Preparing to Launch on Our Adventure!

Hola,
I'm sitting at my desk state side, anticipating our trip to Costa Rica. All of our students are excited, but most realize that they will likely experience frustrations along the way. I’ve asked them to conduct a content study or action research project about a topic/problem that they are very interested in or passionate about. They’ve asked how they can discuss their topic with Ticos when their ideas are sophisticated, but their language is basic. That’s one of the things we want to find out. ELLs are faced with this issue—how do they negotiate the situation? My goal for the course is for the students to experience what it is like to be an “other” in a new culture with a new language so they can develop the empathy for their English language learners.

Dr. Rich Huber is joining us on this adventure. I am so thankful to have him join us. His international experiences will be invaluable. We are planning on having the students help us conduct some science/math/literacy workshops for teachers. Thanks to my UNCW students, colleagues and 3rd grade students in Mrs. O’Brien’s class at CFCI, we are taking a duffle bag of books and school supplies to the schools we are visiting.

I asked the students to read “The Development of Empathetic Dispositions through Global Experiences” by Suarez (2003). Suarez also took her preservice teachers on a study aboard, full-immersion program, much like ours. Her students’ reflections were similar to in-service teachers’ traveling to Guanajuato, Mexico with Diane Catlin, Poudre R1 Colorado Schools’ TESOL Director. Diane, one of my former students, has been taking classroom teachers to Guanajuato for the past 8 or 9 years. Each year I receive a video of their exit interviews. One comment in particular has stood out for me. A very experienced male, elementary teacher said that this experience was the best and the worst experience of his life. He went on to explain that the experience has changed him forever as a teacher of ALL children. He also said that learning on this trip was the hardest thing he has ever done, and he now understands what it feels like to be a struggling learner. Harriet, one of Suarez’s students said, “I learned a lesson in this. I will always know how hard it is for the ESL students because I’ve been there.” Throughout this blog, I’m hoping that students will share what strategies and techniques work for them and what frustrates them.

My goal is to study how these 4 pre-service teachers and one experienced teacher learn language and learn through a language, then introspect about how they are learning. In my blog, I will be trying to document that.

I personally do not speak Spanish. I will be learning alongside my students. I have attempted numerous self-taught programs to teach myself Spanish over the years and even audited part of a semester of SPN 101. I lived in Colorado for 15 years and in Miami for 1 year, surrounded by Spanish speakers. I know some vocabulary, but I’ve been in the silent phase for 20 years! When my Peruvian daughter-in-law and her mother carry on a conversation, I try to follow, but quickly shut down and quit listening. Our group will be taking 60 hours of Spanish, 4 hours a day, in groups of 2-4 at our assessed in accordance with the ACTFL guidelines. I’m certain we will be pushed to our limits, but the course is not about how proficient we are in Spanish when we return. I’m prepared to be in the entry level of instruction, but I’m wondering if I will feel like the children feel who are placed in the “Buzzard” reading group?

In order for our students to experience “otherness,” we will each have 2 home families, 5 days with a family in Heridia and 10 days with a family in Monteverde. These families are chosen because they have limited English to allow us to practice speaking Spanish outside the classroom. In addition to our school visits and Spanish classes, I have planned guest speakers on education, school visits, history and cultural lessons by locals, dancing and cooking lessons, 2 service learning projects, and numerous opportunities to talk with the local people. We will be experiencing first-hand the rainforest, the jungle and volcanoes, concepts that most people only read about. Our guides will all be bilingual, so our students will hear information in Spanish and English.

I am very interested to learn more about this country that gave up its army and invested in education. The per capita income in 2007 for this 50% urban and 50% rural population was $5, 200, yet the education level, life expectancy and infant mortality rates are par with most developed nations, due to their national health system and public education system. Poor families are paid to keep their children in school. Costa Rica has an official policy of neutrality. One guidebook describes the Ticos as peaceable people ready to compromise and with a strong desire to please. Recently, they were voted the “happiest” people in the world. Ecotourism is critical to the economy. They have just elected their first woman president. I think we have much to learn from this culture!

Pura vida,

Debbie