Monday 19 June 2017

COLOMBIARGH SURVIVAL GUIDE 2: TEACHING!

Those of us here often joke that "It depends" is the unofficial motto of the programme and life here, as so many things are subject to change or unknown conditions that it's difficult to really rely on anything being 100% certain. HOWEVER! don't let that put you off - it all comes down to how well you can adapt/how open you are to adapting, which, if you're reading this because you're either headed here or thinking of applying, is probably quite likely.

Anyway. Every school is different, so it's difficult to make a comprehensive/solid guide to teaching here, so consider this article more 'things to keep in mind' rather than 'things to expect', if you see what I mean. As with part one, if I receive or think of any amendments, I'll add them!

These all apply to MEN (Ministry of Education - high school level) although there're probably a lot of similarities for those teaching SENA (college and adult level).

A snapshot from my school's spelling bee, April 2017. 

1. SCHOOL SCHEDULE CHANGES

A paro (teacher's strike) has recently ended, after being in effect for over a month. The only notice us Fellows received of this was a couple of days beforehand, with the information that "It might last a couple of days, it might last a couple of weeks." This is quite an extreme case, though - typical schedule changes involve the class timetable itself.

At my school (INEM Jose Celestino Mutis), the class schedule has changed roughly every two - three weeks; before the strike, it ran from 7am - 4:30pm without a lunch break for teachers (students got one hour, but the teachers had to sit with them as they had their lunch and still try and teach a class - I know: that's nuts). My mentor did tell me recently that they expect to go back to a 7am - 4pm schedule, which does include a lunch break for teachers.

Don't worry too much about being at school all day, though - this might happen once or even twice a week, but chances are you'll have a few periods free within that time. I'm really lucky because the Bamboo House is only a ten minute walk from INEM, so I can pop back home instead of hanging around for hours.

Quick note: my students held a brief strike a few weeks ago, which was bewildering to me, coming from the UK where that sort of thing wouldn't happen. Kids formed a human barrier to prevent other students from reaching their classes, which brought everything to a grinding halt for a couple of days. Apparently, this isn't uncommon (the kids at INEM were protesting the "terrible canteen food").

2. STAFF FACILITIES / COMMUNICATION

These are kind of linked - you'll almost certainly have a separate staff room and staff canteen at your school, so make sure to show your face and say hello to your fellow teachers. Colombians appreciate people who make an effort to be friendly! My mentor made a good point a while ago: culture shock works both ways. Try to bear in mind that the way you're used to doing things/acting around work colleagues may be completely different to Colombians.

An example of accepted behaviour: at the end of a lesson, as a matter of course I wait until my co-teacher says I can leave the class. Sometimes I have to hurry to another lesson, but if I do I make sure my co-teacher knows this is why I'm scooting off.

Unacceptable behaviour: hurrying out of a lesson the instant it ends, without warning your co-teacher why. This is seen, at my school anyway, as rude and abrupt, as it gives the impression that you don't want to be around any longer than necessary. Maybe you don't for some reason, but try not to make it obvious!

If you're coming here as a volunteer/co-teacher, I would suggest you try to remember you're coming into their classroom, and as such don't expect things to be done in a way you're used to, or even in a way that makes more sense to you. HOWEVER! most teachers here are really excited to gain a fresh perspective on teaching and welcome suggestions. And even those stuck in their ways (eg. I had a co-teacher who didn't want to co-plan) aren't necessarily 'awkward' (she was still open to ideas, and simply preferred to let me know at the start of a class what was in store).

I think I'd be remiss not to note that, unfortunately, there have been instances where Fellows/co-teachers haven't got on. Sometimes, this is down to the Fellow not having the right attitude (eg. constantly complaining); sometimes it's down to the co-teacher being reluctant to adapt to working with another person. Try not to worry about this, though - it's inevitable that sometimes personalities clash, and chances are if you do find yourself in a similar situation, your mentor/regional coordinator [if you're on this programme] can help resolve any issues.

