Kalu Yala

Education Goals: Spring 2013

Program Overview

As a new offshoot of the Community Outreach program, the Education program aims to focus on building our relationship with the San Miguel community through shared knowledge and a commitment to progress through education. Currently, the Education program maintains a presence in the local school by conducting regular ESL classes, while offering an adult ESL program in La Mesa. As director, I hope to achieve company goals of expanding the domains of this program to include a wider variety and definition of “education” in events and classes.

Semester Goals

  1. To maintain continuity in the ESL program: build on students’ prior knowledge by planning a longer-term schedule for classes
  2. To provide avenues for feedback from students on program’s structure/quality
  3. To expand the definition of the Education program beyond ESL classes
  4. Involve as many other Kalu Yala members as possible in working to make the Education program more “multidisciplinary”
  5. To avoid an “us” and “them” paradigm of education: make it clear that we, as an organization, value many types of education (intellectual, technical, cultural, creative)
  6. Facilitate bringing in third-party expertise to San Miguel
  7. Establish platforms for individuals within San Miguel to share their knowledge with fellow community members

Techniques

  1. Be flexible: recognize that education is a process & that plans will need to be modified to be effective
  2. Be patient while working with students
  3. Involve outside help: with few spring interns in San Miguel, we will need to be creative to keep the ESL/Education program fresh! Communicating with other program directors and interns regularly will be crucial
  4. Research: use print & media sources liberally for program ideals
  5. Establish measurable goals: How can we best track progress of the program?/How can be more comprehensive & analytical in making sure we are meeting the needs of the community?
  6. Utilize spaces beyond the classroom: engage more students by regularly taking activities to La Cancha, other common outdoor spaces
  7. Remember that we are always ambassadors for Kalu Yala: by living in San Miguel, we are a part of the community and our behavior reflects upon the company at all times.

List of Education Projects

  1. ESL program
  2. Intern projects
  3. Partner School program
  4. Community Education Events
  5. Workshops with other KY programs
  6. General Casa Yala Projects & Goals

ESL Program

  1. Where are we currently with the ESL program?
  2. Create a system for tracking progress in classrooms
  3. Try to incorporate lessons in other subjects into ESL classes to familiarize students
    1. Teach relevant vocabulary
    2. Collaborate with other teachers
  4. Show English language movies (with subtitles), e.g. Disney movies – use more multimedia sources with projector & laptop!

Intern Projects

  1. Esteban Gast (co Biz/Ed intern)’s project: sociological look at education in Panama & relative significance of areas of study
    1. Set up interviews with school administrators
    2. Focus groups with students?
    3. Meet with Esteban to discuss project
  2. Any other interns interested in working in schools?
    1. Community Outreach interns?

Partner School Program

  1. Establish partner school program for cultural and language exchange
    1. Talk to my parents, who both work in elementary education in Massachusetts, about this
    2. Any other interns have connections to elementary schools who would like to get involved?
  2. Pen Pal project?
    1. Look into the feasibility of this idea regarding the post…
  3. Video blogs with classrooms in US
    1. Use my video camera to film student introductions & questions; create a schedule for this project
    2. Talk to Media coordinator at local schools in Boston

Community Education Events

  1. Weekly or bi-weekly community workshop series
    1. What individuals in San Miguel have skills that would benefit their community? Talk to these people & ask whether they would like to share their knowledge to a small audience
    2. Consider asking individuals from surrounding towns, too
  2. What are the barriers to students who want to pursue higher education?
    1. Are there representatives from universities in Panama City who would be willing to come speak in the town about planning for a future in education?
    2. I want to make sure I’m not being culturally insensitive, so this idea may not be appropriate

Workshops with Other Kalu Yala Programs

  1. Agriculture project
    1. Work with Alex & Ag interns; his idea is on local crops & health benefits
    2. Also, expand to an afterschool agriculture workshop? Maybe gauge interest with a class, then expand to a regular workshop if possible
  2. Invite interns & directors from other programs to come up with a one-day lesson/event to present to students/community at large.
    1. Work with anyone who wants to get involved to make it happen
  3. Work with Kelly & Community Outreach interns to provide support, avoid redundancy, etc.
    1. Weekly meetings with progress updates? Put some mechanism in place for updating each other

General Casa Llena Projects & Goals (in progress…)

  1. See Kelly’s list in CO Goals document
  2. I will be adding to this list when I get to San Miguel!
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