Are best practices universal, or do cultural norms and class sizes impact effective instructional practice? With all of the financial issues Chicago Public Schools face, class sizes are growing. I would like to see how Filipino teachers engage their students and how they handle the different abilities in the classroom.
Every year, the financial situation of the Chicago Public Schools gets worse and worse. It is always a roller coaster. The budget gets cut right before school starts, and then you have to wait for the tenth day of school (for a preliminary budget) and then the twentieth day of school (for the final budget) to get the final count of student enrollment for student based budgeting. Of course, Chicago Public Schools can have significant changes to enrollment during the year, but the budget is set based on enrollment on the twentieth day of school. At Sayre Language Academy, it was not unheard of to have some students transfer out of the school after the twentieth day. But I usually ended the year with more students than I started the year because students would also transfer to our school. Our school would not receive additional funding for those new students who enrolled. Quite the contrary. For the past few years, budgets have been cut during the school year. This puts a tremendous amount of stress on principals and teachers. There are constant discussions of increasing classroom sizes to up to 40 students. Before going to the Philippines, the largest class size I ever taught was 32 students (seventh graders). I remember how tough it was to move around the room to get to all of the students to answer their questions or to provide additional support. It was a very challenging year. I knew that Filipino classrooms tend to have a lot more students than American classrooms, so I was curious to see how they run and what the teachers do to engage the students. The first class I observed was a tenth-grade science class with my host teacher Rose. She created a very engaging lesson on plate tectonics. Students worked in pairs and were using their resources to complete the activity. There were nearly 60 students in the classroom. There was not a lot of space to move around, so students partnered up mostly with someone who sat near them. Just a few students got up to retrieve materials from the back cabinet to help them complete the assignment. I had the privilege of shadowing Mehlaine from the English department. The lesson I observed was her teaching the students which words to stress when speaking English (it was fascinating to learn with the students since I am a native speaker and word stress comes naturally instead of being taught). She had 4 classes the day that I observed her. Students are grouped by ability, so classrooms are fairly homogenous. The first class I observed had 60 students in it, and it was the 11th group of 8th graders, which meant that these students were, for the most part, on grade level. The other three classes I observed were STEM classes, so these students were the top of the class. There are rigorous standards to get into STEM classes, and students have to meet certain benchmarks in order to stay in the STEM program. It seems like it would be worth it to stay in the program because the maximum number of students in each of those rooms was 40. The structure of each of her classes was similar. They reviewed the rules. She modeled some examples and then had students volunteer to show the work they tried on their own. Students worked in pairs, and they were allowed to choose five out of the remaining eight sentences to complete. At the end of class, students stood up in pairs and said their sentences out loud, so she could hear if they were getting the stress correct. Everyone in the class benefitted from hearing the sentences repeatedly, and she made some corrections and had everyone repeat them. So, I observed many of the same best practices being done in the Filipino classrooms as in US classrooms. I tend to have the students work in groups of four, so they can have more ideas being shared, but groups of four would be challenging in the classrooms I observed in the Philippines because of space constraints. Teachers in both settings model how to do the work and gradually release the amount of work to the students. A challenge that the Filipino teachers faced was not being able to catch misunderstandings and provide additional support while the students were working with their partners. The teachers physically could not get around the room to see what the students were doing. They had to rely on the students raising their hands to ask questions. Community building is a bit different between the countries. Teachers in the US are always encouraged to get to know their students and build a community in that way. Filipino teachers have so many students that they do not learn everyone’s name. The community is built by the students being in the same room every day for all of their classes and by doing partner work. So, the students create their own community without the inclusion of the teacher. They adhere to the teacher’s rules and expectations and show the teacher tremendous respect. It would seem that Chicago could increase class sizes to 40 without issues since the Filipino model appeared to work. This is not the case. Culture comes into play here. First of all, education is highly regarded in the Philippines, and teachers are shown great respect. In the US, you can best see an anti-intellectual movement in the political arena, where education and experience are seen as negatives. Candidates are being lauded for having no political experience (experience equals corruption to many). Intellectuals are considered pompous and arrogant, and I have heard many people say they like a candidate because they feel they can have a beer with him. So, education is not highly valued in our society. Teachers in Chicago certainly, as well as all over the US, have been vilified. We are portrayed as lazy, greedy, and incompetent. The governor of Illinois, a businessman with no previous political experience, called all Chicago Public School teachers illiterate. The lack of value and respect plays out in the classroom, where individual students want the class to run according to their wishes. Certainly not all students or their families feel this way about teachers and education, but it is easy for kids to get swept up in the chaos in