little things are big

i have been skeptical during my time in bethlehem in terms of my role as a volunteer at the hope flowers school. to put it briefly (something i rarely do), volunteer positions often seem to be nebulous voids that the volunteers are supposed to magically fill. at least, that's the impression i've had from the internationals i've met here. most of these positions seem to be self-made or self-directed. and things happen slowly here. which may not be a bad thing, but coming from the u.s. where multi-tasking, deadlines, expectations, and too much on one's plate are the norm, this pace can be painful.

basically, i was asked to provide a training for teachers. i requested a meeting with the school's director to learn more about the reality of the school (beyond what i had already gleaned from the web site) and to clarify the parameters of what they were looking for from me. this resulted in a slightly defined framework -- could i share the philosophy and approach of what i do in the u.s. (i.e. expeditionary learning) and share some practical methods of teaching ethics (i.e. how one incorporates character education into the academics). that should be easy enough. maybe. but where to begin? thank goodness i bothered to bring my laptop with me, so i could at least use a few resources i already have. and special thanks to the folks back home who patiently dealt with my emails lamenting my concerns and who returned love and support (i could definitely feel it).

i'll spare you the details of the uncertainties that followed, of the lack of supplies (they wanted me to put together a training manual but there was no paper on which to print it), of the feeling of being completely on my own...

the training began yesterday. and while i have no idea whether or not the five teachers with whom i spent two and a half hours in the late afternoon found the time worthwhile, i definitely felt a sense of joy from our exchange.

i barely made it through a quarter of what i had planned for the afternoon. of course there was the slow process of communication with everything being translated to arabic and back again. (i loved conducting a think-pair-share in which i explained the process and gave them questions to respond to in english, this was explained in arabic, the women would write and then share their thinking with each other in animated conversations in arabic, followed by reporting out in a combination of arabic and english.) and then there was the issue of EL-speak -- the terms used within this pedagogy, such as expedition, protocol, learning target, guiding questions...

and no matter what i shared with them, i was met with an endless stream of questions. about everything. really. they wanted to know all of the details of odyssey -- the classroom size, the daily schedule, the configuration (they couldn't get over the multiage setup we have -- it simply fascinated them); they marveled that they didn't see desks in neat rows in the pictures i showed them; they wanted to know about the students who qualify for free or reduced lunch at odyssey and if "u.s. poor" is the same as "bethlehem poor." the list goes on and on. and they wanted me to answer them all -- including the big magic wand ones as to how i make it all work. ("yes, but how do you do it?" "yes, but how do you get them to show good character?") "schway schway," i tell them (that's my bad English transliteration of the Arabic) -- in other words, "slowly."

i'll close this post with a list. these were the responses the women had to my questions of 1) what values do you wish to instill in your students and 2) what behaviors do you want to encourage and strengthen. i think you'll notice the commonalities, despite the cultural differences.

forgiveness
love
purity
integrity
respect
independence
trust in one's self
humility
frankness / openness
no bias (which i translate as tolerance)
patriotism (okay, so many teachers i know wouldn't include this one on the list)
belonging
_____

to follow their passions
to be honest
engage with others
speak up (and have the courage to do so)
be willing to acknowledge their faults
persistence
showing respect
cooperation
willingness to help others
accepting one's self as is
working to improve one's self