I’ve talked and listened, noted and observed. I’ve met many different people here and it seems a word that crops up with unnerving frequency is ‘proyecto’ – (‘project’). It is impossible to live here and not have at least one project on the go. Especially as a foreigner here for obviously more than a week or so, it’s naturally presumed you have projects. It’s also quite inspiring in way. This country needs projects.
A couple of weeks ago I went to visit the school I used to work in. After an awkward realisation that no-one recognised me, I laughed nervously. I was then recognised, and later told it was my laugh they recognised, which is a nice thought at least! And so followed an interesting few hours spent with the headmaster of the school.
He started the school 14 years ago as an antidote to the bad education he saw in the schools he taught at. He wanted to get kids living in the sheltered confines of Tena city to experience nature. Rather than just on National Nature day he dreamt of a school where the children would be studying within nature every day. His project has not been an easy one.
Every thing he wanted to do differently, people said he couldn’t do. He introduced the idea of having a bathroom for each classroom, of peer mentoring and a more relaxed learning environment. He takes on students that no other schools will take. The general mix is good for the students as a whole, he says. I can’t say that I agreed with everything they did at the school when I was there or by any means it was perfect but his vision, in the backdrop of educational institutions here, is exemplary.
We go on a tour of the school. How the children have grown up! The classes here were always small – about 12 maximum but some of the classes appear very small. I have sympathy for headmaster who explains the current political situation and how it’s affected the school. He is essentially explaining to me a very familiar debate which is state versus private schools. Rafael Correa, the current president and best friend of Hugo Chavez, came into power just as I was leaving in 2006. Most of the changes I have noticed here are down to his government’s policies.
The president has changed wages. Teachers now get paid according to experience but perhaps $800 a month. Before it was likely to be around $250. A minimum wage, for example for a house helper, is now $250 a month. However this policy, which sounds excellent on the surface, has had some unwelcome side effects. Most people cannot afford to pay someone $250 to help in the house or with children so there are less jobs. Many jobs have gone underground and so are not regulated at all and so people get taken advantage of. Because there are less jobs there is more crime and Tena is a less safe place because of it. The president has introduced free education for all. But this means that the state needs more money and is depending more than ever on the petrol companies and exploitation of natural resources in the Amazon. The president does not live in the communities affected by this.
But for the headmaster these policies affect him on a daily basis. The state only pays the wages of state school teachers. Less parents can afford the fees at his school. He can’t pay competitive rates on the salaries and so it’s difficult to attract good teachers. The government is taxing the school so much that it is struggling to survive. He looks at me and he looks tired. He is 58 and a man of significant life experience. He has three degrees and still has plans to add to it with a PhD in Psychology. He plans to never retire. He has a passion for what he does. He cares for each of the children and they wander freely in and out of the open door of his office. He’s more likely to give the badly behaved ones sweets from his drawer. He knows there’s always a reason behind it.
So what’s my project he asks? “Well”, I answer, “it’s an idea in progress”. I’ve been trying to get a sense of what teachers feel about my idea. I’ve always agreed with an ethos that applies itself here as follows. External help should be given in the form of training, not as direct teaching. They have thousands of teachers here. If you can train teachers to teach better, they can then go and teach others and potentially have a far greater effect than an external person teaching only one group of children for the same amount of time. The effect is longer term. I would love to set up a centre of English language training, to train teachers to teach English in more didactic ways in schools.
The teachers I worked with on pronunciation and idiomatic language were really excited about learning more methodology and activities. I take for granted that I have had the benefit of being taught by some brilliant teachers and that without realising I have learnt from them. It was one of the English teachers I worked with that made me realise that I take it for granted that I am a native English speaker and that for a sum of money I can access what here is a prized qualification, mostly unattainable due to the high statutory entry requirements. The same group of people, whilst not perhaps being at the level ready to take the certificate, could benefit significantly from being trained with the methodology of TEFL. In this way they could make their classes didactic and language usage more real and appropriate for the students.
The centre would have training facilities, a library of resources and as a separate wing, connecting volunteers to community schools who need language assistants. It would also provide training for them. I am constantly asked here to teach and it appears that English is much needed for tourism and further study. It’s an idea. Bureaucracy often dictates these projects untenable.. perhaps it’s a pipe dream.
Before I leave the school we pass the old teachers staffroom. It is full from floor to ceiling with uniforms. This is incredible. The kids now have regulation socks, T-shirts and school bags. It’s fantastic to see. As I take the old familiar school bus home I sit opposite a kid of 7 years old listening to an Ipod. I take a photo of a child I used to teach. He doesn’t remember me. Ironic really. The kids wander round every day in the uniforms I designed. So the photo is a memento and a reminder that everything is possible if you put your mind to it, but things should not done with the expectation of recognition… you could be waiting along time!
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