Our link school in Goiania, Brazil is really going places. Having spent the last two summers with the staff there, helping, encouraging and, most importantly, listening to both teachers and students, we are seeing a transformation in the look and feel of the school. We’ll be able to show some photos on a later blog. The key development this week has been an email I received from Marcelo, our man on the ground. He needs a teacher training programme to begin with the staff that are part of the, what they call ‘Thematic classes’.
The plan is to develop some classrooms that have specialist subjects taught in them that require certain key bits of equipment etc, so, some maps and charts in Geography, some large paper and drawing materials in Art etc. So far, so good. That might not sound too radical to you but, believe me, that would be transformational! It gets even more interesting when you realise that Marcelo is not a teacher, his background is in logistics and social action projects, and what he is asking for, I went to college for a year with specialists in their field and learnt this stuff. So I’m being asked to email a scheme over to him that will help the teachers teach in a different way and the students learn more effectively. That’s why Aprender is here. My portuguese is conversational but wouldn’t hit this level so I need to email it all in English. Will it translate? Not just via Babelfish. The concepts I’m trying to get across, across the Atlantic, are fundamental to the project and the investment we have already made in the school. So just how do you train teachers in a faraway land when the trainer is not a teacher. Is it possible? I believe so. Let me ask you a question. Is it more important to wait until everything is in place? Or do you have a go and risk getting it wrong, to go for it with the tools you have and the people who are with you? Life is too short. Those young people in the school need better quality education and they need it yesterday. If those teachers pick up 10, 15, 20 percent of the whole package, is that better than zip? I think so. I hope so. So here we go, stepping out into fresh air, pinging ideas through hyperspace, and across the Atlantic, to people with big hearts, sacrificial mentalities and a ‘can-do’ attitude. Is it the best? Of course no. But is it what we can do and are willing to try? Yes! Yes! Yes! Watch this space.