I have never been very good at goodbyes. I am an easy crier, and the thought of leaving something behind always seems like reason enough to cry, especially when that something is a little part of me. At first, I thought the worst part of leaving Brazil would be flying home for ten hours with a sinus infection, but by the last day, when the time came to say our goodbyes, I thought about how much I was going to miss everyone, and every tear was a reminder of how much Brazil had tugged at the essence of who I am.
To be sure, Brazil was not what I had expected. It looked nothing like the beaches, sunshine, and street dancing that I had pictured in my head. What’s more, the student teaching aspect was a bit disappointing, involving school visits only toward the end of the trip—and even then not including much in the way of lesson observation. But in the end, the lessons I was meant to study were not in the classroom at all.
I learned the power of shared experience as a catalyst for communication, I learned that music is understood in every language, I understood that hand signals and facial expressions can get you where you need to be when your words cannot, and I occasionally learned that those same hand signals and facial expressions can get you to the opposite of where you need to be. I learned that an unforeseen and unwelcome reality can sometimes be better than expectation, and I learned that it is wise to be prepared for several outcomes nonetheless. Over and over again, I learned that deadlines are merely guidelines, and stress from being late is, interestingly, a waste of time. From Jovania, I learned the impact of catchphrases and a passion for teaching, and from the men selling pirated DVD’s on the street, I learned the power of bargaining. At the cafeteria, I learned that a good deal is not always satisfying, and at the buffet, I learned that fancy and new can leave you wishing for the usual. In Santos, I learned that self-confidence is all you need to look amazing, and after lunch I learned that a soft-serve sorvete can help you feel amazing. At school visit number two, I learned that I take my education for granted, and at school visit number three, I learned that American schools could do better. By the last week of the trip, I learned that six weeks is much shorter than it sounds, but it remains more than enough time to cultivate a lasting friendship. Finally, on the last day, at Ana Maria’s house, I learned that no matter where you are in the world, life happens, and sometimes the only way to survive it is to hold on to the person you love.
As it turns out, the whole time I was in Brazil, I was learning about myself. Before the trip began, I was white, American, Southern, female, heterosexual, protestant, Greek-life oriented, and a native English speaker. Am I still those things? Sure. However, I can also confidently say that I am family-oriented, strongly individualist, rather publicly conservative, and—to my personal frustration—more in favor of rules and structure than I would like to admit. I do not believe that being in Brazil changed any of these aspects for me, but it certainly made me more aware of them. Even though Brazil is diverse enough that I did not readily stick out as a foreigner, I sometimes felt out of place because I was so strongly reminded of how different, or how American, I felt internally. At times it was an odd feeling, but it was also a nice reminder of who I am culturally. That is, not simply a girl who collects cultural definitions by happenstance or large-group association, but also by tendencies, personal beliefs, and actions.
In this same vein, being in Brazil also reminded me that I come from a culture that embraces and, indeed, encourages travel. While I do not proclaim that all Americans, all Southerners, or all English-speakers, for instance, support experience abroad, I do believe that my family, friends, and university peers have been overwhelmingly in favor of seizing the opportunity to travel and learn about other cultures. So, in reflection, I do think that global awareness is part of my cultural identity, although I did not recognize it earlier.
When I was writing on the topic of global awareness before the trip, I said, “I would define ‘global awareness’ as a consciousness of world events and cultures, coupled with a respect for both. It seems to me that in order to be globally aware, you have to know what is going on, how things are, and you have to have some sort of understanding. It’s a deeper sense of knowing than just hearing a fact and remembering it.” Now that I have spent six weeks exploring this idea in Brazil, I still believe that global awareness involves knowing and respecting, but I also think it requires a desire to know—a yearning to know—that impacts your understanding. Is it enough to sit in another country, eat there, walk down the street there, even take the bus there? I don’t think so. Those actions will tell you a great deal about the culture. You will learn food preferences, group tendencies, daily schedules, and cultural mannerisms, but those are only the surface of the culture. In order to be truly aware, you must want to put yourself in the situation: try speaking the language, interact with locals, and take on a different point of view. Otherwise, you see the culture only from your own vantage point, and where is the understanding in that?
