An Impressive Approach

I'm really impressed by the methodology the organization in Romania has taken in tackling education.

They first researched the educational policy here in Romania and discovered that there is a law stating that all children starting at the age of 7 or 8 need to attend school. However, as could be expected with a developing society, this law is hardly enforced. Their goal now is to see that this policy is strictly abided by and currently work with the lowest wrung of society. They provide a combination of family counseling, after school programs and supplies, as well as their most important contribution, professional development. Exactly like in Peru, many teachers here fail to enter the classroom with a successful pedagogical approach towards at-risk children. This organization has developed an integrative methodology that they have been teaching to teachers. However, it is financially unsustainable for this organization to continue to train all the teachers when 1) this should be supported by the state and 2) the training is not mandatory and can only be received on a voluntary basis. Yet, this organization manages this hole as well by creating partnerships with the local government in places like Bacau, Romania to have them administer the training and ensure that their teachers are entering the classroom with the mindset of wanting to interact with their students and ensuring the students are applying critical thinking within the classroom. They produced a very interesting report that compares the Roma (gypsy) situation in Romania to the situation of African Americans in the United States. The comparison points out lessons to be learned from the history of the United States and is meant to be presented to the Ministry of Education here in Romania.

A commonality that I'm starting to notice in underdeveloped and developing countries is rote learning within the classroom. Teachers write and dictate and students copy. There is no room for experimentation, discovery, and intellectual development. As a result, many students drop out of school since the alternative is to make money for a family that is struggling to sustain itself. I found out from teachers in Peru and here in Romania that they learn theory in professional school and the only practice they receive is limited to observing another teacher. Thus, the cycle persists.

I have only ever had interactive teachers that have probed me and questioned me, so the intellectual being I am now is a product of their work and collaboration. I can't imagine what I would be like if I grew up copying everything written on the board and accepting everything told to me! It's not to say that there are not great teachers here as well, but it's distressing thinking that the majority of the teachers here are so poorly trained. I guess one of the universal problems with the profession is that it is so poorly funded; there is just not enough money in education. We have research and exemplary countries that prove that more money into education (given that it is correctly allocated) only betters the country as a whole, yet this problem remains.

Though seeing more of the world has only dismayed me about the universal situation of education, I am even more adamant now that it's development will solve the world's problems. I know that education is not always the highest priority on political agendas because there is such as slow turnover rate, but it is the worthiest investment any government can make!