What can we learn from Honduras's teachers and schools?

Natelee is a teacher from Honduras

Here is my second contribution to UNESCO's #TeacherTuesday. You can find all of my posts for #Teacher Tuesday here.

Natelee is a teacher on the Bay Islands, Honduras. She started teaching when she was 19. As I read Natelee's story, I was struck by a couple of key points:

• When Natelee discovered that one of her students was autistic she required professional development to properly meet that students needs.

• Natelee often invited community members into her classroom such as police, firefighters and dive masters.

• Natelee discovered that her travel experiences helped her to better understand why intercultural education is important in a multicultural context.

• As a student, Natalee was hyperactive and benefitted from teachers who didn't "bash" her -- but rather saw her potential and modified their teaching to meet her where she was at.

• In Honduras, there are 9 indigenous groups (Miskitu, Tawakha, Lenca, Tolupan, Maya-Chorti, Garifuna, Nahao, Pech, Negro de Habla Ingles) and 7 languages. Two groups have lost their language and became fragmented. One of those languages (lenca) is almost extinct, there is now a process to try and keep that language alive. Despite this, in the Bay Islands English is the main language of instruction and on mainland Honduras, Spanish is the main language of instruction. Natalee has found success by striving to use a learner-centered approach, which places the child at the centre of the learning process -- so her classroom has an approach that embraces a multicultural, multilingual and differentiated approach to reach all students.

I am struck by 1 BIG IDEA from Natelee's story:

1. Inclusion is for everyone. It's easy to say that we want to build a great school for all children, but it's not easy to agree how we will actually do it. Should all children get a great education? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean everyone should get the same education. We have to stop assuming we can meet all children's needs by pretending they all have the same needs. Having high standards does not require standardization. Alfie Kohn reminds us that "uniformity is not the same thing as excellence - or equity." What could be more inequitable than expecting everyone to learn the same things, to the same level of competence, in the same amount of time? Ultimately, standardization is about meeting the system's needs, even if it means ignoring the children's needs. 

The best schools understand that it is developmentally inappropriate to demand all children progress in the same ways at the same time, but that doesn't require children to be segregated, isolated and excluded from their peers. Top-down mandated, prefabricated, content-bloated, scripted curriculums are problematic because they are insensitive to the needs of children and community (the same is true of standardized tests). Curriculum is not something that should be designed and laminated by distant authorities and mailed to the school -- curriculum must be co-constructed by the teacher and the student with the support of their local school and community.

When we allow public schools to track and stream students by ability, low achieving students are often pushed into low-track classes and schools, separate and apart from more successful students which leads to classes and schools to be segregated by race and socio-economic status. We know that de-tracking often benefits children who need the most help. We also know that the gap between rich and poor is growing -- our schools and students' scores are a reflection of our societies socio-economics. It's important to remember that while racial integration is an important aim, so to is economic integration. 

After all, the best way for us to understand and value different people is for us to be surrounded by them.

For a wonderful read on inclusion, check out Mara Sapon-Shevin's book Widening the Circle: the power of inclusive classrooms.

What can we learn from Malawi's teachers and schools?

Esnart is a teacher from Malawai

Here is my first contribution to UNESCO's #TeacherTuesday. You can find all of my posts for #Teacher Tuesday here.

Esnart is a teacher in Malawai, Africa. She has taught for 21 years. As I read Esnart's story, I was struck by a couple of key points:

• Class sizes in Malawai are enormous. Some classrooms have more than 200 students and only 1 teacher. Esnart has taught a class of 230 children under a tree because there was no classroom. This is despite a Government target of 60 pupils per classroom.

• Some rural schools have less than 4 teachers in a school of about 1000 children.

• Teacher shortage is a major problem.

• Poverty is rampant.

Esnart's story is an important one. 

Here are 4 BIG IDEAS that I take away from Esnart and Malawai.

1. Class size matters. I wish we didn't need to debate class size. I wish it was a universal understanding that we should try and keep class sizes as low as we can -- but alas, some people have been lured by "research" that shows if you reduce education to chasing high testsandgrades then you can justify stuffing 30, 40 or 50 (or 230) kids in a classroom (or under a tree); however, if you care less about teachers raising scores and more about teachers raising children, then it makes little sense to suggest that class size doesn't matter. It's wrong for children in Malawai to have classes of 200 and it's wrong for children in Canada to have classes of 30 and 40. In Alberta, Canada, we have 11,000 more children in our public schools this year and yet the provincial government has cut 14.5 million from school board's budgets, so urban areas in Alberta like Edmonton and Calgary have schools that are busting at the seems. In Canada, the Alberta Teachers' Association works hard to keep class sizes low. Class size doesn't matter unless you are one of too many students or the only teacher, and when people say class size doesn't matter, they are talking about other people's children. Esnart's working conditions are her students' learning conditions.

2. The problem is poverty. Whether we are talking about Malawai or Canada, the number one problem plaguing public education is poverty. The inconvenient truth about standardized testing is that socio-economic status is responsible for an overwhelming proportion (50 to 70 percent) of the variance in test scores. The strongest predictor of student performance on achievement tests is socio-economic status, which is why it is a mistake to believe that the scores tell us about school quality when really they are reflecting affluence or poverty. If we are not careful, we risk misinterpreting the scores, and instead of waging war on poverty and inequity, we end up waging war on teachers like Esnart and their schools. Teachers like Esnart can do a lot of cool things but overcoming poverty is not one of them -- teachers require the support of an equitable society.

3. Quality Education is complex. There is likely no one way of defining a quality education system, and yet I think Unite for a Quality Education are on to something when they identify three main criteria: (a) quality teachers (b) quality tools (c) quality environments. It's like a three-legged chair -- all three legs require our limited time, effort and resources. Focus on anyone of the three too much and we risk neglecting the others -- which leads to a broken chair. In North America, some people want to focus with laser-like proficiency on teacher quality. Don't get me wrong, teacher quality is incredibly important, and I blog about how teachers can change and improve their craft. Inside the classroom, the teacher is the most important influence on student learning; however, even a teacher like Esnart's influence is dwarfed by factors outside of the classroom. A teaching profession full of Esnarts is necessary but not sufficient in creating a quality education system in Malawai. 

4. Strong, sustainable schools have home grown teachers. It might be tempting for well intentioned but inexperienced people from a first-world country to try and help Malawai by showing up and saying "we're here to help". Such an idea is not that different from programs such as Teach for Canada where well intentioned but inexperienced people show up in Aboriginal communities that have a hard time attracting and keeping teachers. While this may be tempting, it rarely leads to sustainable improvements. The best schools have a stable and well-educated teaching profession, not a revolving door of graduates who see teaching as a bullet on their resume before they move on to bigger and better things. Esnart might be an excellent teacher for all kinds of cool reasons, and one of those reasons is that she calls Malawai home.

#TeacherTuesday: 10 teachers. 10 countries.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is hosting a project called #TeacherTuesday where over the next 10 Tuesdays (starting today), UNESCO will feature 10 teachers from 10 different countries who will share their stories, motivations and challenges in their schools. The picture below shows the 10 teachers who will be featured.

Each week I will briefly reflect on a different teacher and provide a link to my post below:

Esnart from Malawai

Natelee from Honduras

Mohammed from Syria

Margaret from Kenya

Cees from Netherlands

tbc from Bangledesh

Russell from Australia

Shape from South Africa

Shafiqa from Afghanistan