reflections: education

I didn't just come here to travel, or eat or play at the beach or climb rocks or stand on top of mountains, I came here to learn. And not just Spanish, but about culture, politics, history, nature and myself. 

These are a few snap shots of my notebook for my culture class, probably the manifestation of my growth can be found in this book. There are a lot of pictures, charts and rants, and hey, what better way to learn? 

This page is one of many pages about the politics of Chile. The lemon that I drew represents the tear gas that is always present at student protest/riots. People suck on lemons and use them to cover their nose so that they don't pass out when they are trying to run away. I was never directly in the thick of a student protest but something I learned from these conversations is the importance of not taking education for granted. 

As a current student, future student, currentish teacher, and future teacher, I've worked my way around many types of school systems and while I can directly understand the fight in Chile for free education, it will be hard returning to my private university without feeling like a total cop out. 

A little bit of a history lesson above. Learning about the aftermath of Pinochet after he fled the country. History is so important to understanding a culture and just when I am going to leave this country, I finally started not only understanding the history, but finding my voice and deciding my opinions. 

One the one side, I have grades from 4medio's presentations and then good ol' Che makes an appearance. Some Bob Dylan poetry... 

So what lesson did I learn from this page. I learned that I have strong personality that shines through to my view points. I think I learned that I need to be a bit more gracious when I offer my opinion. I never try to push my opinion onto others, but I bet it comes off that way sometimes. I am just passionate okay!! OKAY?!! But in all honesty, working alongside Meghan for our grading our kids has helped with my compromising skills, talking about politics always gets heated, but I have learned better ways to go about it, and the Bob Dylan, well, he is just awesome. 

El Ojo Silva was a selection from our literature in culture class. I learned a lot about people's work ethic during these assignments and even thought I didn't do this in the moment, in retrospect, I have learned that you shouldn't let other people's lazy behavior effect your attitude/participation/mojo/attitude (worth mentioning a second time!) Not only did the other people in my class never read the assignments, they rarely participated in the classroom discussions (and that counts as part of the grade for the presenter) Attitude is everything! It's not what you said, but how you said it. Right mom? :)

I learn better when there is art involved, regardless of the form. When my notes are full of designs or font changes, it doesn't show my lack of interest, quite the contrary. I like looking back into my artwork, because there I can really remember what I was thinking on the subject. 

And it is also fun finding quotes in your notebook like the one highlighted, "welcome to this episode of snarky comments in the corner."

But the biggest think I have learned over my educational journey is that I am in transit, en camino, en ruta, still on my path to somewhere else. Who know where I will end up. Maybe I will open up Carabeaner, my coffee shop rock wall, and not have anything to do with education in my title, but even if that happens or if I get my own classroom, educations exists far beyond the school system. 

What have you learned today?

rach

We don't need no education... what a lie for this generation

So Pinochet started a revolt in the education system in Chile when he decided to flood the streets with military force, some dead bodies and a whole lot of hatred. 

I know what you are thinking, ANOTHER post about education, let alone Chilean education. And now Pinochet? This girl posts about Pinochet almost as much as that Bourdain guy... But hey, this is my life right now and if Chile has taught me anything (which is the understatement of the century because Chile has taught me everything) it is that education is not just a stagnant building you attended as a child; education is alive and changing and thriving and being shut down and attacked and destroyed. THAT is why I am writing about education, again. 

So back to Pinochet, in the late 70s and early 80s education in Chile was dramatically reformed in the ways of laws, prices, scholarships and loans. Allende (previous ELECTED president) was trying to create an equality in the social classes and the education system. Pinochet with the help of the Chicago Boys, further divided the rich from the poor and the 17 year dictatorship is now responsible for the division in the school system and lack of publicly funded education. Pinochet's education system has never been dismantled. 

Here come the student riots, and who can blame them? The teachers in public schools are not great, students are forced to work in dark classrooms in buildings that don't have heat, using out of date books, that is to say if they attend school at all. In the Education Medias (high school) a popular form of protest is not to attend school because then the schools do not receive money because public schools are run on attendance basis. That means, no funding for electricity, building rent and most importantly, teacher's salary. 

So where is the government? How can they just sit by and let all these teachers not get paid, and the students not getting their education? (Education Media is required by law) Well, the government sees it like this:

 "what the student's are doing is anti-democratic" 

"free education is not fair, just or a viable solution"

"education is a privilege, not a right" 

All of these quotes were pulled from the documentary, Fault Lines: Chile Rising. The interviews given by the students in this video are such an inspiration to the shift in education and quite frankly, make the government look, well, unintelligent. 

Take for example, Camila Vallejo, the leader of the Chilean student movement. What Camila has done for this country is astonishing and just goes to show that in the case of education, don't ever let schooling interfere with your education. 

This post is just highlighting a few key points to the ongoing battle of education in Chile. 

Also, I must add that I am watching the debates from the States and well... education is also a hot topic. Hmm... maybe I will blog about that some time, but not now. 

All I know is, I cannot wait to be a teacher. Time for change.

education,
Rachael