Rural Teachers: A Great Challenge

Teaching is not only about giving a lecture since there are essential characteristics that make a difference, and the most important one is true professionalism in our daily work, no matter the specific locations we may be working in. Certainly, this is something well-known by rural teachers: People willing to accept the challenge to bring education to isolated areas as a way of breaking down the social gap that weakens the progress of our country.

The long distance between villages and schools makes the educational goals even more difficult to reach. The often inclement weather over these extreme regions are sadly ignored by those who have the opportunity to attend school normally.

Undisputably, teaching cannot be reduced to intellectual skills since we are constantly dealing with particular social realities that need to be managed as such. For example, a rural teacher needs to know how to use the acquired theoretical knowledge to provide an education of excellence and also to solve problems and concerns regarding his/her specific context. A rural teacher needs to be aware of the cultural diversity in which he's working on so students might feel part of the current educational project.

Santiago Is Not Chile

Rural teachers work for their community 24/7, and this is something we must learn about them as a true commitment is the beginning of progress in our class. Being a teacher is more than going to school every day and doing our work in the classroom as our role goes beyong the classroom itself: We must integrate each other in order to make trascendental changes in our students and so in our society. Also, it is of key importance to keep updating our knowledge and skills to provide an education of excellence. Thus, this social commitment has to do with developing our professionalism by participating in school, attending conferences, addressing critical issues and investigating about our own practice every single day as there is no progress if we cannot determine the factors that weakens our projects.

•Our goal: To provide equal educational conditions for our students by taking into account their culture and roots in this process. That means, to contextualize the curriculum.

The Educators We Need

•Our teachers must be able to use pedagogical knowledge based on their students’ needs

•As we are supposed to work inside a community, we must INTEGRATE each other (Teacher- Students – Families)

•We are not here only for teaching contents, but also for being part of a different culture and way of living

•Education needs to be based on our students’ prior knowledge. There’s no learning without cultural awareness

Teaching is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding jobs in our society. We learn from our background and the people that surround us every day. This is a experience that encourages us to make the most of our role and thus empower our communities, especially in rural areas where the cultural diversity is barely taken into account by big cities along the country.

...We must keep our roots alive!

Selknam People

Click here for more info

Unrepresented Nations and people organization (UNPO)

This is a website community that we want to share with you.

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is an international, nonviolent, and democratic membership organisation. Its members are indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories who have joined together to protect and promote their human and cultural rights, to preserve their environments, and to find nonviolent solutions to conflicts which affect them.

In this website you can find many articles about indigenious peoples. We find an article about a Mapuche school that we want to share with you.

Mapuche: School of Self Government

Based on sections of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Mapuche School of Self Government began its first day of classes.

Below is an article published by: Indian Country Today

Based on sections of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Mapuche School of Self Government began its first day of classes January 14 [2009] in Temuko, Chile.

Faculty at the new institution include an internationally famous Chilean jurist who helped prosecute former dictator Augusto Pinochet as well as noted attorneys and Mapuche legislators.

The school’s general aim is to create “an institutional space for the Mapuche communities to implement Articles 3 and 4 of the declaration relative to the rights of indigenous self-determination and self-government,” according to a press statement issued by the Mapuche Council of All the Lands, the organization that created the new school.

The mission of the school will be “to contribute, through education and training, to the formation of Mapuche leaders from different communities, organizations and different sectors of society. … On top of that the school will seek to create. … leadership based on the principles of free determination and self-government, and whose academic programs will bring about leadership that will contribute effectively to self government.”

The Mapuche council stated that, after the passage of the UN declaration, “we, the Mapuche, are entitled to the right of Free Determination, and as such, we have the responsibility to seek ways of implementing it in practical terms and to further broaden those aspects that concern Free Determination.”

At the first day [14 January 2009] gathering, the council’s leader, Aucán Huilcamán Paillama, said the need for the school arose, in large part, from the marginalization of the Mapuches by Chilean authorities.

“We understand that the Chilean state was formed two centuries ago, and in two centuries it operated the same way, without the Mapuches. We have made every effort towards having the state include us, and it has not done so, therefore today [14 January 2009] we set our own course, in a free manner, under the protection of international law. From today we invite all people dedicated to Mapuche self government to be part of this process.”

