Brazilian School Reflection

-       My Amazing Visit to a Brazilian School

   Over the past 2 days ( 21st and 22nd of September), I have been lucky enough to visit a small one stream school in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, called Escola Italia RS. I was placed alongside a very experienced teacher called Angela de Almeida, who has been teaching for 18 years. I was fortunate enough to teach English in a Year 4 classroom, share teaching strategies and soak myself in the Brazilian academic culture. Here are just some things I found fun and exciting. 

Me with my Year 4 class after teaching them some English

     Classroom sizes, food and times:

     Most classroom at this school only have 25 students at most. The students from kindergarten to Year 5 go to school from 1:30 pm - 5:30 pm while year 6 to year 12 go to school from 7:30 am - 12:30 pm. All students are served a delicious meal free of charge. I learnt that this meal is so important in schools (depends on the location) that it is a driving force for students to attend school. Also, students did not need to wear uniform. This is custom across most Brazilian schools. 

Classrooms are small, in rows and have white boards. 

     Children in the classroom and customs:

s   I wasn't amazed to see that it's not just in Australia that we as teachers need to remind students to be quiet. My mentor, Angela, had a solid grip on her students, however even she had to remind the students to settle down at times. I noticed that in both the Year 4 and Year 5 classes, students did not need to put up their hand to speak and it is quiet common to interrupt others mid sentence. While it's clear that all students respected their teachers and peers, these acts were simply part of the culture. It was also part of the culture for students to be friends with their teachers on social networks and to greet and say goodbye to teachers with the traditional two kisses on the cheek. This was the case regardless of age and is widely accepted within the culture. While it may be strange for people in Australia, it falls in line with the Brazilian and Latin culture. 

    Also, it is a law that students who do not pass their tests have to repeat the grade, no questions asked. 

These students were amazed at how I could speak English. Such nice kids. 

What the classrooms looked like:

     The classrooms were all very small. There was not much colour in the room or pictures hung up. There were whiteboards and no Smart Boards. In fact, there was just two rooms that had a projector. Computers were available, however there was only a set for the whole school and it needed to be borrowed based on a timetable. The chairs and desks were in rows also. The school did feature a beautiful Science lab, a small but very organised library, two indoor soccer courts and a play area for infants. 

Me with the students from Year 5. Very excited kids. 

    An amazing idea:

I    The teachers at this school place a massive emphasis on recycling and have a real community spirit to them. They also ask parents to bring in old clothes and goods for a few weeks and then have a mini celebration where they host a type of garage sale for the community and all the funds are poured back into the school. Everyone benefits. 

Getting ready for the garage sale to raise money. Such a great idea.

     Some things that are a bit sad:

     The Brazilian government has had its fair share of corruption and lately it finds itself in a state of crisis. So much so, that the state government is paying its teachers in installments based on an already rather small teacher's salary, compared to that of Australia. In other words,  a teacher in Brazil would receive less than $1200 a month, however lately they are only receiving half of that at best and promised the rest "later". It's causing a lot of strikes and hardship for hard working teachers. 

     Another thing which really opened my eyes was the fact that some students in Year 5 at this school told me that it wasn't uncommon to face muggings within their neighborhood. One girl explained that her and her friends had got mugged a few days beforehand and when I asked the rest of the class, "Is getting mugged normal around here?" they were very quick to say that it was and just "a part of life". Remember, that these are 10 years old students. 

The teacher, Ms Angela de Almeida. A very kind and dedicated teacher.

Conclusion: 

      In conclusion, I really enjoyed my time at Escola Italia RS. It really opened my eyes at just how dedicated teachers here in Brazil are, even amidst so much turmoil. I learnt how loving students are towards their teachers (almost like a parent to some extent) and just how much they strive for the same things we strive for at St Felix, which is to inspire, aspire and make a difference. It helped me realise how lucky we are for the resources we have and being able to walk/drive to school without any danger. I would like to say a massive thank you to my friends at Escola Italia RS and say they are always welcome to come visit the land of the kangaroos whenever they want. I would be happy to help them out. 

A garden made from recycled goods.

Another Amazing Yet Slightly Disadvantaged School

24th September

Today I visited a school in a lower social economic location. The name of the school was E.E, de Ensino Fundamental. It was a small school  with about 20 students per class. It was a rather poor school which did not have nearly as many resources as the previous school.

