I have been wanting to make some general comments about students and their aproach to studies here. Generalizations like this are often not accurate and of course vary from group to group. OK, I will go out on thin ice.
As compared to American students I have worked with students here are more innocent and friendly. Even if you get on their case, they respond in a few minutes as though nothing has happened. They are indeed a warm and friendly people.
Another side of this picture, much of which appears to be driven by the larger culture can drive a teacher crazy. Major exams are considered ¨group work¨. Copy and give the answer out loud so all can benefit. Cheating as defined in the US is somehow not cheating. It is a way of doing business.
Copying and filling in the blanks IS learning. Memorizing whatever without understanding it is absolutely no problem. If you ask a question that requires problem solving, you as the teacher have failed to make yourself clear.
Parents have a concept of ¨helping¨their children by DOING the homework. We have had cases of parents being very upset because their rather obvious work was not graded higher. We have had to adjust our grading system to give little weight to homework.
Loud is good. Speaking all at once is not a problem. What really gets us is that the local teacher appears to hear several responders at the same time with no trouble. WE are the handicapped people because we can deal with only one respondent at a time.
Reciting in the classroom is something to behold. After a student has said what they need to say, the switch is automatically turned off. They see no importance to paying attention to the next student. Ï did my part and I´m done¨is the attitude.
In a setting like this we struggle to answer the question of ¨what is a good educational environment¨?
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2 comments:
Good to read your blog again. Yep, that is the way I saw it when I taught conversational English at the military school in Mera. Hey, it might be fun to be a student again, especially in Ecuador! Love you guys and praying for you! E & P Yoder
You have always had passion to see first hand how other cultures live, work and conduct the affairs of life. You are certainly getting a view of the other side of the spectrum. Parental expectations drive the culture and the way it behaves. In rural Iowa and I suppose in families with wealth such as in Bahrain and perhaps in Japan and China expectations develope serious students. In poor areas of the world different expectations frustrate those of us who come from a learning environment. Don
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