Our First School in Brazil

What an eventful day this has turned out to be.  Our group traveled about 45 minutes by bus to visit our first public school in Brazil.  The school was located in Colombo, just outside of Curitiba and was staffed by the friendliest and most enthusiastic professoras any one school could possibly wish for.  I was impressed by their passion for teaching and the genuine excitement they expressed at meeting us American teachers.  We received the warmest welcome one could imagine with cappuccinos, coffee, cakes, crackers, dips and jams.  We of course had a bit of a language barrier, but it was overcome as Anna Maria translated for us and we began to learn about what made this specific school so unique.

I found it fascinating to learn that the school had a groundskeeper that
stayed on the school property 24 hours a day 7 days a week and continually remained available for the students.  I think this shows an amazing dedication to not just education, but also to the welfare of the children themselves.  I truly got the impression that students were not merely a test score to these passionate teachers, as unfortunately can often become the case in the US.  Rather these students were genuinely known and cared about.  We also discussed the large class sizes.  At 40-45 students in each class I can imagine the added difficulty this may bring about for teachers, in addition to having varying morning, afternoon and evening teaching shifts. 

I believe the best and most fulfilling part of the day, and quite possibly this trip, was meeting and working with the students.  At first timid, the students gradually came out of their shells as curiosity overcame their shyness and they began to ask the questions they had prepared for us in English.  The three students in the group I joined were quite a joy to work with and their inquisitiveness was impressive.  They were patient with my mistakes and working together we found ways to communicate in a mixture of my limited Portuguese, their limited English, and lots of hand gestures and movements. 

Throughout the day we were continually informed of how important our presence was to both the school and the students.  I of course a first took this to merely be a nicety said to makes us foreigners feel more comfortable and as if we mattered.  However, as we were saying goodbye and the students came up individually to hug us goodbye I realized that our presence in fact was incredibly important.  Not that I believe we made a difference to the lives of those children in the 50 minutes we spent with them, but perhaps we have opened their eyes to the differences that exist between two cultures and perhaps more importantly to the similarities between us.  If nothing else I hope that our visiting their school will ignite an even greater curiosity for learning, particularly about other cultures.

As for me, the easily moved individual that I am, I was incredibly touched as we walked out of that classroom.  Once again my desire to be a teacher was reaffirmed, but on a whole different level.  I was once again shown that education is not merely a classroom and a textbook nor is it simply a teacher and her students.  Education is the desire to learn and the desire to be understood.  It is a curiosity which can never be quenched and a desire to discover new ways of thinking.  This type of education is never more apparent than when two very different people, cultures, and/or countries communicate with one another.  I left that middle school today feeling as if I had perhaps learned more than the students and was grateful to them for being my teachers.