Reflections, Final Thoughts, & Learnings

Zulfah and Koni seeing me off at the Medan airport.  Thank you for everything Zulfah.  You are amazing.  I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of an exchange between us, not the end.

I’ve been back just over a week now and it seems, simultaneously, like I was in Indonesia only yesterday and like it was already years ago that I visited Sumatra.  Time and space are funny things, and the mind is a very funny and complicated organ which construes or distorts things so readily and easily.  There has been some culture shock since my return, predictably, but not as bad as one might expect after such an intense month in a developing country.  I realized, mid-way through my trip, that previous travels and my diverse circle of friends and experiences in the U.S. equipped me quite well for what might otherwise have been unfamiliar or uncomfortable…and coming home (and feeling that I know live in 2 worlds, or multiple worlds) is not a new feeling for me either.  And so it is that I start this U.S. life again…

I want to put some “proper” closure on this blog, though, and so I return for this final entry.  With some time to reflect (although not much) and with my school year right around the corner (I’m on lunch break from a workshop that kicks off my work here), there are many things I wish to record and share in terms of my realizations and learnings this summer.  Given the title of my blog, the emphasis on education, this is appropriate I feel, and I hope, on some level, that this might be of use or interest to those who read it and perhaps even to me at a future date…when all of this seems more dream than reality.

List form will work best, I think, as I don’t have much time for this writing now that I’m back in the thick of it (my work that is) and seeing as I also have a thing for lists J…There is no way this list could ever be complete – each day I have a new epiphany as I process, on some deep, subconscious level, my summer and the other learnings, readings, and experiences in my life, but here is what I’m thinking and feeling now:

Professional Realizations/Learnings:

• Teaching is truly a passion and those engaged in this work that lack that passion and calling are merely collecting a paycheck and zombie-walking through life, to both their own detriment and those of the thousands of young people they interact with everyday.  Why do that?  Follow what you love.  Don’t settle for what you think will be an easy or safe path, or the only perceived available path….  I met some teachers in Medan who wished for other careers, other lives, and it made me quite sad.  I’ve met such teachers in the U.S. too.  While they don’t make up the majority in either place, these folks who teach as a job, not a passion, influence the climate of the schools they work in and impact the youth they meet in their classes.  We have only this one life and work fills so much of it.  The old adage, “Do what you love; love what you do” resounds in my head.  And I do.  I do love this teaching thing!  I hope one day that teaching will be a career that people aspire to have and that they take on with love and full commitment.
• Objectives that are clearly stated (and adhered to in terms of planning and lesson/unit focus) are truly critical.  With some goal in mind, a student can strive for understanding…if they know where they are going, they are more likely to try to get there…not always…but given my experiences in challenging content-area classrooms in a foreign language, I really needed something to hang my hat on, something to focus on and feel some success in attaining (if I could).  I needed to know what we were doing and why…and our students need to know this as well.  Doesn’t take much time or effort, but a world of difference may result.
• Money/resources do not make great classrooms, teachers, or schools.  SMA 3 Medan has very limited resources and severely restricted budgets (our budget woes in the U.S. are nothing, honestly) and yet I witnessed some of the best teaching I’ve ever seen.  Likewise, a projector and a PowerPoint doesn’t necessarily make for an engaged class or effective lesson.  I know this, or I knew this, but it was good to be reminded, particularly given the political rhetoric and maneuvering and the economic woes we face in the U.S. and in Arizona in particular.  This is not to say that money and resources are not important or that we shouldn’t invest in education and in modern technologies and creative approaches…this is only to say that the teacher is central and the content knowledge and skill that teacher brings to her/his lesson planning and delivery is critical.
• Global awareness and global education is not an extra, not a curricular add-on.  It is an essential.  We, humans, are collectively devastating this world environmentally and we are constantly working against each other in terms of economics, politics, social development.  Although we are bound as a species in these ways, how much do we really know about each other and how much do we care to learn about each other?  What are our schools and other socializing forces doing to increase global awareness and cross-cultural understanding?  What is our education system doing to develop thinkers who are able to hold multiple interests and multiple perspectives in their minds when making decisions?  How many languages (lenses) can we see the world through?  I have so many questions, concerns actually, about the state of the world…and rather than take a doomsday approach, I see real hope in our concerted effort as educators to develop a true global community…but there is much work to be done.  So, where will I start in relation to this particular issue? It overwhelms me, but there are small steps I plan to take this year and then hopefully I’ll meet others engaged in this work as well and new ideas will arise.