the classroom once it starts. I experienced a group of students in one of the classrooms in the Philippines who were not all that interested in their English class. When I was teaching the class, they only did their work when I was standing by them. If those students were sitting in my classroom in Chicago, they would likely be disrupting the whole class. In my host school, I walked by many classrooms in session in addition to the classes I observed. Students simply were not disruptive in the room. That is not culturally acceptable in the Philippines. Class sizes of 40+ would also not work in the US because classes tend to have students with mixed abilities in the room. The push is for teachers to differentiate their lessons to reach all of the students in the room. The more students you have, the harder that is to do. First, as I saw with my Filipino counterparts, you just cannot establish a close relationship with every student (most teachers had over 300 students each year). Without that relationship, it is challenging to truly determine the student’s exact needs. Smaller class sizes allow the teacher to get to know the student’s strengths and weaknesses. Fewer students overall makes it easier for teachers to work with students individually or in small groups. There have been many studies about the benefits for all students in heterogenous classrooms. Moving to larger class sizes would have to lead to losing those benefits and having homogenous classrooms. Increasing class size would also mean the loss of the classroom community as is currently established in the US. Classroom community seemed less important in the Philippines where family stability seems pretty strong. Students left school and spent time with their families. I have seen many of the parents of my students in Chicago making great sacrifices in order to make ends meet. They pick up a second job, or they might be working second or third shift, making it impossible for them to be home when their children get home. I have seen students who desperately need that structured classroom and to have a bond with their teacher because their life outside of school is not structured. Some students have experienced trauma, and they need to form bonds with adults who are dependable and consistent. Our schools try to provide that, despite budgets being cut and staff members being moved around. So, if Chicago wants to move in the direction of the Filipino model of education and increase class sizes, then we need to also adapt their cultural beliefs about education and family. Those changes do not happen overnight. In the meantime, the Philippines is heavily investing in education right now and making some major changes. They just added 11th and 12th grade because they recognize the importance of increasing education for everyone, not just those students who will continue on a college track. I suspect as they continue to invest in education, class sizes will decrease. This is already happening in schools and/or programs around the country. At the school where I observed, the STEM students had smaller class sizes. In the next city over, there was a newly built high school focusing on science. They keep their class sizes small, so students can maximize their opportunities in education. The Philippines are certainly moving forward in the educational arena. Chicago needs to make sure that we do not move backwards. The opinions stated above are my own and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the US State Department or IREX.
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We had an early start for island hopping. I was picked up at my hotel at 5:30 am. We were lucky that there wasn’t much traffic because most people were home watching the Manny Pacquiao fight. We boarded our boat, “The Love Boat”, around 7:40 am. Our guide loaded the boat up with food, and we set sail. The water was calm, and we sailed passed quite a few islands before we hit our first destination. I wasn’t expecting to hike up a steep hill, covered in rocks, but that was just what we did at this island. This was the short cut! I was worried that my sandals from Target would not hold out for this kind of workout, but they stayed together! The hike was totally worth it! We went to an Eco Park that had breathtaking views. We took group pictures in an amphitheater, which was a location used in “The Amazing Race.” The next island we went to felt like the ideal island. There were very few people there, although there was a hut where you could buy drinks or watch the Manny Pacquiao fight. We went swimming, and I discovered, yet again, the benefits to being an English teacher surrounded by science teachers. Someone found a live sand dollar in the water, so I got a quick lesson on the anatomy of sand dollars. Later we found dried sand dollars on the sand. The water was surprisingly warm, like bath water. Lunch was provided for us. Everyone was enjoying their fresh seafood, while I had some vegetarian options. We ate Filipino style – with our fingers. This is easy to do right on the water because you have easy clean up. Our next stop was an even smaller island. The tide was coming in at this point, so we were quickly losing beach. We only explored the shoreline because there were rocks and cliffs behind us. The sand felt really spongy. It was very tiring to walk in it because we would sink down and then waves would come up quickly and wash over us. It was a beautiful spot to sit on the rocks and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean. The last stop was vanishing island. Because of the tide, we did not see much of the “island”, which is really just a sand bar. Our only option was to swim because there was really nowhere to walk. The sand bar was surrounded by floating, unmanned cabanas. We decided that this was a lost opportunity to make money. If people were selling snacks or drinks from those cabanas, they would probably make some decent money! We saw zebra fish swimming, and someone found a starfish. We took turns holding it. I held it for about 15 seconds – creepy! I guess I expected the outside to feel like a shell, and for it to feel somewhat light. Instead, it was fairly heavy, and it felt like very firm flesh. It freaked me out. Finally, it was time to sail back to port. We were all pretty tired from the full day of sun and swimming. It was the perfect way to spend our last weekend day in the region.
