5 / 22 / 19; Week 05: Cultural Paradigms

In Peruvian education we have some paradigms which do not allow us to improve the quality of education. As a teacher I have always heard that we are comparing our education with that of Finland. We do not take into account that this comparison should not only be made with respect to the philadelphia educational model but also it has to be considered our cultural and social reality are totally different which does not allow our educational level to achieve what has been achieved in Finland.

Now as the mother of two girls, one of 10 years old and the other of 15 years who are currently studying in a private school, I must say that comparing Peruvian students and students from Finland is not reasonable because the Finnish economy is one of the most prosperous in Europe , based on the important service sectors, as well as manufacturing. In the country there is a welfare state, as well as a highly democratic policy and extremely low levels of corruption. On the other hand, in Peru we do not have a prosperous economy, we do not have a welfare state and corruption levels are very high.

Studying in a public school in Peru is very challenging because of the lack of infrastructure, without competitive academic level and little interest on the part of teachers in helping students to be people with values.

Another very common paradigm in Peru is the age at which children should start school. A child must go to school from three years and up to 5 years are in the level "Kindergarten", then from 6 years to 11 years are in the "Primary" level and from 12 years to 16 years should be at the "Secondary" level. The students while they are in the secondary level parallel to it spend at least two years studying in pre-university academies; then when they finish school they automatically apply to the universities and many of them enter. The problem is that after two years of entering university the students change careers and then again they are not sure of their choice and they change again and in the end there is a large percentage of them who can not finish a career with success. I think this is due to the lack of maturity of the student due to they finish school at very early age, and also parents often demand that their children study what they wanted to be as young people without respecting the vocational guidance of their own children.

The religion course in schools is another paradigm. In most of the schools the "Catholic religious education course" is taught, which as a mother, teacher and member of the church I believe should not be given. A few years ago the Peruvian government decreed that it is optional to study this course in public and private schools but for example my daughters are exempt from this course, but they must be inside the classroom listening to the teacher of "catholic religion" because they are prohibited retire from the classroom; then, indirectly, religious freedom is not respected at all. In addition many teachers do not show tolerance and even make offensive comments towards other religious beliefs.

In my classroom, I try to impart respect and tolerance towards others, on some occasions I have had to take 5 or 10 minutes of my class to talk to them about something I have noticed in the classroom that I think is not correct. We are all children of God and as such we should love and respect each other. There are many things that as teachers we can do but students spend more time at home than at school, so it is important to talk with parents so that they are aware of the great responsibility we have in the education of our children, not only academically but also form good people.