¡Hola from Ecuador!
First selfie in Ecuador at Aeropuerto Mariscal Sucre!
We arrived in Quito late Saturday night. Technical difficulties have prevented me from posting until now, and it’s looking like I may have to wait until my return to Chapel Hill to post more photos from Quito. I have a back up plan for the Galapagos, though, so my fingers are crossed!
We had an intense day of touring historic downtown Quito and other sights around the city on Sunday. Today we visited two K-12 schools in Quito that were just minutes apart but in every other way a study in contrasts-- more on the schools later.
We also visited the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and learned about 10,000 years of Ecuadorian history-- in 90 minutes!-- and the many changes the state education system has undergone since 2006. USFQ has a beautiful campus and has been an essential partner in planning this visit.
While the group has been learning about Ecuadorian history and contemporary politics and issues in the Galapagos, I’ve been learning a ton from my fellow travelers as they talk shop about education in my adopted home of North Carolina. Our group is made up of teachers from public and private K-12 schools, community college professors, principals, a superintendent, librarian, counselor.
Some of their conversations go over my head (what is an IB school? Am I hearing that right? I need to ask someone), and some of it seems so particular to this exact moment in North Carolina’s history and whatever requirements are being phased in and out that it’s only interesting to educators in the thick of it. But I’m finding that the larger issues these small, often seemingly bureacratic matters point to have their parallels here in Ecuador as well.
In Ecuador they are also talking about teacher compensation, investment in education and training students for a global workforce. They worry about inequality of opportunity along class and racial lines and the tension between the democratic impulse to give all kids the same education and the need to shape that education to the culture of each community. How do you increase respect for the teaching profession? How do you quantify what makes a good school?
Tomorrow we fly to Isla San Cristóbal. I’m excited for the next leg of our journey and our upcoming school visits. No doubt each visit will raise more questions.
Shannon Harvey, Global Relations