Snack time! We went to BJC, where Halo Halo was invented. Yum! This is a shaved ice treat with coconut milk, sweet beans, various jellies, and topped with cheese. It may sound like a strange combination, but it works and is delicious! This was a great pit stop because we had already done and seen a lot, and the heat of the day was really starting to increase. Having a cold snack hit the spot. Rose also bought some thin cookie tubes for us to try. Also tasty. The next stop on our adventure was going to a ceramics factory. This area of the Philippines has a lot of clay. We saw the process they use to refine the clay before transforming it into pottery. We saw a group of people who had drawn designs for the ceramics. We also saw some masters at work. One man was making a tall vase. We saw another station where people were cutting shapes out of various pieces and then spray painting them. We saw some ceramics drying in the sun, while other pieces were fired in one of the kilns. While this is considered to be a factory, it did not look like a factory that we have in the US. There were lots of open spaces, with no temperature control. There were sections that were miserably hot! I’m not sure how people manage working there every day. I guess you get used to it, or at least deal with it by having fans blowing. There were some incredible pieces for sale, and the prices were cheap! If it had been easier to transport these, I would have bought more. In 2006, a major typhoon struck the Philippines, and it was very devastating. In this area of the Philippines, 1,200 people lost their lives. The biggest issue in this area was a flash flood that came from the Mayon Volcano. There just wasn’t anything people could do to protect themselves from the flood. A dyke was built after to try to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. Survivors of the typhoon and flood were invited to paint murals on the dyke. The images were beautiful, inspiring, and moving. Rose talked about students coming to school after the tragedy and sharing their ordeals. She said it was very sad. Our next stop for the day was to drive halfway up the Mayon Volcano to the Mayon Skyline. This used to be a resort/hotel. But it is in the danger zone for eruptions, so they just turned it into a park people can visit. When warning levels are high, people are not allowed to go there. What a gorgeous place! People were selling beautiful floral arrangements. We walked down some steps to a playground area, where we took some photos. You could see the bay and Legazpi City.
I got to share ideas with 20 teachers from the English department at MORMS. They have been so inviting and open all week, that it was nice to try to give something back (including some trinkets from the USA). First, I shared some information about Chicago and our school system. We talked about shared struggles being public schools and what that can entail. They were very jealous about our work hours (they work 7:30-5pm) and our class sizes (they have 40-60 students per class and teach 5 sections). Our students move from class to class, while their teachers move from room to room, so they have to bring all of their materials with them. Next, I shared Amy Cooley’s and my presentation on read alouds. The teachers told me that they do read to their students, but this may not happen every day. They usually see one class 4 days a week. We talked about different things you could read to your students. I explained that I usually read a novel, but they could read anything that connects to what they are teaching, including articles. The head of the English department asked me for a list of books that I read to my students. We then took a little break, which means snack time in the Philippines! Someone brought me isaw, which is street food. Basically, it is half a hardboiled egg wrapped in some kind of seasoned dough, topped with a spicy curry sauce. It was delicious! I was also given pineapple juice and a cream filled donut. It was a lot of food, but it made for a nice break. When we came back from our snack break, I talked about organizing book clubs (another presentation Amy Cooley and I put together for the Illinois Reading Conference). I found out that this is not common practice for people (including adults) in the Philippines. They were interested in hearing how I run book clubs in my classroom. I gave them copies of the graphic organizers that I use, which they were very excited to get (I am the same way when I go to conferences and get a new graphic organizer!). The teachers shared some major obstacles that they have as far as trying to run a book club – they don’t have materials for it! They don’t have multiple copies of novels that they can just pass out to their students, and their school library was full of reference materials, not novels. The head of the English department said that maybe they could try this with one of their classes to see how it would work. She also thought that they could modify this to use with short stories too. I think that’s a great idea, and perhaps I’ll try to allow my students some choice when it comes to reading shorter pieces. We still had some time left over, so I shared the letters my students wrote to the Filipino students. The teachers got a kick out of them, but they probably struggled more with the incorrect grammar! We ended with a presentation of certificates for participating and of course, picture taking! When you look at the pictures, please notice that there were 2 levels in the computer lab. All of the Filipinos stood on the step, while I stood on the lower level, so