One of the people attending the opening ceremonies was the new faculty’s most famous professor, former Judge Juan Guzman Tapia. He gained international attention and respect for indicting and prosecuting Pinochet. He is also the dean of the University of Chile’s School of Law, one of the country’s most prestigious institutions. Other faculty members at the Mapuche School of Self Government include attorneys Rodrigo Calderon, Juan Sanhueza, indigenous leaders such as Lonko Aniceto Norin Catriman, former congressman Rosendo Huenuman and Huilcamán Paillama, who is an expert on international indigenous law.

Starting off with a blessing ceremony, the first academic session featured “A teaching module on government issues based on international law relative to the rights of Mapuche self-determination and self government” according to the press release.

[The Mapuche people have resided in what are now parts of Chile and Argentina for thousands of years, and are famous for their successful resistance against first the Spanish and then both the Chilean and Argentine governments until the late 19th century.]

If you want to vistit this website, it is the link,

http://www.unpo.org/

Diversity in the classroom

Our world is full of different types of people. It is very important for children to understand that all people are different. These differences should be understood and appreciated. There are two main aspects of diversity that children will most likely encounter in the classroom. One is learners with special needs. Included in this category are children with learning disabilities and physical disabilities. Children need to be able to understand the problems of others and help to make all students feel comfortable. Another part of diversity comes from the many cultures that are a part of the world. Children need to respect and admire different cultures. They also need to realize that minority groups have faced a large amount of unnecessary hostility. All of this will help children to learn more about themselves and the people around them. It will foster respect and appreciation for others.

http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webunits/diversity/

Dimensions of Diversity

http://www.ryder.com/aboutus_diversity.shtml

Muslim Girl Re-Registers At School After Receiving Chilean Government’s Support

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Written by Dominique Farrell

Wednesday, 10 November 2010 05:14

Yasmin Elsayed, a 9-year old girl who was prohibited from wearing a hijab (an Islamic head scarf) at the W. A. Mozart School in the La Reina borough of Santiago, was allowed to register again for the 2011 school year on Tuesday.

The school claimed the hijab was not part of the official school uniform. Yasmin’s parents complained that school officials had said their daughter would not be able to enroll for the following school year if she continued to wear the head scarf.

Muslims represent less than one percent of Chile’s population.

On Sunday, Education Minister Joaquín Lavín announced his support for the family at the Islamic Cultural Center of Santiago. The meeting was also attended by the ambassadors of Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Jordan. Lavín informed the family that authorities had contacted the school, and that Yasmin would be able to continue her education there.

“The Education Act protects the right of Yasmin to wear the head scarf along with her uniform,” Lavín said. “This is something that has to do with a deep religious conviction.”

Lavín added that there can be no religious discrimination, and that Chile must respect multiculturalism and diversity.

The school indicated that Yasmin could continue wearing her hijab without problems. For their part, members of Yasmin’s family said she would wear a hijab that was the same color as the school’s uniform to avoid future problems.

SOURCES: LA TERCERA, EFE
By Dominique Farrell ( editor@santiagotimes.cl )

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/news/education/20155-muslim-girl-re-registers-at-school-after-receiving-chilean-governments-support-

Critical thinking at school, an unresolved matter (Article)

Do you feel afraid of defending your opinion in front of people? Have you ever had the feeling that you were not able to think by yourself? Do you prefer to write resumes instead of essays? Do you think you are not able to evaluate arguments? Is it difficult for you to make judgements? Do you think that it your opinions and thoughts are not valued at school?