Workspace: I was lucky enough to have my own desk and locker in the staff room (which I'm losing to a new teacher, unfortunately for me) which meant I always had space to store resources and work. I don't think many of my other Fellows were this lucky, so although there should always be space for you somewhere to work on activities, don't count on it being in the staff room.

3. RESOURCES

We're really lucky at INEM because we have a projector (known as a 'video beam' here) and computer rooms, with wifi recently installed in most classrooms. I believe we're the exception rather than the rule, though. If you have one, definitely bring a laptop with you - I worked with a Fellow who left theirs behind because they didn't think they'd need it, which as you can probably imagine made it very difficult to complete various tasks.

I come from an arts/education background, so was surprised/disappointed to find that schools here don't have 'supplies' in the way I'm used to, ie. a room full of stuff to use. Instead, there are 'stores' onsite where teachers/students have to buy whatever they need, whether it's poster paper, pens or photocopies. Quick note: A4 isn't the default paper size here! I keep getting things printed out on sheets much bigger, despite providing the documents in A4 size.

Don't worry too much about loading up on coloured paper, etc - it's cheap enough to get here. I would recommend bringing whiteboard markers, though - they're like gold dust here, with teachers being very possessive of theirs haha ALSO! bring 'gifts/souvenirs' from your home country! I didn't bring anything for my teachers, simply because I didn't know how many I'd have or what they'd like, but I did bring a bunch of keyrings/pencils from Australia (just chintzy things from the Reject Shop, if you're headed over from there, too). I use these as 'prizes' for my students for when they do particularly well in activities. They love it! Seriously, they couldn't believe I was just 'giving them' something, and were happy as Larry. Now, there's a bunch of kids wandering about Armenia with Australian dollar note keyrings dangling from their backpacks haha

Students engrossed in a 'gymkhana' - a kind of academic obstacle course

4. CLASS SIZES / BEHAVIOUR / LANGUAGE

It's common for classes to average 40 students, so as you can probably imagine this makes classroom management rather tricky. During orientation, we were told about kids doing drugs in class, or setting fire to bins, but I haven't encountered anything like that at INEM, thank goodness. In my 'observation' week, I was appalled to see a young female teacher (who I've ended up working with the most, with 9th graders) completely lose control of a class, all thanks to one particularly unpleasant male student. He was moved to another class, though, and *touch wood* I've had no outright disrespect from any of my students.

The general atmosphere in classes is 'organised chaos'. Students will wander about, talk loudly or shout at each other, maybe even have little scuffles or throw stationery about, BUT chances are they're still, incredibly, doing the work. Example: in one of my very first 9th grade classes, it became apparent that there was a group of five male students who were "troublemakers" - they seemed more content to chat among themselves or disrupt other groups YET they actually did a very high standard of work by the end of class. I've seen this sort of thing numerous times in the last few months, which meant I've had to alter my perceptions and management tactics accordingly. Female students (and some males) are also obsessed with preening and selfies, so don't be surprised if they get a make-up kit out mid-lesson!

Ages are all over the place here, too. I have an 11th grade class with younger students in it than a 9th grade one! Generally, I teach students aged between 14 and 17. If you're headed to SENA, you'll end up with older teenagers through to young adults, possibly even older people.

Students, like adults in Colombia, will think nothing about putting their arms around you or air-kissing your cheek (trying to, at least - I resolutely manage to avoid this sort of thing). Coming from my own background working with kids in schools and an art gallery, the local council stressed that we should never, ever engage in physical contact. This was tricky since I worked with little kids doing hands-on art activities and parties, and they think nothing about taking your hand or sitting right next to you to see what you're doing, so it becomes awkward trying to squirm away from them, when they can't figure out what's going on. In any case, Colombians have no such compunctions so it takes some getting used to! It's refreshingly innocent, to be perfectly honest.