I wouldn’t look so tall compared to them!!! There was a lot of laughing going on during picture taking. What a great group of teachers! The afternoon was filled with the induction ceremony for parents. This was quite a big event, especially since the school is populous. Each grade has a governing board (president, vp, secretary, etc) of parents for their PTA. Each group was called to the stage and sworn in. Then there were room parents as well. At MORMS, each homeroom has a parent in charge of it. They provide decorations for the rooms (curtains, murals, etc). They can also do fundraising for the rooms to get extra things. Some of the rooms in the newer buildings had comfort rooms (aka bathrooms) in the class. This way, students don’t have to leave the room if they need to go to the bathroom. During the induction ceremony, I was given a seat of honor just in front of the stage. Others sitting at the table were the Vice Mayor of Guinobatan, a Councilman, the principal, and the vice principal of the school. The Vice Mayor and Councilman took turns swearing in the parents. The Vice Mayor asked me questions about the innerworkings of politics in the US. He also told me about politics in the Philippines. It was very interesting! After the ceremony (and picture taking), we were invited to the principal’s office along with the Department heads of the school, for some snacks. Now it’s my turn to teach. I had my 7th graders write letters to the Filipino students. They introduced themselves in the first paragraph, wrote about positive things happening in Chicago, wrote about our education system, and they asked questions for the last paragraphs. I was very worried that the Filipino students would have a hard time understanding the letters with all of the grammatical mistakes! I was also worried with how much the Owls would understand. I figured the STEM students would have an easier time. I was wrong. All of the students jumped right in and loved reading the letters! They shared the letters with their friends or others sitting by them. Each student probably got to read 3 or 4 of the letters. I showed them photos of the authors of the letters. The Darwin group (one of the STEM groups) all ran up to my computer and asked me to point out specific students. Pretty soon, they were enlarging the photos and pointing out certain students to their classmates who perhaps didn’t see who was who the first time around. It was awesome! After they had spent some time with the letters, I asked the students to write back to my students. They were very excited to do so! Some of the students asked if they could write to specific students and answer their questions. Other students wrote general letters. It was great to see the students so engaged in reading and writing! I wish MORMS had more technology, so we could keep the exchanges up. Many of the students asked their Chicago counterparts to friend them on Facebook, so some of them will probably be able to be in touch with each other. Both days at school it has poured rain at some point in the day. Teachers sometimes have to walk a long way to class, so apparently, they sometimes cut class when the weather is really bad! The nice thing about rain is that it cuts the heat. It is unbelievably hot and humid here. I’m not sure if they have PE when it’s raining. Today was the day that I really got into the classrooms. I followed Mehlaine’s schedule for the day. She is an 8th grade English teacher. Her first class is the Owls. They are the 11th section of 8th grade. Students are grouped by ability at MORMS, so the 11th section would just be a regular class of 8th graders (students learning at grade level). She warned me that their English wasn’t very good. This is a class with 60 students in it. It was very different from the STEM class I had seen yesterday. This building was much older than some of the other buildings of the school (having over 7,000 students, you have to have multiple buildings). I’m pretty sure there was no teacher in the classroom next door because those students were surprisingly loud, and running in and out of the classroom and down the hall. Despite all of the distractions, there were many students engaged in the lesson and wanting to go to the board to show their work. They were focusing on which words you stress in the sentence when you speak English. They struggled with the concept, so Mehlaine had to keep reminding them of the notes they had taken previously. The next 3 classes were all part of the STEM program, so the rooms were bigger and newer, and there was a maximum of 40 students per class. These students also struggled a bit with the concept, but they were more successful. One interesting thing she had the students do was to work with partners. They picked 5 out of 8 sentences. They underlined where the stress was in the sentence, and at the end of class, she called partners up to say the sentences out loud. In one class, many of the students struggled with the word “misled”, so they made sure to ask the teacher when they were still working on the assignment. Most of them mastered the word by the time they got up to say their sentences out loud. It was great to see them figure out how to speak in unison. A couple of the groups who really struggled with a lot of words got to hear their teacher say the sentences again before they were asked to repeat it. It was all very well done. |
AuthorJenn Henderson is a Teachers for Global Classrooms fellow. She will be traveling to the Philippines in June 2017. Archives
September 2017
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