that it's fun to listen to!
ReplyDelete