Our last lecture was today and it was on education. We learned about the different learning styles, disparities within education, and much more. The professor discussed the teaching styles within the different learning styles and there are four steps that teachers follow. I noticed that our teacher used this method to help guide us while we wrote our blogs. We were to have our experiences, reflect on them, research some of them, and then draw conclusions based on our lectures and notes from class. This method, I believe, works with most if not all the learning styles mentioned in class. I believe that I am a diverger as well as a converger. I enjoy working in groups and trying to understand other people and their perspectives. I also like practical applications as well as knowing the logical side of situations. Throughout my education in America, I have been fortunate enough to have teachers that accommodate to my style of learning. Without this opportunity, I would probably not be where I am today. As we learned, there are many disparities when it comes to education. One being that some groups do not have access to appropriate education and that socioeconomic status is a variable for getting proper education. We can see this in the education system in Ecuador. There are the public and private schools, and generally the private schools offer a better education to students. We were fortunate enough to visit the CEDEI school, which had kindergarten through 9th grade. This private non-religious school is unique because most private schools in Ecuador are religious. When I first heard about the popularity with private religious schools here, I remember thinking how different it was compared back to the United States. The catholic religion is very prominent here, but back at home it is a controversial issue. I wondered if the CEDEI School is a controversial issue in Cuenca being that it is non-religious and private. Once our tour began and I saw the way the students interacted with the teachers and our guide, it was obvious that they felt safe and trusted the adults at this school.
We were told that this school rarely had issues with bullying, which was a shock for me to hear because it is so prevalent in the United States. It felt great hearing that the students all got along and helped one another, especially in the Special Ed program. I think that this was the most interesting to me because the Special Ed programs at most of the schools I have attended are usually kept separate from the rest of the school. I remember when they were not separate in elementary school and the kids from the Special Ed program got bullied. The CEDEI school, though, has managed to turn this around and create a great program that they are extremely proud of. One other disparity within the education in Ecuador is that reading is not a leisure. In fact, we learned at the CEDEI school that the kids do not know how to take proper care of books and cannot take them home because they do not understand how to care for them. Reading is something that is overly-emphasized in the United States because of all the good that can come out of it.
To be bilingual in both Spanish and English is tremendously valued in Ecuador. This skill can open many opportunities for people and because it is mostly available for those of privilege, many poor Ecuadorians cannot compete with those that can afford a better education. The CEDEI school incorporates English into their curriculum and the guide told us that the school’s students have the best English skills throughout their region because of the large amount of English used within the school. Also, the school has a population of immigrants from the United States that have varying levels of English skills. These varying levels often cause problems for the school, but they have found ways to overcome them.
One interesting topic that we discussed in class about immigration and education is the Dream act. I was unaware that this existed, and honestly surprised because of the strong negative attitude towards illegal immigrants in the U.S.. I hope that this passes through and the children of illegal immigrants are able to get the education they deserve. They should not be denied the right to education because their parents made the decision to enter the United States illegally. This topic of Education in Ecuador and the United States was interesting to learn about and I hope once we go back to our lives at home, I can be less naïve about the world of education and how it affects not only me, but those around me.
