Spain, Schools, Trust--and Art!

The drive to Sevilla, Spain from Porto, Portugal was a bit long with changing terrain (lots of burned forests in Portugal from the recent fires) and we came into the City (against warnings) during the holiday weekend commemorating National Hispanic Day--and Christopher Columbus!  I could go into a long monologue about how Europeans view Columbus vs. how many of us in the U.S. are now challenging the traditional narrative, but I won't.  It's enough here to say that we were carried away (literally) with the crowd in the center of beautiful Seville during a music festival--a few blocks where we were staying with a friend, his wife originally from Seattle, and two lovely children.  Suffice it to say that our stay in Seville--with tiny, winding streets, and almost impossible Google maps to get around--made us vow to come back but without a car and without a time constraint (four days)!

A few photos for you all to enjoy...love Spain and this city, in particular!  Beautiful courtyards, a sea green river (vs. the muddy river running through Bordeaux), and lots of heat!  It was 90-95 degrees in October!  The people are as charming and multifaceted as the country. 

We took a trip to Córdoba, which is filled with many influences (religious and cultural, for example), leading to the creation of a combined mosque and cathedral, depicted here.  Centuries of work on it have made it a must if you come to this part of the world...my own opinion..notice the influences of both religions and traditions here.  Spain is a crossroads in that respect and was my introduction to the country several years ago.

Friends here are warm, thoughtful, without pretense and expansive.  All good qualities!  This is certainly true of my friends, including Fico Gúzman, who is an internationally known artist who focuses on themes of social justice (Cindy Maguire and I have both befriended him as part of our interest and passions about the plight of the Western Sahara in northern Africa).  Another blog and another time but Cindy and Terrence Ross have produced a wonderful film about the region that all of you should see!  Fico's work for his upcoming show in Valencia (in February) is shown here, where he plays with patterns, forms and color/illumination (paper and cut-out linoleum) to tell stories of dualities in life, in perspective, in art.  I am so very proud to know him and his wonderful, creative talent!  More to come on his opening (as I plan to go back in the spring).

Oh, I did go to schools for my research, as well!  Two wonderful schools that represent some of what Spain is attempting to do to innovate and embrace the widely diverse, international population of students in an inclusive model of schooling.  Some points worth noting as context about education there:  Spain has a curriculum that is national but more determined by region such as Andalusia (where Sevilla is located). The public schools don’t have a particular pedagogy and educational priorities and language change frequently with national leadership. Preschool education is "universal" for all children from age 3 for five hours a day (the amount of time of schools, in general).  Private schools can cost between 700 and 800 euros per month and many professionals are still unemployed or under employed so the public schools have a bright and involved parent community. Parochial schools have been losing money so they are becoming subsidized by public funds like charter schools. There are choices that families make in their education.  The schools have been Spanish-English but there is a movement towards Spanish-German because of the job market there. Students choose college or vocational training by 10th grade and many leave Spain for other countries to make their fortunes (given Spain's relatively recent economic struggles).  

One of the schools was one I visited five years ago and houses over 40 nationalities within it.  It embraces "universal design," full inclusion, but the teachers commented that they do not receive training in the work with special needs students and become self-taught and work with one another.  There is a way in which teacher education is very much separated from the field.  They were all very interested in what we are doing with residencies (SOE colleagues, please note!).  The second school houses 400 students and has been led by a visionary, wonderful leader who was a physical education teacher and believes in wholistic health.  They follow their own curriculum, having waived out of regional standards, and do collaborative, integrated learning with the students.  Many of their students are immigrants and (note this) preference is given to families who have had siblings there, maintaining continuity in the community.  There are teams of teachers and family members who govern the school and the atmosphere here was astonishingly happy and warm and lively with learning!

Two more points:  after-school (in Spain and other European countries) is almost non-existent but there is a rich life of after-school programming for students in the places I visited.  More on that in the book!  The second point is that teachers have wide-ranging differences in work load, class sizes (the last school I visited had only 20 in a class; the director insists on it)...and unions are circumscribed and limited in the ways in which they work.

I am truly blessed with the opportunity to visit so many schools in Europe!  I have so many field notes, interviews, and impressions to sift through over the months to come.  And I hope that some of you will join me for the next adventure in November:  Madagascar!