Care for the Souls of All Students
The purpose of education is to create an equal humanity of one’s self flourishing; to care about each student within your class beyond the classroom by showing each student that they matter, regardless of their background. As a future educator, I have firsthand witnessed the importance of building a positive relationship with students, and I truly believe that these relationships are at the core of education. In order to discuss educational philosophy, regardless of one’s ideas of discipline, policy, autonomy, or otherwise, no classroom will be successful with the absence of genuine relationships in which each student feels fully accepted and valued. This “flourishing” creates a sense of community and equal humanity, which can then be fostered within the classroom. If a classroom does not first promote flourishing of ALL students, by no means will it ever be able to focus on activism, humility or diversity; all of these important issues stem from caring for others, which should be at the forefront of every classroom. Regardless of whether a child lives in Pamplona Alta or Santiago de Surco, each child deserves to know that THEY MATTER.
This week, we spent the majority of our time at La Inmaculada, a private school in Santiago de Surco. This school was one of the nicest campuses I’ve ever seen- from over 10 gyms and countless sports fields/courts to having their own ZOO at the school (yes you read that right), I was very overwhelmed. (Check out this to see the school: https://youtu.be/CZt0iIJPOtc) While I enjoyed my time teaching there so much, I could not help but think about Pamplona Alta, the site we visited last week. Lima’s “wall of shame,” which is exactly what it sounds like- built by the wealthy community to keep “young towns” like Pamplona Alta secluded both physically and economically- sits directly on the campus as a constant reminder of privilege. La Inmaculada does wonders, however, promoting community between both sides of the wall, not in the form of handouts or “volunteerism,” but just by becoming peers with children in their communities and equaling their common humanity. There is still more work to be done. We also spent time at our Casitas this week, which is an after school program in El Augustino, and played soccer at our Casitas with MLK. I was lucky to attend the same Casitas each time I went this past week, which allowed me to build bonds with the children and to fully immerse myself in their program. On the surface, our Casitas looks like a different world compared to La Inmaculada; covered in dirt, limited resources, and children from all different backgrounds with a different story. Yet, these children were laughing and playing and so genuinely happy to see us, and the Casitas program structures educational experiences to encourage students to reach their full potential. While the Casitas and MLK program is different than a traditional education classroom, I believe that all educational contexts promote human flourishing through a child-centered education. All educational contexts do their best to provide an enriching education, through differing means and perspectives, to promote growth of each student. While all contexts view what is “best” or “necessary” for the students differently, all contexts do their best to know that each student is cared for at the core of their being.
Education, regardless of social class, should be equitable and provide all youth with equal opportunity for success. Privilege itself is a position within a hierarchical structure; it is inherently socially and contextually dependent. This puts the privileged individuals in a position of power that complexly changes through contexts and situations. Privilege must be recognized and be at the forefront of any privileged school, as without this recognition, inequitable and unjust systems will continue without question. Such complacency and comfort must be challenged in order for an equitable educational system to ensue and for community to be successful. If we chose to educate differently, privilege is further perpetuated and automatically creates a distinct divide between privileged and marginalized youth. By educating differently, this idea of “the other” as being a separate group that is less than one’s own is created, thus enforcing class divisions and continuing the broken system of classist ideals. And while I do believe that the educational aims and context must be equitable across social and class lines, the means by which this education is achieved is inherently different. In schools that have privileged students, like La Inmaculada, more resources, funding and support is provided to the school community that allows for opportunity and experience that otherwise could not be achieved. Since they have the resources and support, both monetary and emotional, to deny them of such opportunity is inequitable, thus contradictory to the educational system. However, it is the duty of these schools to provide such meaningful experiences to enhance their activism and care for humanity, regardless of socioeconomic status. This experience cannot be demeaning to the marginalized populations, however; if a school only focuses on the economic aspects, privilege is only enforced. This experience should be utilized to teach students to acknowledge their privilege, provide personal reflection to help students grapple with what their privilege entails, and show the importance of the value for a whole individual, regardless of their background. When experience is tied to education, personal growth is achieved even on the molecular level; we are changed through experience! For example, La Inmaculada has student projects in which students partner with students from neighborhoods like El Agustino, creating a mutual relationship that promotes collaboration and genuine peer relationships. This experience of working alongside those who are less advantaged provides eye-opening educating moments that can be carried through every aspect of their lives. Each child has a unique perspective, experience, and talents that are equally beneficial regardless of socioeconomic status, and through education, each student must be cared for deeply and beyond a school setting. This care for the whole of the person, deeply rooted in Ignatian Pedagogy, must be rooted in every educational setting to ensure success. Both privileged and marginalized youth deserve to have an education that enforces their importance as a person and allows them to flourish through activism beyond the classroom, meaningful peer and authority relationships to demonstrate an equal humanity, and self actualization.
Here in Peru, education is similar to my own educational experience in the United States. It differs drastically from town to town, just like back home, and different experiences, more qualified teachers, and ample resources and funding is provided to schools if they are in a certain district, while literally down the street, a school may have nothing. This is similar to the infamous “Marquette Bubble” that we live in at home. Yet, teachers care deeply about their students and simply want to help them succeed both inside and outside of school. My educational experience here on this trip is similar to service learning and field experience at Marquette. It has allowed for hands-on, minds-on practice to extend my learning beyond the classroom. Thus far, this trip has transformed my pedagogical approach to teaching in ways that I never thought possible. Through experiencing schooling here firsthand, I have been shown the importance of hands on experiences and how it aids in teaching. This taught me the importance of engineering experiences to challenge my student’s thoughts to promote activism, critical thinking, personalized learning, and learning beyond the classroom confides. Schooling is not simply about learning content through a teacher; it is a system that allows us to craft experiences that enable children to flourish. By humanizing schooling, we respect who our students are at their core and through solid relationships, we are able to provide meaningful education for each of our students. Care beyond academics promotes personal growth and allows for student flourishing. A holistic education, or alignment of the mind, body and soul, provides the full, adequate care for our students, but also makes us as educators vulnerable, since we are human ourselves. This humanization of a system that is in place to keep the status quo creates opportunity for mobility and the idea that they are more than a system; they are human and equally able and deserving to a just education.