Brazil forced me to ask myself that question frequently (Am I understanding this?), and more often than not, my answer was no. Still, the process of questioning led me to a lot of good answers. This is probably the best skill I could want to take back with me as a teacher. I want to be able to look at my texts and ask myself whether I understand the global or cultural context. I want to ask myself how I can incorporate that into lessons and encourage my students to develop their own global awareness. Moreover, I want my students to question the material. I want them to challenge themselves and question tone, purpose, diction, characterization, symbolism, and allusion. I want them to ask why a text is important and figure out the answer by considering a different point of view. Without the ability to question and problem solve, students will never form their own answers, and without their own answers, they will not feel a sense of responsibility toward their own education.
That’s a lesson in teaching. It’s a lesson I learned in Brazil, and it was not part of a school visit, a university course, or a Portuguese lesson. It came straight from the experience and taught me when I didn’t even know I was learning.
I suppose it is normal to change after traveling. After all, would I be able to call myself a globally aware person if I always returned home the exact person I was before leaving? No, I think to be that person, to be the best learner—teacher—I can be, I must open up to the experience, and in opening, leave behind some previously held unawareness. It’s a bittersweet goodbye. Brazil might have taken a bit of who I was, but I get to bring back a stronger, more living bit of who I am.
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The last time I studied abroad, I had a museum problem. That is, I went to just about every museum I could get into (sometimes pretending to be British in order to get in for free), and I spent hours looking at art and buying souvenirs in the museum gift shops. I think that several pounds of my suitcase coming home were art books from those museums.
The great thing about museums is that they contain so many different pieces of artwork from so many different perspectives. Incidentally, that is also one of the great things about literature, so I guess it’s no surprise that I like to compare the two. When working on a unit in the English/Language Arts classroom, I always find it important to incorporate as many different texts as possible to supplement the primary text. In the past, I have used other pieces of literature (poetry, short stories, excerpts from nonfiction) for this purpose, in addition to movies, songs, and various youtube clips, but I feel that art could be another effective component. I can imagine using paintings, pictures, sculptures, advertisements, etc to
-Compare author and artist
-Compare purpose
-Analyze the depiction of a particular theme
-Analyze characterization
-Provide context for a historical person, place, or event
As it turns out, on our trip to the Oscar Niemeyer Museum with our university class, we were instructed to do something similar, choosing a piece of art, artist, or exhibition and then creating a lesson plan around it. It was difficult to come up with a literature-focused lesson plan since I was the only literature teacher in my group, and we wouldn’t all know the same works. However, I did get some good ideas for activities I could do with my own future classes. My favorite part of the museum was the Poty exhibition because it included a lot of ink sketches and even had some comic strips. Something to keep in mind for use with graphic novels perhaps?
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Today we had our first class at the university! I admit I was a little nervous before we got there because I didn’t know what to expect from the Brazilian students, but I really enjoyed it. We learned all about the education system in Brazil, and the Brazilian students asked us lots of questions about the US education system. My favorite question was about home schooling. I think it went something like this: “I have heard of home schooling. Is this a real thing?” Home schooling doesn’t exist at all in Brazil, so that doesn’t translate well culturally. On the flip side, it was interesting to hear about public vs. private schools in Brazil. From what I understand, public schools are very hard to get into for higher education, so a small percentage of students enroll in them. In addition, students are given their plan of study by the university and don’t get to choose their classes the way many students in the US do. It was an eye-opening discussion on both sides.
Here’s the breakdown of what I learned about Brazil’s education system:
-It’s organized into nursery school, preschool, primary (elementary) school, secondary (middle) school, secondary 2 (high) school, and higher education. Nursery through secondary 2 is called basic education.
-Reforms have been put in place to increase student enrollment and make more grade levels compulsory.
-Public schools (including those at the higher education level) are free.
-Even Brazil has a teacher shortage problem.
While it was fun to learn about the education system, getting to know the Brazilian students was even more exciting. We finished up class by making souvenir keychains. I thought we were just having a random, fun crafting moment, but really we were participating in a surprisingly effective icebreaker.
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I am at the airport, prepared to board my flight to Brazil, and I have had lots of layover time to think about what’s to come. Here are some of my reflections and expectations:
-I cannot wait for the food. Every time I have eaten today, I keep imagining how much I am going to love Brazilian food, especially at the steakhouses.
