Teacher School

So last night we went to the teachers school for the third time. I think this was a really good visit. At first I thought they were going to be just classes that we have to sit through which would be really draining because we do that all day in the little schools. But all these meetings at the teacher school have been very informative without just listening to a teacher lecture and someone translate. The class was split into three groups and we went into different classrooms and did different activities. I am not sure what exactly my other classmates did but I really liked the one I was in.

It was suppose to be a seminar on problems of social-anthropology in education. The teacher didn't lecture too much. It was more of a conversation between my classmates and those at the teacher school. It was really nice. They asked us questions, personal and professional. It was nice to tell them why we are here and what we think of their culture. It was also nice to talk about the differences in schools. The professor said that the differences is something they want to research more because teachers in Argentina are more affectionate with students and its not pushing the line (they don't have a boundary for this) unlike in America where being affectionate with students is looked down upon. I know it is different in elementary school but in high school you cannot be any sorts of affectionate to your current students. Sometimes you can get away with being affectionate to the same gender like girl students hugging female teachers but most affectionate is looked down upon. It all depends on the situation in America and there are laws that are in place which makes every situation a little blurry. We talked about how people in America have more of a personal bubble than those in Argentina and how we kind of wish we were more affectionate.

It was a really nice discussion where we just laid everything out of the table. There was so much I learned about the way they teacher and manage classrooms vesus what I have observed in America. Besides learning a lot about the school setting, it was nice to talk to people around our age about their culture. I mean I have had conversations with Nacho and his crew but seeing it from a teacher's perspective is very different. I just really liked the open atmosphere that we had about talking. As Bret, one of my classmates, put it, "there was some kind of spirit in the room that let it all out." For once it was open for both sides to be expressive and learn about the different cultures. I feel like everyone learned a lot from that discussion. I really appreciate the people who translated, Daniel and Paola, because without them this amazing conversation would have never happened.