June 26, 2019 in Moyobamba
I am falling in deep.
I just came from a lovely dinner with four fun English teachers from Collegio de Alto Regimiento, and we had a great discussion about what our school cultures were like. They were curious about my impressions of their country and their community. They wondered what I read about Peru before arriving and what my feeling was since being here.
My sense about Moyobamba is that there is a balance here that makes me acutely aware of what’s made life in the US out of whack. Our kids carry this backpack of stress and anxiety that is deeply impacting their ability to just be kids...and as educators, we have to look at what we’re doing that is contributing to this epidemic of anxiety that is strangling too many of our kids.
To begin with, teachers in Moyobamba are not to give homework. They are expected to complete assignments in class, and this is an International Baccalaureate program! There are tutors available for a couple of hours after classes, and students have adult support if they need it, and dedicated time to complete any class work, but once they leave school, their time is their own. Many kids board at this school, so they have meals together and then time to bond, read, relax, reflect. And those who go home in the evenings have time to spend with family. This is considered sacred, and schools try to not interfere with family life, as far as I can see.
In class I mentioned to my host teacher that students who didn’t complete the assignment in class could do this as homework and bring it with them tomorrow. His response to me was: “We are not permitted to give homework.” I was floored. I thought about how contentious the issue of homework is in Radnor schools, and it just seemed to make so much sense to me. Suddenly I have to rethink everything I do and have done regarding homework. The week we conduct PA State Standardized Assessments is really the only week where no homework is assigned...and that is in many ways a giant sense of relief to both students and teachers.
That simple statement made me stop and think: What am I doing to contribute to the stress in my students’ lives? And how am I part of the problem, not the solution, to the extreme levels of stress and anxiety that my students are experiencing? While my partner and I tend to give far less homework than most of our colleagues, there is still some expectation that students work outside of class time. I need to genuinely reconsider my role in this. It may mean giving up my lunch time; dragging kids up to the classroom to complete work that should have been completed in class, but I seriously need to think about my role in all of this.
The James Taylor song: The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time kept playing in my head while I was in Moyobamba. The sense of balance that the people of this small jungle town have accomplished serves as both an ideal and a goal that I will struggle to recreate in my life, both in and outside of school. That just may begin with something as simple as honoring the students’ time with family outside of school.
