Travel

I love to travel to wondrous and exciting places.  There is nothing quite like going to new surroundings, being awed by the distinct beauty of the area and embracing a culture far removed from my own.  I traveled to southern China a year ago to see the mysterious karst mountains.   On Tuesday, I traveled to another "wondrous place" as I sat in Education 2250 and talked with Brecque.  Brecque is a young lady who teaches Biology and Chemistry in a predominately Navaho high school in Cuba.  She opened up and discussed the adventure she is having in this diverse setting.  Many of the concepts in the Perkins/Gomez article (Abt-Perkins, D. & Gomez, M .L. (1993).   A Good place to begin:  Examining our personal perspectives.  Language Arts, 70, (3), 193-204.) came to life as Brecque shared her stories.  Brecque now has an openness with her students, so they are in a setting where they can, "tell their own stories on their own terms," though it took a while to break through the cultural barrier to get to this point.  For the first couple of weeks, the students only spoke Navaho, as a form of rebellion, sending her the distinct message, "You are not one of us."  With patience and perseverance, Brecque worked toward building a mutually respectful relationship.  Brecque shared a key piece of her philosophy of education when she told us she wants her students to know that each one is important.  I could hear the sincerity in her voice and see it in her eyes.  She invited me to come observe in her class and in her school!  I think I will take her up on her offer because I love to travel to new settings and experience diverse cultures!