The language barrier! Now, I'm here to teach English, so as part of the programme we're not supposed to use any Spanish in school at all. However, and I guess I technically shouldn't be advertising this, it's almost impossible to do a decent job and not use some Spanish. Quite frankly, especially with younger students, you won't stand a cat in hell's chance of getting instructions or a point across if you don't use their language.

Two very important caveats to this: only use Spanish as a last resort and don't advertise the fact you know Spanish if you can help it. If you come here with a decent level of fluency, I would suggest pretending you're not very good. The instant students realise you speak it well, they'll be tempted to default to Spanish - fine if you see them outside school, but obviously this becomes a problem inside the classroom. I'd like to make it clear my Spanish level isn't brilliant, but it's good enough to hold (halting) conversations with some students. Sometimes I have had to explain something in Spanish but I always make sure to either pro- or preceed these instructions with English ones. 

An important/interesting final thought on all of this: without a shadow of a doubt, it makes students feel more confident in using the English they know, when they hear me use what Spanish I know. True, the co-teacher is there and they're supposed to help clarify, but you don't want to get in the habit of delivering a lengthy spiel only for the kids to wait for the teacher to translate back to Spanish for them. Simply put, there isn't time in lessons to go through this rigmarole every lesson.

AMENDMENT: Just so I'm 1000000% clear: this is what works best for me and my students. If you can get through to your students purely by talking in English, without your co-teacher having to translate into Spanish, then that's fantastic. Going by my own experiences, and those of my friends here, I honestly think you might struggle (in Colombia; I'm obviously not talking about other non-English countries/speakers) but each school is different, like I clearly state at the start, so maybe you won't struggle, just like maybe you won't get a school with a totally nuts schedule. In any case, it's whatever works best for your students, since they're what this is all about.

5. PAPERWORK

This is more of a sidenote, as it pertains exclusively to the Heart For Change programme [that's the recent batch of Fellows in the photo!]. There is quite a bit of paperwork to do, in terms of getting things signed by people at your school, and you almost certainly won't receive the relevant documentation until the last minute. Basically, if you're not in school for some reason (paro, half-term, etc) your school needs to 'approve' your absence. Don't forget you're here to teach, so although unexpected days off can be quite nice, if you're needed at school when you didn't think you'd have to be, it shouldn't be viewed as a disruption to your life (common sense, perhaps, but I've seen it happen). You also need to complete monthly reports (online), but these are pretty easy/quick.

CONCLUSION! 

To be honest, the conclusion to this is basically the same as the conclusion to part one: be flexible. That's what it all comes down to. It can be very, very hard work but the rewards are 10000000000% worth it - I've already seen a marked improvement in my students in the last few months. You'll be a celebrity at your school so I heartily recommend you embrace the chance to share your culture. I love taking photos of nature and insects, so whenever I can I show pics from Australia to the kids and they're fascinated, whether it's of a sunny beach, venomous snake or weird-looking beetle. At the end of the day, you're here to improve their education (of English, other cultures), so as long as you keep that in mind you can't go far wrong!

Monday 12 June 2017

COLOMBIARGH SURVIVAL GUIDE

Maybe I'll add to this list as time goes on, or simply refine it. Who knows? Life is full of mysteries! I can, however, lift the veil from your eyes as to what living/working here is actually like and what sort of things to be aware of, if you're headed here or simply curious:

[nb. I've put everything under general headings but it's possible all this info might start to get a tad unwieldy as amendments and other things get added/changed, so I recommend using ctrl+f to search for any particular word/phrase for the time being.]

If you're headed to Colombia, get used to views like this. What a life!
1. BE FLEXIBLE

I absolutely cannot stress enough how important this mindset is (hence why it's top of the list). Colombians have their own way of doing things and if you're not prepared for things to change at a moment's notice (or with no notice at all), you're stuffed.

Example: more than a few weeks won't go by without my school schedule changing. In fact, something about the schedule has changed every single day I've been teaching here. Sometimes, a teacher won't turn up to class (without any notification); sometimes students won't turn up; sometimes the class changes room.

