Onwards and Upwards...

I am in love with my new job. I feel like I am helping people who need it and appreciate it. 

I am starting a marketing campaign to spread the word about our programme and how people here in Santiago can be a part of it. I will be distributing this letter to all my foreign friends, so I thought I would share it here too (and hopefully an update of my progress with time too....!)

Dear friends...

As most of you will already know I assumed the position of English coordinator in 3 schools at the start of June. I want to tell you a little more about the project and how you might be able to help.

The schools are part of a network of 8 subvencionado schools under the ownership of Canadilla. This means they receive money from the government and a small amount in the way of fees. The schools are situated in low socio-economic areas (Puente Alto, San Joaquin and San Miguel) and the typical student does not receive a lot of support from home. Many of the students come from difficult circumstances and this is reflected in their behaviour in the classroom and general attitude towards education. The schools that I work in are all technical schools, which have education from basic to high school level with many of the students specializing in a technical area (mechanics, electronics, secretarial, gastronomy, tourism) in their secondary years. While these schools also have the traditional humanity / science secondary education too, it is very rare for the students to continue on to university.

The project is to improve the level of English and motivation of the students to learn English throughout not only the school but also the wider community. For this we need help. We are under-resourced and short on time. There are up to 45 students in a class, with tired teachers who have been fighting the same system and teaching the same thing for 30 years. It isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible either. These kids are really interested in foreigners and every time I enter a class they are asking where I’m from and why I am there. I teach a workshop of 16 year olds. The first class they mostly just looked at me slightly amused at my antics and continued with their conversations in Spanish. Now they arrive early, attempt to speak English in class and I have to kick them out of the classroom at the end. They sing, they dance, they speak English and they know that my classroom is a safe place.

If you have ever wondered what the reality of the Chilean school system is like, or why they are marching in the streets, I invite you to come and see my schools. You can come anytime and accompany one of the English teachers or myself. If this sounds like too much commitment I ask for only one day. In October we are running an English day in each of the three schools, and we want to get a big contingent of foreigners there. Spread the word. There will be a karaoke competition, music presentations, typical food, information about scholarships and study options, but most importantly foreigners. People who can provide insight into other cultures around the world, people who can inspire. These kids don’t think they are important, and we want to show them that every kid is important, and that the way out of their present reality is education.

A little positively goes a long way and costs us only our time. Please get in touch if you are interested in helping out, and feel free to pass this message on to others that might be willing to gift us some of their time.

Kind regards,

Karen Tait

English Coordinator

New beginnings and big challenges

I began looking for some new challenges around the end of last year. Finally I decided to take the plunge and I have changed job. I loved my position with Grant's English, and institute I would recommend to anyone looking for work in Santiago, but in terms of professional development there were not too many avenues left to me. So I have changed positions, and quite frankly I feel like I have changed worlds.

I am now working as an English Coordinator in 3 semi-private schools in some of the lowest socio-economic neighbourhoods in Santiago. There have very few resources, enormous classes (up to 45 kids) and very little support from home. All three are technical highschools which include education from kindergarten to year 12, but with the senior years having the option of focussing on a technical profession (gastonomy, automotor, electrical, secretary, early childhood education or tourism). 

I am in charge of organising the English programmes in these schools, including teacher observations, teaching and promoting workshops with students and parents, and organising English events such as 'English day' which will take place in October. The level of English is so low in these schools that in the annual national examination which takes place in year 11 in one of the schools none of the students passed. Admittedly the ministry set an exam which was out of the league of most of the schools involved (there goal is an A2 level upon completing school), but to not even have one student able to achieve an A2 was astounding to me. In saying that, I have one or two teachers who may not yet be of an A2 level.

The event that more or less summed up my week happened on Thursday. I was going to teach a workshop to an unknown number of 15-18 year olds with a completely unknown level (though I was warned they would probably be low). I walked into the classroom which was a mess and looked around for a board marker, no board marker or eraser. I asked the kids and they laughed at me. I asked the teachers and they laughed at me. I asked the academic directors and they more or less laughed at me. So I went to the director who didn't laugh, but told me he could probably have a marker for me by next week. Teachers are issued one refillable board marker for the year, that's it. One board marker, 45 students per class, 10 classes per teacher. So I guess they are issued one board marker and 450 students for the year. Welcome to the reality of education in Chile Karen.

The good news, is that barring the students going on strike for most of the year as happened last year, I can't really see the situation getting any worse. I don't think that there is much room to do any damage, the only way is up! Wish me luck.....

Riding the metro

So many stories encapsulated in one space. Each is a walking book, some romance, some drama, some history. They are of differing lengths, quality and interests; some are dry and crisp, others have pages full of cross-outs and soggy from tears. Each of us carry this book with us, sometimes it weighs us down, other times it provides support, but it is always there. What is the form to tap into these stories, each valid in its own right.


Maybe to think of them as books is an old-fashioned concept, antiquidated and gathering dust. What if they were each movies and each of us had a screen implanted in our backs, like on a 747. Would you be brave enough to set it to play? Would I? Would you be brave enough to let others see your life laid out in full colour? Would you be proud? How interesting it would be just to glimpse a little of the story of these people riding this steel tube with across the city with me. Similarities, differences, all relevant. Would we learn from others or are we blind to mistakes until we make them ourselves? Is it a mistake for another person in the same circumstance, or an opportunity? Who knows, but it's an interesting paradigm. All these untapped stories, words, floating around waiting to be captured.

Learning from our Teachers

They say that a great teacher doesn’t teach you, they lead you to discover things yourself. I believe in this completely and have had luck to have had many great teachers in my life, not just in the classroom. They have each taught me something different, and the greatest lesson is not usually the one apparent on the page in front of me.

