Starts with VALUE!

This week was a really good week for me.  I am not sure if it was a good week because we had half days Tuesday/Wednesday and no class on Friday or just because I felt productive and engaged this week?  I am enjoying our classes so far and I think one of the main reasons I enjoy them so much is because we are engaged in conversations that I had in undergrad, but more in depth.  I love learning about different cultures and groups of people because I learn so much from them!  I often feel like I identify with other cultures on a deeper level than I do with the "average white American" for many reasons.  The lens at which I see the world through is extremely different than the "average, white, female, American" because I have been given the opportunity to travel.  I have lived or visited a handful of countries like Ecuador, Thailand, Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico, England, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia.  I have been able to see others cultures and the reality of their lives.  As an educator, I have learned about their systems and the way in which they treat their people and their youth.  And then I was raise in America.  I was raised in a middle-class, predominantly white neighborhood, by a single-parent.  If I had to define the lens in which I see the world, I would say it is pretty messed up! haha.


With that said, being able to see other cultures and lifestyles first hand have played into my ability, teaching strategies, as well as passion for education.  When looking at the umbrella of Education, America is barely sheltered from getting wet.  We (as in Americans) value  and see education in a completely different sense than most other countries around the world.  In America, it almost seems like we think we "deserve" education rather than seeing it as a privaledge and a gift.  I define the word "deserve" as: to merit, be qualified for, to be worthy of, or have a claim to (reward, assistance, punishment, etc.) because of actions, qualities, or situation, and I think that is wrong.  One of the main reasons I believe US students perform relatively poorly on international tests of academic achievement, relative to other countries is because we value education much different.  Education in America is about what WE, individually, can get; it't about ME and my child; it's about teachers performance; and more than anything, we don't often take ownership over our own short comings and situations.  Now...  don't get mad at me and jump to conclusions but if we really look deep into ourselves and our situations, we do not value education for the great body and we don't work very hard to earn the results we desire.

For example, when I was working in Zambia, I had a boy who talked 4 miles to school because he could not afford to go to the government and he was offered a spot at our community school.  FOUR MILES... can you imagine?  We don't even make our kids walk four blocks, why?  Because we don't have to!  We know that if we complain or decide that we don't like that choice, there are ways around it.  For my Zambian student, he knew there were no other choices.  It was either walk to school because that was his way to succeed and better himself or don't, and identify your own future selling vegetables or staying in the village barely able to scrap by.  On the less extreme side of things...  I worked for Charles Mumba.  Charles and his wife Margret had seven kids and Malawo is the youngest.  Malawo is in 11th grade at a government school where she pays to attend, she wears a yellow and blue uniform everyday, she walks to school, she has to be all natural during the school year (meaning no relaxer, no make-up, no extensions, no shown piercings), and she attends extra lessons to supplement her schooling.  Her school is one of the better schools in Ndola but the education is still not up to her parents standards and so she attends extra lessons from 3:00-7:00pm Monday thru Friday.  This means that Malawo is doing some sort of school work/activity from 7:00am-7:00pm Monday thru Friday!  WHAT!?!?  Can you imagine?  I surely can't unless it is basketball or softball practice, which I enjoy!  Finally, I am often reminded of the Jewish culture when I think of excessive studying and hard-working.  Orthodox Jewish people send their children to Hebrew class most mornings before school.  In this Hebrew class, the students study the Tanakh from cover to cover.  They memorize, read, test, and study so that they can re-sight the Hebrew Bible by memory.  These parents and students realize that it takes countless hours of reading and studying to be able to perfect this.  I don't often think they want to study for hours on end, but they know what the end result is and they strive to be the best.

As an educator, I find this to be a HUGE problem!  I think education is ridiculously important and it is a shame to think that we, as Americans, don't understand or realize how important it is.  I also think that it is situational.  For me growing up, I didn't even really have to think about college because in my house, it was rather expected that you would go.  I didn't value my education and aspire to be the best or most knowledgable until recently and I think that needs to change.  Statistics are starting to show that Americans are not the smartest skittles in the bag and I think that begins with VALUE!  If I could change anything, I would strive to change the mentality that young people have about school and education.  I would... and hopefully will... get students involved and engaged in away that they enjoy what they are doing and are able to take ownership of their learning.  I desire to have well rounded students who are aware of the rest of the world and recognize their privilege even as Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Polish Americans, in America.  All these cultures and ethnicities represent and make up what is known and seen as America and it is time that we recognize it ourselves.  We, as educators, have a huge opportunity to help others recognize their ability and value!