Argentina: Escuela

Escuelas (es-kew-las)

I will be based at one escuela (school) called Instituto Comercial (a secondary school) for the duration of my stay in Crespo. However, AFS have made arrangements so that I can visit other schools to see some of the differences between them.

As well as Instituto Comercial I have also been visiting two primary schools (Escuela San José and Escuela Guaraní) and what I do in each place varies. Sometimes I observe, sometimes I help with lessons and sometimes I teach (English or an English lesson that is focused around New Zealand culture). I brought a jar of Marmite in last week for some of my classes; most of the students didn't like it! They were running outside to get water and turning on the fans to get rid of the smell! The next time I saw the class the first thing that a student said to me was "no tengo hambre" (I'm not hungry!).

Children want to know what life is like in New Zealand for people their age, "do teenagers in New Zealand like Justin Bieber?” etc (by the way the girls here do and the boys don't!). They also like practicing what they have learnt in English with me "What is your favourite colour" or "Do you have any brothers or sisters?".

There is a morning school and an afternoon school and students go to one or the other. There are normally three of four breaks throughout the day but they are very short (between five and ten minutes). They have lunch at home with their families so they do not have a long lunchtime like we do. You do not get much free time with your friends!

The schools that I have been to all have a uniform and in primary schools teachers wear one too! As do the youngest children who are three and four (you do not have to start school until you are five but most primary schools have the initial levels as well). White smocks are the traditional school uniforms of public schools and children wear their own clothes underneath them. Originally they were seen as a way of treating the poor and the rich as equals so that nobody would be embarrassed by their clothing. Students don't seem to like the smocks (!) and now most schools also have another option.

When the bell goes in the morning, the students meet in an outside area before going to the classroom and say the pledge to the flag while the flag is raised in the school yard. At the end of the school day, students do the same while the flag is lowered. Generally two or three students are in charge of the flag, and it is a great honor to “pasar a la bandera” (go to the flag). Teachers choose which students get to go according to their behavior and academic performance.