Colombia, a final reflection

I'm back at home and unpacked, which means it's time to reflect a bit! For this last reflection, I'm talking about the two-part guiding question I designed for my time in Colombia, which centered around the teaching of a second language. In the first part of my question, I wanted to know if the pedagogy of teaching a second language in Colombia is basically the same as it is in the U.S. I was pleased, and impressed, to see that the English teachers that I observed were using the immersion model. The teaching strategies that I saw varied widely from one teacher to the next, but the basic philosophy of teaching in the target language was constant among teachers. I also had the opportunity to observe a pedagogy class (on teaching English), for students studying to be primary teachers, and I was delighted to see the same strategies being taught that I also had been taught! The Colombian Ministry of Education has placed an immense importance on creating a bilingual populace (Colombia Bilingüe), and this was reflected in many of the English classes that I visited, as well as by the passion with which teachers and school directors spoke of their English programs. I'll be curious to see what impact this emphasis has on classroom practices going forward. Will the strategies that I saw being taught in the pedagogy class become common practice in English classrooms of the future?

The second part of my guiding question dealt with global issues in the World Language curriculum. While I found that there is no mandate to do so, I saw that global connections were sometimes made. This was mostly done through projects, such as looking at global themes in literature. Despite not seeing consistent global themes imbedded into the English curriculum, I did generally find Colombian students to be very concerned with global issues and they readily identified themselves as being integral parts of the peace process and agents of change. What will global education look like going forward? With the concept of peace education being so new, I can't help but wonder if, in time, global topics will become common place in all content areas, including the English classrooms.

I'm fortunate to have met so many passionate, dedicated educators through this fellowship, both in Colombia and in my U.S. cohort. I'm excited to work on the many project plans that my colleagues and I have drawn up, which will continue to connect our students beyond our classroom walls.

Thanks for following my recent global learning journey and stay tuned for the next one... service learning in Peru, 2018!

Until then, ¡adiós!