My original Guiding Question before leaving for Peru was: What makes learning memorable? While I asked a couple of students directly, and had the unique opportunity to delve into this topic during one of the group seminars with Fulbright alumni from Peru, it really transformed as a result of my experience working with the students and teachers of the COAR school in Moyobamba. Students said that the opportunity to discuss and collaborate with their peers made learning more meaningful and memorable, and my host teacher put tremendous emphasis on this in his classrooms. The larger and more looming question for me became, which aspects of Peruvian culture will I try to integrate into my classroom?
When I shared this question with the group through our WhatsApp chat, Hyam responded: “I hope that I bring back that welcome feeling. That everyday I demonstrate a genuine excitement for each student coming through the door.” I agree. In the less touristy areas of Peru, it seems everyone acknowledges and greets everyone. And not just with a grunt or a nod, but a full, “Buenos dios,” or “Buenos tardes,” or “Buenas noches.” Sometimes you’d just get a “Buenos,” but there was still an acknowledgement of the other, and a genuine greeting. I see you. I wish you well. I’m working on that by insisting that my students make direct eye contact and respond to my greeting each morning when they enter my classroom.
That human acknowledgement is connected to the part of Peruvian culture that I hope to hold on to; the sense of balance that I felt in this country that I feel is terribly out of sync in the US. The pressure that students are under here to “be the best” doesn’t seem as prevalent in Peru. Contributing to the whole seems more important in Peru; collaborating and working together seemed more important than being the best. So, I guess in some ways, this is what makes learning memorable. In order for information to embed in one’s long term memory, there has to be a receptivity, or a sense of calmness that allows one to probe deeply and process new information and make meaningful connections.
Ultimately, I am left feeling that the relationships we establish set the tone for learning and encourage students to wonder beyond the surface. In Moyobamba, we used theater games to get students into a playful, exploratory frame of mind, then we built on this sense of collaboration with essential questions related to nationalism vs. globalism. We took Victory/Obstacle/Tactics/Expectation and played with contentless scenes, then looked at images of politicians and migrant families and applied the same thinking strategy. We presented our students with big idea statements and challenged them to Add/Subtract/Multiply/Divide ideas...these were impactful, critical discussions in English!!! While these were all interactive, collaborative ways of delving into difficult topics, what I observed was a willingness to engage on the part of all the students in the room. Perhaps there is the ability to engage more fully in the classroom because there is no expectation that the “hard work” take place in their private time outside of class. I hope to bring this sense of balance to my classroom. To be certain that I am not creating more stress and anxiety in my students’ lives with work that takes them away from their families and personal interests. Thank you, Fulbright & IREX for this life-altering experience. I’ll let you know how it goes!
