Cusco Reflection (Final Blog 1)
Being in Lima for about roughly three weeks, then entering the Cusco region was similar yet different. The students were just as friendly and were just as welcoming to their school. It seemed like the teachers in both Lima and Cusco, genuinely care for the students. They didn’t see the students as objects and but rather made sure that each student felt comfortable and valued in the classroom. In Cusco, similar to some schools in Lima, it seemed like there was more of a comfortable relationship between the student and teacher, and it wasn’t strictly “I’m your teacher. You’re the student”, but rather “We’re equal, and we’re going to learn from each other.” Like Andrade says, “effective teaching depends most heavily on one thing: deep and caring relationships”. It often seems like teachers forget that it’s important to get to know who their students truly are. It’s crucial that your students know that you deeply care about them.
Andrade explains the different types of hope. He briefly describes each type of hope and material hope is a type that stood out for me. He says, “an effective teacher is herself a material resource: an indispensable person who can connect schooling to the real, material conditions of urban life”. I like this because it makes me think about how a lot of the schools aren’t in the greatest condition but if the teacher can connect to the students and the content, that’s what really matters. I remember visiting Fe y Alegria school in Andahuaylillas and I can’t help but think about hokey hope. Hokey hope “adopts the role of the spectator who surveys the evidence in order to infer that things are going to get better”. I remember the presentation that was given to us by Amparo, and how she kept mentioning that although things were good, she knows there is so much more to be done. This type of hope suggests that all someone needs to do is “work hard, pay attention, and play by the rules, then go to college and live the American dream” however, it’s not that easy. This hope ignores the many inequalities that impact the lives of many children. For example, Amparo mentioned how a lot of the students feel trapped because after secondary, there is nowhere for them to continue their education. Not all students can just show up, do the work and live the dream. There is more to just “working hard”, sometimes working hard doesn’t get the job done. A lot of these students have obstacles that contribute to unfinished education.
Visiting the schools in Cusco, it’s evident that culture in the school is important. At the Fe y Alegria school, Amparo mentioned how they teach the professors about the culture of Quecha. This is because, as Amparo mentioned, graduates aren’t prepared to teach children of different culture. Most new teachers, think they know the culture of their students, but they don’t. Andrade mentions, “that teachers’ own social origins exercise a strong influence on how they react to the statues attributes of their students”. I noticed that a lot of the teachers have this connection with their students and I feel as if it’s because they can relate to their students whereas its different if your unfamiliar with a different culture than your own. When a teacher comes from a different culture and doesn’t acknowledge the other cultures inside her classroom, this creates a culture dominance. Then, the message of “Your culture is not important” is given to the students and then they don’t feel comfortable inside.
After being in Peru for a month, I have learned so much through the many school visits. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss being in Peru. I enjoyed the school visits and being able to see, for myself, the many obstacles that these schools have to face. I didn’t like seeing them go through the obstacles, but rather I enjoyed seeing the schools for myself rather than reading it from an article or hearing it from someone else. Many of the problems that I talked about are evident, not only in Peru, but the United States as well. I hope to be able to create a comfortable classroom for my future students. I know this will not be easy, by any means, but I’m willing to work through the difficulties to create a welcoming, safe, and comfortable classroom.
Smiles,
Liz