2. COLOMBIA TIME

Related to the first point is 'Colombia Time', something I was warned about before coming here. Basically, Colombians will get something done, but don't count on it being done ASAP or when they initially say so. They are almost never in any kind of rush, whether it's serving you in a cafe or organising a hike. If you're looking for a more relaxed pace of life, you will love it here. If you're used to things being done your way or when you want it doing, then you'll struggle.

3. COMMON SENSE SAFETY

Colombia really isn't anywhere near as dangerous as it used to be, and the key to your safety here is the same as pretty much anywhere in the world (don't walk around at night on your own with your phone out/earphones in, keep your bag in front of you or otherwise held so that it can't be tugged free, etc) - just be careful and don't make yourself a target. Ask which areas should be avoided or are best visited with others.

4. FOOD

I hope you like rice and beans! The variety of food here isn't anywhere near as mind-boggling as parts of the Western world, and don't be surprised to find entire fish crammed in freezers without any kind of packaging (or, as is the case here, cut and descaled out in the open beside busy streets teeming with traffic). Health and safety regulations either don't exist or simply aren't enforced, which means you'll find tons of vendors selling anything from fresh fruit juice to arepas everywhere you go. If you don't have delicate sensibilities/guts, you'll find almost all such stalls are cheap and delicious!

A quick note on menu del dia - loads of places sell this, which is a set menu comprised of a soup, main course (eg. fried chicken), accompaniment (eg. beans) and fruit juice, that can cost anything from 6,000 to 9,000 COP and is always a decent, cheap way of making sure you feel full!

Booze: this is ridiculously cheap here. If you like going out to the pub, you'll spend around 4000 COP for a bottle of local beer (Poker/Club Colombia), though you can often buy a six pack of these for around 10,000 COP! If you like wine, ARA supermarkets sell decent stuff for around 10,000 COP.

5. MOBILE/INTERNET COVERAGE

Three of the biggest providers in Colombia are Tigo, Claro and Moviestar. Depends entirely on where you go as to its reliability - we have Moviestar wifi in the Bamboo House and it's exceptional. Most people I know here (including myself) use Claro for our phones and, to be honest, there have been a lot of problems. A lot of people, using either their American phone and a Colombian sim, or even with a Colombian sim/phone combo, have ended up locked out of using them for reasons still unknown. When mine was activated, I had to wait for a phone call (to the hostel) telling me the phone was activated and, oh, here's your actual phone number. This was supposed to be done within a couple of hours of buying the phone/sim, but actually happened quite a few hours later.

Otherwise, adding to your credit is as simple as popping into pretty much any convenience store. The cost of getting a phone/sim combo for me was cheap, too - around 130,000 COP altogether (at the time of writing, the Colombian Peso is worth basically double the Australian Dollar eg. 2,000 COP = $1 AUD). Also: thousand = mil, so 2 mil is 2000 COP.


Parque de Vida in Armenia, a sort-of self-contained rainforest tourist attraction.

6. COST OF LIVING

Now, this one really does depend on where you live - Bogota in particular is very expensive. Armenia, though, is cheap as chips. 

The average cost of rent is 400,000 COP, and if you're lucky like myself and my fellow Bambooers you'll find a place with all bills included (we also have a twice-weekly housekeeper, which is quite the novelty I can tell you). However, be prepared for: cold water showers and no oven in the kitchen in most places. Cutlery and crockery may or may not be provided, but if it's not, chances are there'll be somewhere to get cheap stuff from (in Armenia, you can pick up cheap everything from centro in the south).

AMENDMENT: thanks to Isobel Rose for reminding me that some apartments come unfurnished. As she notes: "There tend to be junkyard type places with cheap furniture (I bought a bed frame and slats for 70 mil including delivery in Neiva)" 

[We're super lucky in the Bamboo House as we have everything we need, including a washer/dryer - launderettes in bigger cities tend to be quite pricey, but they're plentiful and reasonably-priced in Armenia if you ever need to use one]. There really are places for rent ("Se Arrienda") everywhere you go, so keep an eye out for "amoblado", as this means 'furnished'.