If your answer is “yes” to any of the previous questions, it is probably because you are not a critical thinker. A critical thinker can be defined as a person who has the ability to defend opinions, evaluate arguments, make judgements, organize ideas, analyze, evaluate facts and solve problems. Critical thinking is not something common in the chilean educational system. For example, in my ELAB, it is easier to find teachers who prefer to make their students follow the rules without thinking about the reason why they have to. They do not encourage them to reflect about the causes and consequences of the things they do daily. Students can not make mistakes inside the classroom. If they do, they are punished. Therefore, they consider it to be safer to follow the order rather than to innovate. Pupils are not allowed to defend their opinions or organize their own ideas. They have to think like the teacher does, and agree with her/him in every single thing. For instance, when I was observing a lesson once, I could notice that the teacher preferred that students kept silence during the class. She didn’t encourage them to participate and was the only one that could talk during the lesson. She only asked them short answer questions but did not take into account their opinions and mistakes as a way of learning. Certainly, critical thinking is something non-existent in schools. Teachers do not give the possibility to children to think critically because they fear they could break the established order inside the classroom and neglect their lessons. Also, students could be dangerous to those teachers that do not consider different ways of learning to teach their students and that put into question the chosen methods. They are not prepared to teach by including another point of view, which means that they are not prepared to make their students think critically because they’re not even ready for it.

Critical thinking is the topic which is in vogue in education these days in Chile, because we realize the weakness of an educational system that lacks this approach. It is something that must be changed in order to transform our society. Schools are forming non critical persons that are taught to reproduce the social system and perpetuate the established norms without any possibility to change our reality or to even create values. Nowadays, schools are preparing students to be ordinary people that do not think by themselves and this situation must change. The world needs a revolution of young people that change it with critical and innovative ideas. That is when a teacher’s important mission comes into play. They should let their student think critically. They could do it by giving reflexive lessons and also promote activities that make them think, analyze, make judgement, organize ideas, and in which they can express their opinion. Debates and critical essays are critical teaching methods, among others. So, teachers should make their students think critically because it is a very important aspect which is nowadays censured by schools, and it is something essential that must be integrated not only in a classroom, but also in our everyday life.

Universidad Alberto Hurtado

Fernanda Inostroza Müller

30 th september, 2009

Motivation in our students.

This is an essay that we did and we want to share it with you. The idea is that you understand that motivation is something very important in the classroom. we need to encourage students' motivation in order to achieve a meaningful learning.

Motivation in our students

Nowadays, many teachers know that motivation is something essential in students’ learning. They know and recognize the importance of this topic in education. In fact, we could say that a good education needs interest, participation and the motivation of the students and teachers. The motivation is something very important in people, above all, in students because they are learning, therefore, they need to be motivated. With this characteristic, they could improve their learning and equally their commitment, self-esteem and confidence. Nevertheless, the students sometimes don’t feel motivated. In this case there is a complex situation in students’ learning. As result, students aren’t interested in learning something or they don’t want to participate in class. In this situation, motivation isn’t working well. Put another way, the motivation is essential in the development of students’ learning. As future teachers, we should pay attention and improve this problem that could affect the learning of our future students.

First, in order to improve the students’ motivation in the language class, we should recognize that students have an environment, a social life, a family, history, etc. that could influence the motivation and commitment in a good or bad way. I agree with Littlejohn (2001) who said that “There are many factors which affect students’ commitment to study. Many things – perhaps most – are beyond our control as a language teacher, and fall outside the confines of the lessons that we have with them in a week”. In my opinion, teachers should be able to recognize that students could lose their motivation because they have external problems. In the meantime, maybe the school and teachers have a great responsibility too. For example, one of these factors that affect the students’ motivation, could be how teachers organize their classes. In this point, we can see how teachers’ work is important in the students’ motivation. Thus, the labour should be integrative, with different kinds of activities and with a positive impact in the students. The main thing is that they feel motivated in class and can trust in their abilities. The idea is that students can feel a natural interest in learning with the help of the teacher.

Another crucial factor that affects motivation is evaluation (mark). About evaluation, Littlejohn (2001) said that “In the classroom, for example, teachers may reward students with good marks, or in effect, punish other students with low marks”. My point of view about evaluation is that students’ motivation could improve when a student receives a good mark. On the other hand, it could be demotivating when a student receives a low mark. The evaluation could affect several aspects in students’ motivation because don’t feel motivated means that there isn’t participation, confidence and self-esteem. In other words, a good evaluation could help to increase motivation and its aspects but, a low evaluation could do the opposite thing.