o   First, I plan to create weekly bulletins (with quick fact summaries and then weblinks for additional information) for our school staff (and for interested students) about each of the countries represented on our campus.  I think we need to start with the population we work with directly…there is so much we don’t know about our own students and the diverse countries they come from. ..we can build from there.

o   Second, I intend to work with my students to develop their thinking and their analyses beyond that of their home country and the U.S.  There is so much they are processing as they try to understand their transition here to the U.S. and work to find an individual fit between two cultures (their home country culture and that of the U.S.), and yet there is much more to the world than only those two countries/cultures.  I want my students to see themselves as truly global citizens and to have understandings of the entire world and a sense of responsibility and love for the entire world…basically to see possibilities for their life anywhere on this planet and thus feel connected to the entire planet and to everyone on this planet.  This will break down either/or paradigms, black/white thinking and open up, literally, a world of possibilities…which I hope will be exciting for them and productive for us all as we learn, share, discuss…

o   Third, there are many small projects I’m considering taking on to develop greater global awareness in my school, city, and among my students: a project on world Englishes and on the implications and impacts of English being a global language to be done with my Academic Writing students, a local radio program weekly featuring the voices and stories of the immigrant/refugee students I work with; a debate club/team as part of the Finding Our Voice club with a focus on researching/debating global issues; publishing articles about the work Josh Schachter and I do with Finding Voice as a way to share the both our work and our students’ voices….

Personal Realizations/Learnings:

• I am a strong, physically and mentally, woman.  “Duh!” some of you reading this will shout, but this summer provided a very good and very necessary reminder for me.  Most significantly, I tested my digestive system (my weak point as many of you know) to its true limits and I survived.  And, I completed the most arduous hike I’ve ever done – actually the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically – with greater strength, agility, confidence, and stamina than I thought possible for me.  The “silly” talk about a triathlon or a decade of thru-hikes is not so silly anymore.  I know that I can take on these physical and mental challenges, and much more besides.
• I have much more time available to me than I recognize.  Being unmarried and without kids, most people assume that all of my time is my own and that, of course, I have tons of free time… but those who know me know that I fill it fully with work and hiking and other odds and ends.  What I realized in watching dynamic-Zulfah move through her very busy, very complicated, very full of people life, is that I can manage my time more effectively and find ways to get together with friends and family more, write and publish articles about what I do as a teacher and perhaps other things too, create some art, hike, bike, swim, plan vacations, cook, and much more.   In other words, balancing my work life with other aspects of my life and personality is possible!  Every year I feel that I come closer to this (during my 1^st few years of teaching I thought it might be impossible), and this year may be the break-through year.  It’s really about priorities and focus and will.
•  And finally, with regards to social justice and environmental stewardship – the well-being of the world on all levels and in all ways - the actions of one do make an impact.  Of this I am more certain than ever.  Nothing like being in a dirty, crowded city in a developing nation to awaken these social responsibilities and a sense of agency.  Tucson is so spread out; people live in relative isolation of each other and of the rest of the world (or so it seems to me much of the time); and it is easy to ignore things or to feel apathetic or ineffectual (one reason I thought I would never return to Tucson to live).  A big city wakes one up – wakes me up…and there is much I need to do to be certain that I am living as I want to be living, doing no harm and doing some good for and in this world.  I don’t want to sound preachy or holy in any way, just want to record that I know that what I do and how I live impacts others – across the globe even…and if I care about this Earth and profess a socially conscious mind and empathetic heart, then I have to monitor how I live and what I do and make changes where I see things out of line, things causing harm... 

On that note, I end this list regarding my Sumatran Pendidikan. 

There is a phrase in Indonesian: “Buah Hati” which means the fruit of my heart – corresponding loosely to the American phrase: “The apple of my eye.”  Indonesia is now among my buah hati nations, the many fruits that nourish me and color my life, the places and the people living in those places that are in my heart.  Thank you Zulfah, TEA program folks, and everyone else who helped make this summer possible (including my wonderful mom who spent time with my cats).  I hold each of you in my hati.