My first two teachers of influence were my primary school teachers. Mrs Dobbs and Mr Harding taught me to love learning, and to always be inquisitive about things. They taught me to find answers for myself and never be happy with mediocre. They demanded the best, and by setting standards high you can achieve high.

My Highland dancing teacher, Mrs Hawke, taught me that kindness is inspiring. Students want to please their teacher, and even more so when that teacher is someone that they admire and love. Likewise my second piano teacher taught me that praise, patience, and kindness motivate a love and passion for of an activity, whereas my first piano teacher taught me that negativity does not.

But one of the biggest influences in my life was my first swimming coach, Roly Crichton. He taught me to fight. At times I truly hated him. He used to set me impossible goals. We would do relays, but I didn’t have anyone else on my team and had to swim the whole thing myself, and the other team got a head start. He used to pit me against boys twice my size and tell me to beat them. He used to set me long sets on impossible times, used to tell me that even though that was the fastest I had ever swum it wasn’t fast enough. He used to make me race every event in a carnival just to toughen me up. He used to yell at me, and I used to yell back. It wasn’t polite, it was passion and frustration, and those things drove me to be better. And it worked. As long as I believed it was an impossible task I wanted to conquer it. Mostly because I knew that he believed I could do it, therefore it wasn’t impossible. And this has been a theme in my life ever since. Tell me something is impossible and I will try and find a way of doing it. He used to say that they might be bigger, stronger, more experienced, have trained for more years and hours in better conditions, but you are tougher. And when it comes down to it, there are two people, in the same pool of water, and the tougher person will win. And I didn’t think this was impossible, I believed it because he believed it. This strategy didn’t work with all the swimmers, but it did with me. Thanks to him I swam in competitions around the world, met amazing people, won medals in Europe and Australia, and discovered a love of other cultures and people that is still driving my movements now.

Somehow, today I am a teacher. I need to learn this lesson again, but in a different form. I need to find ways of inspiring this level of motivation in my students. This time around the pool of water is a bit bigger – I have every type of student imaginable, and all of them will be inspired through different forms. Somehow I have to tap into all these different forms and utilize these internal motivations to produce achievement and success. And this means learning all the lessons I learned before from a different perspective. Teaching really is about learning, and although some may say this is an impossible task, that just inspires me to find a way to overcome it. 

Life clouds the judgement

I am a believer that if you keep your eyes and heart open life will show you the way. This approach has always worked in my decision making in the past, but maybe I have used up all my good luck and now it is just serving to confuse me.

As most of you know I am struggling with the decision of my future. It is no secret that I love living in Chile, but also no secret that I don't have the financial means to visit my family and friends in NZ and Aus as I would like to. Nothing new here. But everytime that I think I have finally made a concrete decision life comes along and changes my mind, and everything goes murky again.

Last Tuesday I was taken flying with my boss (Jo) by one of our students. It was an incredible cristilline day and we flew 2hrs south along the coast looking at all the towns and vacationers going about their relaxing days. We arrived at the holiday house of the student, landed the plane and were picked up by the caretaker. After inspecting the very nice house we went by jetboat to the restaurant and ate prawns for lunch, followed by a quick dip in the house jacuzzi while sipping on Baileys (me in my underwear because I forgot my bikini!). Around 6pm we got back in the plane and went back up the coast, flying low over any of the interesting towns on the way to get a good photo. I was dropped off at home in the BMW around 9pm. Yes, it was an incredible day and I was so lucky to go. The best part was that the student was genuinely excited to take us and treat us like queens. He was happy to have people that really appreciate these things and don't often (ever) have a chance to experience them. He is completely down to earth, as was demonstrated as we acted as a bus for every person walking to town when we were returning to the plane. I simply don't mix with these people in NZ or Australia. I don't know anyone who has a plane, let alone someone who would want to share what they have so freely. And this warm open attitude is something that I recognise at every level of society here, and something that will make me rethink (yet again) where I want to be in the world.

And here is a picture of me in the plane!

Resolutions

It's the time of year when we traditionally make resolutions. I have almost given up on this practise because I am horrible at keeping them. I do however like to set myself a challenge for the year. I don't have to set this challenge at the start of the year - sometimes it becomes clearer as the year goes on, but I need to complete something every year. In '08 I walked 100km for charity, in '09 I quit my job and moved to South America. I also walked the Inca trail. In '10 I learnt Spanish (an ongoing process which started the year before and continues, but 2010 was my year of breakthrough) and in '11 I read 50 books in a year. You might wonder what lies before me this year, and I can quite honestly say I don't know. The challenge hasn't yet become clear.

Every year I say I am going to write more on my blog, and every year I fail. Life gets in the way. However, it recently occured to me that this blog serves as an interesting chronicle of my time here in Chile. In the beginning the posts only thinly veil an underlying sense of panic. They improve around the time that I start to make Chilean friends and are filled with a sense of wonder and elation by the end of 2009. Life is good, and shiney, and exciting and stimulating. Coming into 2011 things become more negative. The earth starts shaking both voluntarily and from the stampede of Chilean students, and it seems that somehow everything becomes covered in dust. My last post of the year in 2011 sums up neatly what I now feel for Chile. I am comfortable here, and everything has lost its shine. I don't know if this is a sign to move on, or if my erratic chase of adventure leaves me missing the point of it all. When I am making a decision I try and weigh all the pros and cons. And when this fails I fall back on writing a list of three things I know to be true. So: I know that I have amazing friends and an easy life here; I know I love my job; I know that I haven't seen my family in two years because I don't make enough money to buy a plane ticket. And that is the thing that is going to provide my challenge for 2012.