-I am worried about the power adapter situation. I didn’t bring a power adapter with me, and I don’t know what to expect outside of the hotel. I really don’t want to accidentally blow up my computer or hairdryer.
-I have made a resolution to try to speak as much Portuguese as possible. I have a feeling this will involve a lot of single words or short phrases accompanied by hand gestures, but I am up for the challenge.
-I am eager to meet new Brazilian friends. I have heard very encouraging things about how welcoming Brazilians are, and I can’t wait to meet them!
– I am beyond excited for the rainforest. I sort of wish we were going every weekend, and I haven’t even seen it yet.
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I feel very fortunate to be teaching secondary English. In terms of incorporating cultural awareness into teaching, English (perhaps after Social Studies) is a top content area. Whereas math and science classes have less flexibility in their content, English has a range of cultures to explore. In fact, just this year, I was able to cover the Ancient Greeks, Brazilian author Paolo Coelho, Shakespeare, African cultures in Things Fall Apart, and the French work Cyrano de Bergerac. I look forward to using literature to talk about various cultural identities, from nationalities to socioeconomic backgrounds, religious affiliations, ethnicities, gender identities, etc. I am in the lucky position to have at my disposal various texts with which students can identify and relate, and I plan to use them in order to make learning more relevant and meaningful for students.
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I was extremely fortunate in my student teaching this year to be able to work with a group of ESL students who were being included in an honors-level class for the first time. Working with them and my CT, I was able to learn to accommodate students from different cultural backgrounds. In this case, the respective backgrounds put the students at a linguistic disadvantage in the class, so there was a lot of language-focused accommodation, but the experience was nonetheless a practical lesson in inclusive teaching. Some of the techniques I found helpful were the following:
-Modifying vocabulary lists
-Holding small group sessions for grammar and novel studies
-Choosing culturally diverse literature
-Providing real life, relevant examples when talking about grammar and literature
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When I had to take a class on diversity for my MAT program, my instructor mentioned that the typical incoming teacher would be a young, white female and that minority teachers would often be looked favorably upon, especially in highly diverse schools. It makes sense, I think, that schools would want teachers who share some of the same cultural characteristics of the students. After all, teachers do serve in the roles of instructor, role model, and mentor, and isn’t it usually easier to listen to someone with whom you can identify? The cultural identity of teachers is bound to impact their teaching because it dictates, to some extent, how their students will respond to them. For instance, if I am taking an AP class, I will probably want to learn from a teacher who is familiar with the culture of college prep-focused students. On the other hand, if I am taking a world history class from someone who is not globally aware and refuses to accept other cultures, then I may be less likely to respond because the class will not feel engaging. Ultimately, my takeaway is that I should not let any cultural biases or tendencies get in the way of globally aware teaching.
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In my time student teaching, I seem to get a lot of advice that ends with the caution “as long as it’s in the best interest of the student.” The general consensus seems to be that when you keep your students’ best interests at heart, you can’t go wrong. Having said this, I have to say that internationalization/global issues should have a central place in a school’s curriculum. There is no denying that we are in a global age. My students aren’t shy about the social networking that they do, and many of them wouldn’t think twice about meeting someone new online and collaborating instantaneously no matter where they are. If students are going to be growing up and interacting in a world where globalization is not only common but expected, then it should be our job as teachers to make sure that they are well equipped to handle that expectation. If we are supposed to be preparing students for the real world and giving them the tools they need to succeed and to be productive citizens, then frankly, ignoring internationalization and global issues would be a disservice.
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In one of the pre-departure meetings, we talked about ways to characterize culture groups. The four main criteria are as follows:
-Power distance: This describes how comfortable people are approaching others in a superior position. For instance, some cultures have great respect for superiority and will submit to those in a higher position. On the other hand, some cultures prefer to be more equal in terms of power distribution. In these cultures, respect comes more from merit than from the title of a position. I believe I tend to favor a lower power distance where people are equal.
-Individualism vs. Collectivism: This describes whether people tend to identify themselves as part of a group or as an individual. I think I, like so many Americans, identify as an individual first.
-Achievement vs. Quality of Life: This describes whether people prefer money, jobs, and material things or quality of life and people. I definitely fall into the quality of life category. I don’t think I would be teaching if I didn’t!
