The Intellectual Environment of the classroom

 Previously, I’ve talked about the physical environment of the typical Nicaraguan classroom and the behavior of students: dirty classrooms, worn equipment, open aired, and with constant interruptions coming from the students, other teachers, or stray dogs. But what I haven’t talked about is the intellectual environment of the classroom, that is to say, the behavior and mindset of both teachers and students alike. It’s something I’ve been aware of, but have only subconsciously analyzed until recently. With so much traveling to and from many different schools and so many physical distractions to begin with, it’s no wonder it has taken me this long to really contemplate the psychological state of the classroom.

Where to start…I guess the best way to start is with the general attitude towards grades. Unlike the states, where there is a high level of confidentiality between the teacher and student about sharing grades, no such discretion exists here. A teacher finishes grading a test, and simply just drops the packet of tests off in the classroom for the students to distribute themselves. I have a feeling some students and parents would throw a hissy-fit back home if they knew teachers were so cavalier with exams. But here, it’s not even a second thought. And as a result, students have no problem sharing their grades to their friends or the whole class. That was especially shocking to me, because back at home, even amongst my best friends, there was a high level of secrecy and competition. Although friendly with everyone, you secretly, or openly, wanted to crush your neighbor in any sort of academic activity. Home in the states, every student wants to be the best in the class, and that competition impulses an environment that promotes a higher degree of learning. Unfortunately, that competition is almost non-existent in the Nicaraguan classroom. Students see school as an obligation, as something that every adolescent must finish. What seems to be certain is that they do not see it as a vehicle to better their lives. And in part I can’t blame them, because a better education does not guarantee a good job by any means, and the students of the rural schools don’t often have the resources or money to even consider attending a university. But the fact that there is such little desire and emphasis placed on learning proper language (reading and writing), as well as basic mathematics, is honestly shocking. In one of my classes last year, the equivalents of seniors were earnestly complaining that they had to do basic division and multiplication by hand, that it was too hard. Or how to the same students, the concept of percentages (1 = 100%, ½ = 0.5 = 50%, 2/3 = .666666 = 66%) is still not well understood. Recently, a graduated student told me he likes math, but only addition. How he was really good at that, but couldn’t really do subtraction, division, or multiplication. Well buddy, that’s not being good at math.

To be fair, the low level of enthusiasm and knowledge can also in part be blamed on the teachers. The following idea came up in a recent conversation with another volunteer:

Students will only rise up to the expectations you place on them. If you don’t expect them to excel, than they will perpetually under perform and squander their education. If I accept that principle as fact, than I can go further and say that lower standards and expectations lead to less in class competition, less actual learning and lower grades. At least to me, classroom competition is what’s most important, because it causes everyone to strive to do their best. After all, who wants to be the worst in the class? No one.

I feel the best way to exemplify the low expectations of teachers is the test taking process. With the exception of math (the only subject I haven’t first hand witnessed the students take tests in), teachers actually hand out the test in advance…with the answers attached! To a degree, I can understand handing out the test in advance. It’s almost like a take home test, where the questions are obscure, not simply definitions, and makes you think. But theses tests often only include fill in the blanks sections, or definition sections that come right out of the textbook. So as a result, students aren’t actually learning any new material or challenging themselves with new problems, but memorizing the answers right before the test is taken. And short term memory at that. The next day, the correct answers are nothing but a distant, forgotten memory. Like in the states, you need at least a 60% to pass a class, and a 60% overall average to graduate at the end of the year. But the big difference is that in the eyes of the students, at least it seems, there is no difference between a 60% and an 80%. Either way, you still pass. And a 90% or above is no real indicator of intelligence, or better said, mastery of a subject, because it’s all relative on the whim of your teacher. To strengthen this argument (for you skeptics out there), I’ll provide some hard stats taken by la UNAN – Managua in the last scholastic year. UNAN – Managua is one of Nicaragua’s top universities. To even be considered, you must first pass a matriculation exam that tests your basic language and math skills. Of the 12,000 students or so who took the exam, only 20% of students passed the Spanish test, and even less, 10%, passed the mathematics test. And these are the students that should be the top of their class, if they considered applying to la UNAN.