Travel within Colombia is cheap. For example, most buses to neighbouring towns cost just under 2000 COP each way, and you can make a trip to somewhere like Medellin (6 hours from Armenia) for 40,000 COP each way.

Groceries are cheap. A decent weekly shop really shouldn't set you back more than around 70,000 COP, though it's possible to spend much, much less if you're frugal and can't get enough of rice/beans/pasta.

Some stuff costs silly money. It surprised me that towels cost more than food, for instance. If you're after 'luxury/home comfort' items (eg. peanut butter, proper gin) these will cost a bit, too, because they're typically imported.

Travel by taxi/bus within a city is also cheap (buses in Armenia cost 1700 COP each trip, but that trip could cover the entire city if you want) but be careful of taxi drivers looking to overcharge. Generally speaking, you'll pay a minimum of 4000 COP for a taxi - if they have a meter, ask them to make sure it's turned on. It's also possible to sort out a cost before you set off for somewhere, if you're lucky. If a taxi driver hears you speaking English, and you ask the cost of getting somewhere, chances are it's too high and you can haggle (eg. when my friends and I were in Medellin, a taxi cost us 10,000 COP for what amounted to a five minute trip!).

Also, be aware that homeless people will often hang around taxi ranks to flag one down/open the door for you, and they'll expect money for doing so. You can try ignoring them (or give them money if you really want to, but I strongly advise against it as chances are they'll then single you out whenever they next see you - this has happened to people I know), but often you'll find it's easier to just wait a little further down the road for a taxi and grab it as it passes. I've seen this in a few places here but Bogota was the worst for it.

7. THE LANGUAGE BARRIER

I strongly recommend trying to learn Spanish before you come here, if you don't know it already. I took eight months of free lessons beforehand so felt confident in general activities, such as ordering in restaurants/going shopping (I suppose you could call this 'tourist level Spanish'), though I've learnt a lot more simply by being immersed in the culture. Lots of cities run some form of 'conversation club', too (these are typically called things like 'Gringo Tuesdays') where you can practice your Spanish with native speakers and help them with their English.

As long as you're patient with yourself, it shouldn't prove too frustrating trying to communicate here - most Colombians are very supportive and gracious if they hear you're making an effort. Also, I've found that most Colombians who do speak English really relish the chance to use it, so don't be surprised if you try ordering food at your local KFC in Spanish, only for the server to respond in English haha

8. THE CLIMATE

Although there aren't typical seasons in Colombia, due to the proximity to the equator, there are distinct differences in each region. Basically, the coast is extremely hot, mountain cities like Bogota can be as mild as an English Spring, and interior places like Armenia are pretty warm, though it's rarely unbearable (coming from Brisbane, the heat here is easy to take, though those from cooler countries/states may feel like they're melting). There are a LOT of thunderstorms here, too, which makes for some pretty cool light shows at night.

9. POLITICS

This is pretty simple: due to the extremely raw and recent history involving FARC and Pablo Escobar, I quickly realised Colombians don't like to actively talk about these things. Some will, but most don't like it to be brought up. So if you're curious, read about it rather than ask, unless it naturally comes up in conversation.

A sphinx month - a recent visitor to the Bamboo House. It's the size of a small car.

CONCLUSION!

Though the culture here is very different to the Western world, there are parallels (Colombians can be as laidback as Australians, for instance) and ways to find or do the things you're used to, whether it's dine in a fancy restaurant or go rock-climbing. Colombia is excellent for an active/outdoor lifestyle and is full of friendly, helpful people. As long as you come with an open mind and healthy attitude towards changing the way you expect to do things, you'll do absolutely fine here.

Any questions? Leave a comment and I'll amend this guide accordingly!