On Tuesday, January 31st, we met with Tane, our savior, and we rode a bus to the other Mondragon Unibersitatea in Huhezi, Spain. She showed us around the university and as we learned that all locals need a cup of coffee close to every hour, we sat down at the cafe to prepare for our talk. All of us were able to receive a bus card as well.We then walked into a university classroom that was small, but had amazing views. We went around the room and told Tane what we wanted to learn from our placements at schools. The main aspects we came up with were to see how they deal with behavior management, how do they integrate both Spanish, Basque, and even English, and how do they educate both typically developing children and Special needs children.
Tane and another colleague from Ireland gave a small presentation on the Basque country history and why they want to preserve the Basque language. We learned that they teach Model D: Basque-medium teaching with Spanish teaching with certain subjects (immersion program). They expect these students to be trilingual, so some students learn in Basque, Spanish, and English. There are private and state schools and there is only ONE mandatory test that students take when they are ready for university at 18. All classes are inclusion and there is a Special needs class called the Butterfly room that we hope we can visit later in our trip!There are many cycles within each stage of education. In pre-primary Education, the 1st cycle has students between 0-3 year olds and the 2nd cycle has students between 3-6 year olds. Next, in primary education, 1st cycle has students between 6-8 year olds, 2nd cycle has students between 8-10 year olds, and 3rd cycle has students between 10-12 year olds. Secondary has 4 levels with students between 12-16 years old. Students are only allowed to be pulled back a year once in their education and with these cycles, students are able to interact with their whole cycle to learn from each other.
All five of us are at four different schools. Everyone has to travel by bus to their schools, while my school is across the street here in Mondragon. Together, we were able to visit all the schools after a great lunch in the sun. We met another native to Mondragon and she drove half of us to the schools. Victor will be teaching with the Science teacher to 16 year olds. His school is on a small hill and the school was very open. We watched them run outside and they all ran up a hill to play. Next, we went to Melissa's school. This school is located in a gorgeous small town that has very colorful apartments and parks. Another student from Mondragon unibersitatea has been at this school as well. We talked with a few students and they kept guessing we were from England. After we told them we were from the United States, one student began to sing "Surfin' USA" and that was her only connection to us.
By this time, it was a very long day. Andrea and Camila went to their school with Tane. Victor, Melissa and I were able to learn words in Basque as we drove back towards the town. Amaya was so incredibly nice and reminded us to say that Mondragon is not Spain, but it is Basque Country. She stopped at different locations to show us places we can go for lunches, or where to find the local bank, and showed us where to catch buses for the bigger stores. She even drove us up a mountain to show us some of the best views around here and great dinner spots. I have been blown away with the natural beauty of this place.
Here are some easy phrases in Basque:
Hello- Kaixo (x makes a sh sound)
Good morning- egun on
I am Jillian- ni Jillian nice
tree- zuhaitz (shwitza)
Goodbye- agur
Today, February 1st, I was able to meet my tutor (teacher) Anabel. She does not know much English, but she is the best speaker in this school. Since she only teaches the older students in the morning, I will be following the English teacher in the afternoon when he teaches the 6 and 7 year olds. I was able to meet all the teachers but most of our exchanges were smiles and head nods as they spoke in Basque around me. I started today after lunch, which is at 2:35pm. I had older kids for the first hour and younger children for the second hour. Most of the students just gawked and stared at me. They called me Yellen and asked if I had a baby. The younger students were working on a play for their parents later today. They were speaking in English, which is pretty new for them. It was the story of the bad wolf who ate a sheep's kids. They all did a great job, but clearly they had thick accents. Cannot wait for more experiences!
Until next time,
Jillian
No comments:
Post a Comment