So in more ways than I realized, the typical Nica student is at a disadvantage from the get-go. Besides the obvious distractions and problems of the physical environment, a Nica student simultaneously has to fight against the intellectual environment of the classroom. Perhaps a simple solution exists, if we think of the Broken Window Effect. The BWE being that if we see one broken window, we’re more likely to break the one next to it, because it your mind, the building is already starting to fall down. Perhaps, Nicaragua needs to fix up the classrooms and make them more conducive to learning, which consequently has a profound effect on the attitude of teachers and students. But if you ask me, nothing will change until there is a profound cultural change in the attitude toward education. Until as a culture, the Nicaraguan people realize the importance of education, and put more emphasis on it, the classroom will continue to simply just exist. I guess you could say I’m hear to help encourage that change.

****An important disclaimer. I use the words Nicaraguan and they referring to the greater population in general. But by no means am I saying that this is the attitude of every single Nicaraguan student and teacher. In my time here, I have come across multiple teachers and students, who seem to stand as the catalysts for change, and make me exited for what the future holds for these individuals and the country itself. It’s also worth pointing out that most Nicaraguans are very creative and intelligent. They use the limited resources that they have to solve everyday problems, like a real life version of Odyssey of the Mind. Think Street Smart over Book Smart.

Emails to Readers

So its been brought to my attention that people haven't been getting email updates or been able to comment. After messing around with the settings, comments are now open to anyone and everyone, and i am trying a new email subskription. So sign up again if you're interested, and if that doesn't work, we'll try something else. But let me know if email updates are up again!

The Bros do Rio San Juan

“I’m telling you guys this feels like the beginning of the Hangover, you know what I mean?” Those were the first words I heard as I met up with my buddies at the bus terminal this past weekend. Just judging from this picture, he had a point. Four buddies, dressed sharp for a weekend out of site*, rocking shades, and excited to party. And while San Carlos doesn’t have the same nightlife and quality of women as Las Vegas, that didn’t stop us from having an unforgettable (or for some of forgettable) weekend exploring old Spanish castles, fishing out of canoes, looking for girls (that weren’t in fact high school students), and plenty of Nicaraguan Rum. 

Our Host with the Most

The reason for our trip down to San Carlos was the Torneo de Pesca Internacional , or Fishing Tournament. I say down, because San Carlos is at one of the southern most points of the country, where the Lake Nicaragua funnels into the Rio San Juan, and exits into the Caribbean Sea. Fun fact about the Rio San Juan is that it is a highly contested border dispute (one of many in the world actually) between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Both countries claim the river as their own, and supposedly in the upcoming year, the case will be brought before the International Court System. Crazy, right? Anyway, the Rio San Juan boasts a big population of Sabaldo Real, or Tarpon, and every year on the Nica independence days (for 52 years now), the town holds a fishing tournament, that draws in people from all over North and central America. The Tarpon is a monster trophy fish, and sort or reminds me of a Stripe Bass…but bigger. This year the winner was a Guatemalan who pulled in a 130 pound tarpon that was actually bigger in length than he was tall!

Our fishing adventure was a little less extreme due to lack of resources. Instead of 20 foot center consoles or pangas with a motor, we paddled 12 foot canoes, and instead of legit rods with reels, we had three foot long branches, stripped down, with a few feet of fishing line and a hook. No reeling in for us, just a sharp flick upwards, in which you hoped to literally throw the fish into the boat with. Our hooks were way to big for the “river monsters” we were dangling for: mostly scup or sunny like fish no bigger than 6-7 inches. But I would dare to say that we had much more fun than any of those chumps who paid to enter the tournament. Out of the 7 of us, 3 or 4 had never fished before, and a few had never entered or paddled a canoe. So there was a lot of learning by experience that day, and every 20 minutes or so, the quiet chatter or silence would be broken by a shout of happiness or joy. One of the new guys would pull in another fish. We were burnt to a crisp and dehydrated by the time we docked the canoes, but were full of grins and aspirations of paddling the entire length of the river after our successful trip dropping lines along the Rio.

The other noteworthy (and appropriate to tell) adventure was our trip down river to El Castillo. El Castillo is a small community about 60 km down river that holds an old Spanish castle up on the hillside that was used to defend the Spanish colonies in Nicaragua from pirates during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Strategically placed next to rapids, any pirates that ventured that far up river would’ve been sitting ducks, blown to smithereens. But what you notice almost immediately upon docking (it’s only accessible by boat), is that there are no motor vehicles. Not one. The Main Street is no bigger than what we would consider a back alley, and that’s what it felt like to be honest. But the pictures below can do better justice to it than I can, so enjoy. Next weekend, off to El Crucero for an In-Service training with the whole small biz gang!