Now, we should recognize that when there are problems with motivation also there are problems in other aspects. As result, students could lose their commitment, participation and confidence. To avoid this situation, is important that teachers try to increase the students’ self – esteem. In other words, students must believe that they can do something well. Littlejohn (2001) states that ” As human beings we generally like what we do well, and are therefore more likely to do it again, and put in more effort. If we put more effort, we generally get better, and so this sustains our motivation”. To emphasize the idea, is essential that students trust in themselves and believe in their abilities. Students should be motivated in what they can do in order to develop more commitment in their learning.

In conclusion, it seems to me that motivation is vital in students’ learning. As teachers, we must confront these complex situation because improve students’ motivation is in our hands. Teachers must believe in their students with an integrative labour in class. The main idea is that students can develop a sense of confidence and optimism and they can believe in themselves, so, the environment and relationship between teacher and student will be better. Through these aspects, students will increase their motivation and trust in class. For these reasons, motivation is essential in the students in order to improve their learning.

Work cited

Littlejohn, Andrew. “Motivation, where does it come from? Where does it go?”. English teaching professional. Nineteen. April, 2001: 5 – 8.

http://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2010/10/01/mapuches-presos-alcanzan-acuerdo-con-el-gobierno-y-deponen-huelga-de-hambre/

1 de Octubre de 2010

Termina prolongado ayuno de 82 días

Mapuches presos alcanzan acuerdo con el gobierno y deponen huelga de hambre

Del total de comuneros, sólo diez que permanecen recluidos en la cárcel de Angol mantienen aún la huelga. El subsecretario de la Presidencia, Claudio Alvarado, se mostró esperanzado en que dentro de las próximas horas se sumen al acuerdo que fue oficializado por el propio Alvarado y por el arzobispo de Concepción Ricardo Ezzati. [Actualizada]

Los comuneros mapuches en huelga de hambre, algunos desde el pasado 12 de julio, finalizaron la noche de este viernes la medida de fuerza tras llegar a un acuerdo con el gobierno, informó el arzobispo de Concepción, Ricardo Ezzati, quien participó en la mediación.
La noticia, que también la confirmó la vocera de los comuneros mapuches presos, Natividad Llanquileo, se generó luego de dos extensas reuniones, una en la ciudad de Concepción con el arzobispo Ezzati y otra en Temuco, con el ministro del Interior, Rodrigo Hinzpeter.
“Como es público conocimiento, el gobierno ha promovido reformas legales destinadas a modificar la denominada ‘Ley Antiterrorista’ y la norma de enjuiciamientos civiles por parte de tribunales militares”, señaló Ezzati a la prensa.
El religioso, que leyó un comunicado, añadió que “en consecuencia con estas reformas legales en curso, el Gobierno considera que ello en lo que en derecho corresponde, es no perseverar en la querella terrorista presentada en su oportunidad bajo la presidencia del gobierno de la presidenta Michelle Bachelet”.
“Ello por cuanto en este nuevo marco normativo promovido, el gobierno no tiene convicción que los hechos por los cuales se ha imputado a los denominados comuneros mapuches pueda seguir siendo calificado como conductas terroristas”, añadió la misiva.
“Procederá así el gobierno a desistirse de todas las querellas por delitos terroristas y replantear tales acciones bajo las normas del derecho penal común”, añadió Ezzati en medio de los festejos de los comuneros.
De todos modos, la autoridad informó que los comuneros en huelga de la localidad de Angol, excepto uno, entregarán este sábado la respuesta a la propuesta gubernamental.
Hasta el momento pusieron fin a la huelga ocho comuneros detenidos en Concepción, 13 de Temuco, uno de Angol y uno de Valdivia.
Los presos mapuche, que se consideraban presos políticos, exigían que no se les aplicara la ley antiterrorista, no ser sometidos a un doble juicio ante tribunales civiles y militares y que no se utilizaran testigos protegidos en sus procesos.
El gobierno había dado por fracasado el diálogo el pasado lunes debido a lo que consideró exigencias desmedidas de los huelguistas, que solicitaron conversar directamente con los tres poderes del Estado.
Sin embargo, la reunión que sostuvieron el jueves varias mujeres mapuches, familiares de los comuneros presos, con el ministro del Interior, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, en el Palacio de La Moneda (sede del Gobierno), facilitó el reinicio de las conversaciones.