Blog 6: Costa Rican and US schools

Costa Rican Schools are very similar yet different than United States schools. Like US schools they have around 20-30 student in a classroom with desks, chairs, whiteboards/chalkboards, and a teacher. Surprising they also had technology. Calle Hernandez Primary school had a projector playing a video of the alphabet on the whiteboard. San Luis school had small laptops for all the children. They both also had at least one classroom, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, a flag pole with a Costa Rica flag, and a playground. Something that made them both different from US schools was the lack of school supplies and text books. Both schools get supplies from donations and fundraisers. I thought it was really interesting to see that both didn’t have text books for the students. Similarly to US schools, Calle Hernandez Primary school had different teachers for the different grades. San Luis school had the same teachers for all grades.

The two schools were different and similar to each other in several ways. One way they were different was by amount of children. Calle Hernandez Primary school has several more children than San Luis school. They were about the same in size (besides the fact that Calle Hernandez Primary school had more classrooms).  Another difference was Calle Hernandez had a class time just for learning English. In schools that have over 90 students, an English teacher is provided. San Luis has less than 90 students therefore the woman that teaches English is only there once or twice a week and they are not getting the amount of English they need to be getting. While Calle Hernandez Primary school had over 90 students, San Luis school had less than 30. Calle Hernandez also had several teachers and a principal. At San Luis school the principal, main teacher, and the administration is all one man.

Teaching in these two schools was definitely a challenge for me. It was easier in Calle Hernandez Primary school because the students had more practice with English. This made it where they could understand what I was saying and even talk to me a little bit. At San Luis school I found that I played charades a lot because the students had no idea what I was saying and I had no clue what they were saying to me. If I were to teach in these schools I would definitely want to be more fluent in speaking and comprehending Spanish. A challenge to teaching in these schools would be the limited amount of supplies and money. I would have to do lots of games that didn’t involve supplies, such as singing. Another challenge would be working with more than one grade level at a time. As a teacher I would have to learn how to accommodate all students so that they are all learning and not confused.

 I think it would be difficult to be a child in these classes. For example a struggling child would become irritated and frustrated with schools in Costa Rica because they are behind and everyone is taught on one level. A gifted child would also experience frustration because they would be bored. In United States schools this problem is less likely to occur because most instruction such as reading has different levels for different children.

Overall my experiences in the two different schools were great! I loved both schools and the children.  I hope that all of the children continue their education past sixth grade. I also hope the books we donated to the schools are helpful and beneficial to the children. I strongly encourage anyone reading this blog to visit foreign schools to see how they are alike and different from United States schools. It really makes you appreciate the little things!