*Remember, our wardrobes are pretty limited down here. This was about as “sharp” as we can get. One of the most quoted phrases down here is, “I can’t wait to be back home, so I can have some style again.”

The Land of Lakes and Volcanoes...and Earthquakes

As some of you folks may know, Nicaragua is known as “La Tierra de Lagos y Vulcanes”, or in English, the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes. Nicaragua boasts the largest lake in all of Central America, as well as a host of large lakes scattered around the country. And although it is not the most mountainous Central American country by any means, it has more, and taller, volcanoes than any other country in the region. I took this thought for granted, just another unique feature of my resident country, something to take pride in. What I didn’t think about was the greater consequences and side effects of living in the land of volcanoes…earthquakes.

Nicaragua sits on the edge of a tectonic plate, I believe the same one that California sits on. (Kan someone fact check that? I don’t have internet as I write this.) In effect, Nicaragua is highly prone to earthquakes, and has a rich history in earthquakes. Well, rich isn’t quite the right word. The opposite or rich, poor, would be more appropriate. Or more appropriate is the following Nicaragua has a devastating history of earthquakes. Twice, in this century alone, 1932 and 1972, have earthquakes in the high sevens on the Richter scale had their epicenter in the heart of the capital, Managua. The effects of these quakes have had long lasting effects economically, esthetically, and politically. As buildings collapsed, people watched helplessly, knowing that neither they themselves nor the government had enough money to rebuild them. Buildings structurally unsound due to the earthquake 40 years ago still stand, because the government doesn’t have enough dough to knock them down. Instead of rebuild, the city as a result expanded outwards, enlarging the city limits. Few buildings are over two or three stories. The result has been the ugly sprawling mess that now is Managua, with no downtown or safe commercial area, that doesn’t resemble any other capital in the world. Most people would think the capital is the ideal place to go while on vacation down here. I tell you now with hesitation, run, get away from Managua as fast as you can. Not worth the time. And one of the consequences was the death of baseball player Roberto Clemente, who was delivering food and medical supplies when his plane when down on New Years Eve in 1972.

Now why I am suddenly talking about earthquakes? Because in the last week and a half there have been three significant earthquakes in the region, the last one being a 7.9 two hundred km off the coast of Costa Rica. The first two were smaller, off the coast first El Salvador and Costa Rica, and were not felt. But living within twenty five kilometers from the beach, I did get two frantic midnight calls from the Peace Corps office warning me about a pending tsunami. Had they been real threats, I would’ve been evacuated, but I certainly appreciated the heads up.

But yesterday, as I’m in class, the big one hit. We were working in small groups outside, and I was sitting on a bench holding up a piece of paper in explain a concept. All the sudden the students, almost simultaneously the students covered their eyes or looked away. And then I felt it, although not in the way I expected. All the sudden I felt dizzy, as if I was going to faint with the world was swaying slowly around me. My first though was something more sinister, some sort of airborne agent in the air that caused all of us to feel that weird sensation. That is until a second later, I heard the word temblor (tremor), mumbled by a student. For about fifteen to twenty seconds, there we sat, stupefied almost, just watching the world around us. I was only vaguely aware we should take some sort of precautionary measure; I was more amazed by the way everything seemed to move in waves around me. What was I supposed to do in my first earthquake anyway? I’m from New England, things like that don’t happen there. There was no visible damage, and class continued as usual. It wasn’t until ten minutes later when I got the call from the assistant country director, who knew my enthusiasm for surfing. “STAY AWAY from the beach. There is a high alert for a tsunami.” (Don’t worry dad, I didn’t grab my board and run to the beach.)  Now being in a rural community, I had no way of knowing immediately where the earthquake originated or the extent of the damage through the country. Luckily in Nicaragua, there was a low incidence of problems, info I gathered from neighbors with TV’s, my radio, and talking with the local army. A tsunami was an effect of the earthquake, all though it had little repercussions, hardly flooding the more southern departments of Nicaragua. But it was a sufficient threat to cancel all class in coastal departments, and I enjoyed an afternoon off to myself. I was surprised and pleased with the response of the government, who seemed to do all it could to prevent any unwarranted property damage and death. So kudos to Ortega and the Sandanistas, for that.

But the real question is, when will the next big one hit Nicaragua? You’ll notice these two major earthquakes were forty years apart. It’s been forty years since the last one. Does that mean we’ll get another big one soon? Will we be ready?