Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 2

Hello, hello. Back to the grind for another blog post this week. For our assignment this week, we were to revisit the topic of conversation discussed previously about our international contacts we have been establishing. I must admit, this has been one of the most frustrating experiences I have had thus far with my classes. It has been extremely difficult to not only initially establish contact with another professional, but then to maintain consistent contact with them. I have been very persistent but receive little to no response in return. It is more than frustrating in that I truly want to do this assignment because I am very interested in learning more about other cultures! I have reached out via e-mail from the suggested contacts provided for class, I have reached out via e-mail to references recommended from friends and colleagues, and I have even reached out via Social Media on Facebook, messaging other educators from around the world to establish contact after discovering them via the Save the Children page. Despite my exhausting efforts, I have had little success. But from the little success plus my own additional research and persistence, I have gathered some information about Mexico and Chile.

As I had mentioned in the last post on this topic, I was able to establish contact with a Kindergarten teacher in Mexico, thanks to the ELL teacher in our district. We have had minimal conversations via e-mail since initial contact but I am happy to say I feel as though  what I have learned both confirmed my understanding of the culture from this class and my own prior experiences, and added to my knowledge and understanding. Since I have worked with so many students who are from Mexico or have relatives who are still there, I felt that this was an important culture to continue to learn about. Myrella mentioned that poverty is something that can be common in Mexico, as well. Similar to what we had witnessed in the week 1 video about the Gonzalez family, most often in this culture the men are working while others live at home. It is common to have a large household with many family members living together. School is still considered important and the children go and attend daily. But factors such as poverty are an issue in their country, as well. She explained the difficulty she faces in witnessing children come to school hungry and tired each day, as I have shared similar experiences. However, she did share some positive pieces of information with me, as well. She stated that her children are learning English daily and from what I have discussed with my colleague who helped establish our contact is that these children are becoming fluently bilingual! They are immersed in both Spanish and English languages and culture every day in the classroom and are rapidly developing both languages successfully! I was so happy and amazed to hear it. During a Skype session from the ELL teacher in my district to Myrella Gomez last school year, the Kindergarten students spoke clearly and accurately in English to communicate with our students, while our students also attempted to speak in Spanish to them, as well. It was a remarkable experience and I hope we are able to set up a Skype session with my 4th graders and her Kindergarteners in May for Cinco de Mayo.

In addition, my best friend, Casie, and her husband, Brooks, had provided me with another contact. Brooks' Aunt and Uncle work for a Teach Abroad program. They have worked in various countries in their experience, including Japan and now Chile. I was very excited to reach out to them and learn more. I had initiated contact right before the last posting in the blog. They are on a tight schedule so I understand it is difficult to follow up. I did receive one response from them and am awaiting more information soon. They are currently teaching in Chile for the Teach Abroad program. They provided me with a quick run down of information about the education system in Chile and issues the local residents and families face in the community where they teach. The education system in this country has three required pieces: preschool for children 6 and younger, primary school which consists of grades K-8, and secondary school which consists of grades 9-12. College is an option and because it is more rare in this country for children to attend university, as they call it, it is a greater accomplishment and much more valued and prestigious than it may be considered in the United States. In Chile, there are different kinds of schools and programs, some of which are funded by government, and a lot of private education taking place. Most children attend the public school programs which are referred to as Municipal programs. Jeff and Nancy work in a specific program called ENGLISH OPENS DOORS (Ingles Abre Puertas). This is a Ministry of Education sponsored program in Chile in which English speaking volunteers and educators are invited in to work and teach children from K-12 the English language and culture. Prior to speaking with Jeff and Nancy about their work, I had researched Chile a bit. I discovered that "Chile is one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America," (Teaching Chile, 2014, para. 4). I also discovered that one of the major issues and concerns in the country is that "Chile's birth rate has dropped substantially from 3.5% in 1962 to just 1.6% today. And with the country's "baby boom" generation turning grey, Chile could face a future crisis of social care and pension payments," (MercoPress, 2007, p.1). Keeping this information in mind, I had posed questions in follow up to their basic education information they initially sent. I am curious to see their response on how this impacts the children they are teaching and what other issues and trends they have noticed whilst teaching in the country of Chile.

Unfortunately, that is all I have for now. I am crossing my fingers that I get more of a response from both contacts very soon! I would love to follow up to this post with additional information about both country's and their education issues and trends children and families are facing. I am curious to learn more, eager to hear their responses. Until next time…


References:

MercoPress. (12 February 2007). Chile faces "aging population" challenge. Retrieved from: http://en.mercopress.com/2007/02/12/chile-faces-aging-population-challenge.

Teaching Chile. (2014). About Chile. Retrieved from: http://www.teachingchile.com/aboutchile.