The front of the school

This is what the front of the school looks out to. It is quiet a poor area. 

The first thing I noticed was the environment around the school. The houses were tiny and very run down and the front of the school had a lot of rubbish. I learnt that many of the students’ parents had financial difficulty and some had serious social problems.

I was placed in a Year 5 classroom where I had the chance to again work with a very experienced teacher named Reigani (Hey-Sha-Knee). I had the chance to watch her teach without any technology whatsoever. It was very exciting. She was teaching verbs and did so by introducing students to a song (she has a cd player). She had the students sing and held up images (drawings) to help them visualize. She then got them to label all the verbs and finish off by drawing an image of what they saw. I can see that they place a lot of emphasis on having students visualize and target their creativity.

Students visualise while listening to a song with a focus on verbs.

This young girl drew a picture of what she visualised.

This young boy read to the class during library time.

I also had the unique opportunity to teach a whole lesson. I stuck to the theme of verbs and taught them how to write English verbs with a focus on past, present and future tense. I had students come up to the board to write and I can say quite confidently that the students really enjoyed the lesson. I simply loved it. I found it a bit hard to teach when no one puts their hand in the air to speak which is normal here.

Mr Lima teaching English to students in Brazil

As for lunch, the students ate rice, lentils and beetroot. It was very delicious.

Rice, lentils and beetroot. A delicious lunch for the students. 

I had the chance to see a Kindergarten class and the library. I found the Kindergarten class to be very different to that of St Felix. It was tiny, lacked any technology and did not have much on the wall. In fact, at this school, students sit in rows and there seems to be very little group work.

Drawing from Kindergarten.

A small kindergarten room in Brazil.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at this school. I found out that muggings were a normal and accepted part of the children’s lives and that for some, coming to school to get a good meal was very important. All in all, the teachers were very welcoming, the students were extremely well natured and I was able to get an excellent idea of how lucky we are at St Felix and just how large the divide is between the rich and the poor.

I really enjoyed meeting my little Year 5 class.

The students learnt where Australia is located.

I would like to thank everyone at E.E, de Ensino Fundamental for giving me the rare opportunity to teach and experience this lovely school in Brazil.

A Special Brazilian School - Rudolph Steiner Style

25^th September,

The 3^rd I visited was a Rudolph Steiner school by the name of Escola Waldorf Querencia and boy was it amazing. The school is part of the Rudolph Steiner worldwide network which is based on Christian teachings and puts emphasis on exploring student’s creativity, the study of the planet, geology and to dig deep into using concrete material. For example, at this particular school, instead of learning about farming, students spend one week at an actual farm where they milk cows, sleep at the farm, plant crops etc. When studying rocks, students go out into the field, collect rocks and study its make-up. There is a huge focus in ensuring students understand  how everything in nature is connected. There is also an enormous focus on art.

The classrooms are tiny and so incredibly cute and organized. There is no technology but this is by choice as the school has the funds to purchase technology. The Year 5 classroom where my cousin was has only 7 students and often times has 2 teachers to teach them. Other classes like Year 4 and Year 7 have about 15 students.

The students were incredibly mature and intelligent beyond their years. The students from year 4 for example asked questions at a Year 7 level and their ability to articulate what they were thinking was second to none.

The school is a private school which is quiet expensive. It is set in a very affluent area of the city of Porto Alegre. Unlike other schools I visited, this school expected students to raise their hand when asking questions and to wear uniform. Other Brazilain customs such as eating at school were still present.

In every classroom, the blackboard has a beautiful illustration which the teacher draws for the week. The teachers are trained to draw on the blackboard and it highlighted the theme being taught for that period. For example, in a year 3 class, the students were learning about housing, so there was an image of an igloo with an eskimo. The students were taught how mud houses were built, how bricks were formed, how the structure of buildings is developed, blueprints and more. The lessons are not rushed whatsoever and even thought the curriculum outcomes are met they are met in the Steiner method which is a slower pace regarding content but highly advanced when it comes to the level in which content is explored.

I also observed students making smoothies, working with compasses and set squares, buildings forts and playhouses (in Kindergarten) and eating healthy. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this wonderful Rudolph Steiner school and was able to learn so much.