-Uncertainty Avoidance: This describes whether people prefer rules and structure or a more laid back approach. I have a hard time self-assessing for this category. In some situations, like application processes, driving, etc., I prefer rules and structure, but when traveling for instance, I prefer to go with the flow and not have a set structure.
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I would define “global awareness” as a consciousness of world events and cultures, coupled with a respect for both. It seems to me that in order to be globally aware, you have to know what is going on, how things are, and you have to have some sort of understanding. It’s a deeper sense of knowing than just hearing a fact and remembering it. In addition, it’s not knowing and then criticizing or condemning. I guess it really is knowing and then accepting that global differences are not always good or bad. They just are. (I see the trip motto here again. Anyone else sensing a pattern?)
I would like to say that I am a globally aware person. I’m sure there are more globally aware people in the world, but my teaching and traveling experiences have left me with a good deal of respect for other cultures, and I tend to prefer gray over black and white anyway.
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My first startling experience with culture shock was when I studied abroad in France. For all of the similarities between Americans and Western Europeans, there were just as many differences that I was not expecting or not prepared to handle. Throughout my study abroad experience, I lived with host parents, so I was about as fully immersed in the French lifestyle as I could have been at the time. Every night I would eat dinner with them, and we would watch the French news together so I could work on my speaking and listening skills. (As a side note, that was a great technique. I should watch Brazilian news too.) Often, my host parents would share their views on local goings-on, and they would give me their advice on navigating the city, who to talk to and who to avoid, how to feel better when I had a chest cold, how to properly serve food and drinks, etc.
On the night of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we watched the news as usual, and my host parents shared their opinions. However, instead of remembering the night for the momentous occasion that it was, I remember that night because of the opinions my host parents expressed. They told me, very clearly and slowly, that 20 years ago, there had been something called the Berlin Wall which divided Germany in two. At first I thought that they were building up to some larger comment, and then I realized that they were explaining the Berlin Wall to me under the assumption that I had never heard of it, never mind the fact that I was alive when it was still standing. That night, I met the stereotype of the ignorant, globally-unaware American, and apparently it was me.
I do not claim to be any kind of world expert, but I do try to keep up with both domestic and international news, and it’s not unusual for me to have conversations about it with my close friends. My host parents in France did not immediately recognize that layer of my cultural identity, but I hope that the same is not true in Brazil. I may be going there to learn about Brazilian culture, but I will be displaying my own cultural identity for everyone to see. Might as well display something positive.
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Who Am I, And Where Did This Blog Page Come From?
In the times that I have traveled and studied culture shock in my pre-departure classes, I have been forced to look more closely at who I am so that I can recognize how I may respond to a new cultural experience. Here is my exercise in reminding myself that other cultures are not good or bad—they are just different. (That’s the motto for this trip.)
I am:
-White
-American
-Southern (hello barbecue, sweet tea, grits, magnolias, front porches, and a linguistically appropriate “y’all”)
-Female
-Heterosexual
-Protestant
-Greek-life oriented
-English-speaking (natively)
So far, I can probably guess that, with respect to at least 5 or 6 of these identity criteria, I will be a cultural minority in Brazil. (I am guessing that Greek-life does not translate there; that seems to be a very American idea…) At any rate, the ways I most readily identify myself are not ways that Brazilians will necessarily identify themselves, and there enters culture shock. When I desperately need a Band-Aid and don’t know the word for band-aid, or blood, or first aid kit, or help, I might resent the new and different culture. At that point, let’s hope that I remember two things: this exercise (with the motto for the trip), and some sort of sign language.
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Welcome to my Brazil travel blog! I have created this space to track my experiences student teaching abroad in Brazil. To begin, I plan to do a bit of pre-departure reflecting on who I am and why I have chosen to pursue this opportunity. Then, upon arrival in Brazil, I will be updating regularly with my ideas, questions, concerns, epiphanies, frustrations, observations, insights, and—of course—pictures! If there are three things that I love in this world, they are teaching, traveling, and writing. As such, I don’t doubt that this blog will allow me to think more deeply about who I am, why I am teaching, and—perhaps most importantly—how I am teaching. I cannot wait to embark on this trip and accept a few challenges of my own! With any luck, I will have a new outlook to bring to my stateside classroom.
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“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.”
-Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author
mEDUcognition 