I’ve finally had two consecutive weeks of teaching and I’m pleased to announce that the experience is as rewarding as I thought it would be. Perhaps more when you consider all of the factors at work.
1. This is a program for apprentices that come from what is essentially low-income backgrounds and cannot afford other academies.
2. Many of them acknowledge this fact and
3. Are keen to do what’s necessary to set themselves up for a life worth living.
This same mentality has allowed me to teach not only the basics of English but to insert tidbits of holistic education. Dreams, ambitions, music, history and current events. I find myself doing more exchanges than instruction. I’ve learned names, established a sense of discipline, acknowledged learning styles and identified those who are differently-abled and in exchange they invite me to participate in their sports days. I initially thought I would measure their progress based on their command of grammatical structure, now I feel as though the best impact I can leave will be in their attitudes, mainly there is an undercurrent of self loathing. Maybe because they aren’t rich or maybe because they’re Santandereanos (the name for people who live in the region) but there’s a level of confidence in the young men that I don’t see-thus the women don’t feel much better about themselves either. I’m beginning to feel a legitimate connection to these students; all things considered I see a bit of myself in them, even if only because they’re working to gain stability from a system that’s completely fucked from all angles. Needless to say, were it not for them I really would see no purpose in being here.
Thoughts of a Leo 