Education In Belize

One of Dr. Catapano's prompts for the Belize field experience was to write about how children are viewed in Belize culture. How children are viewed, she wrote, influences many things related to education and public policy, not to mention social aspects to how children, teenagers, and students are viewed in education. It's quite a difficult thing to write about, and I waited awhile before mentioning it.

I mentioned earlier that the schools here do not have all the resources that the schools in the United States have. However, from all I've seen, the teachers have just as much heart, if not more. True, many of them are not what Americans would consider "good teachers." They don't have the flashy computers, super creative activities, or all the other resources that are drilled into our brains in college as the necessary tools for "good teaching."

But they teach. Children seem to be viewed similarly to how they are viewed in the United States. At least, that's what I can tell from all that I can see. They're kids. They can be infuriating, stupid, brilliant, smart, sarcastic, stressful, and live-giving all at the same time. And I think the teachers here realize that. There do seem to be a lot more personal relationships between the teachers and the students. And I don't mean inappropriate ones.

Actually, the level of friendship between the students and teachers reminds me of what it's like being back home. I'm from a very small town in North Carolina. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone knew everyone at the high school, too. I don't think the relationships that the students have with the teachers here are necessarily a Belize thing. I think it's a small town thing. If you know the student's parents, and the ins and outs of his or her home life, you can be a better teacher.

Of course, in Wilmington, which isn't even considered a large city by any means, things are different. The teacher has to go the extra mile in order to build relationships with the students. However, that really is the key to this whole thing. I can't believe that this experience will be done in a few days. If you want to look at where I've been teaching, take a look at the picture in this post. That's San Pedro High School.