ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.
ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.
ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.
ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.
ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.
ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.
ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.
ESSAY ON POPULAR EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH WEST OF BARRANQUILLA
LUZ ESTELA NARVAEZ
BARRANQUILLA APRIL 2017
Within these pages the reader will better understand the experience gained by a teacher in the southwest city of Barranquilla Colombia, in her effort to support the children of her neighborhood. A passion for the children of this “pobre barrio” is evident in actions taken.
The fight against social neglect coupled with the absence of State aid created a significant problem in the poor areas of the city. During the confusion in the mid-1980s, we started a school in the neighborhoods of Evaristo Sourdís, a poor area in the city of Barranquilla. At that time, these “barrios” were populated by people who were fleeing the political war in rural areas of the Colombian Caribbean where landowners and drug dealers supported by armed groups such as FARC forced the displacement of the civilian population. Many of those refugees found their way to Barranquilla.
This one event became the main reason Barranquilla became a city with high urban growth. This city was a welcoming peaceful retreat for those immersed in the violence of their old neighborhoods. In this city were formed many districts inhabited by those displaced by the strong conflict in the agricultural regions of the Caribbean area in Colombia. Barranquilla became the safe-haven, a solution to the problem of housing and an improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the displaced people.
FULFILLING A DREAM
How do we support those people, how do we solve their problems of inclusion and improvement of their standard of living?
This was the question to be resolved. Hypothetically we believed the answer lays in education. That was the pathway to the development of a safe and secure environment for our new neighbors. My goal as a young woman, 24 years old, was to improve their lives and find a path of peace and vindication for members of the social group to which I belong
THE SCHOOL WAS THEIR HOME
Creating educational institutions for children of these new members of our community who have suffered so much would be the starting point. Although they lived across the vast area of Barranquilla, they were especially located in the southwest part of that city, especially in the neighborhoods of Sourdis, 7 de Agosto, los Rosales, and the Falklands. All these districts were composed of people from the stratum who escaped the violence. They were isolated in Barranquilla and therefore did not enjoy an efficient education to guide their lives.
Our challenge was to create an education center or a form of education that would lead to the solution of the problems the adults were faced with as well as provide for the instructional needs of the children. The ultimate goal was the achievement of a dignified life, with a level of education that allowed them to solve the problem of poverty and break the schemes of exclusion that weighed on them as a great mass of iron and rock.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
Planning for the new school, we did a census of school children in the area as well as illiterate adults. We convened the school with approximately one hundred children in a rental house. I was accompanied by four teachers from the neighborhood. And our work began.
In the daytime, we educated the youth and at night we focused on literacy as well as the trades such as carpentry, masonry, house cleaning and other related trade skills for the adults. This was a program of improvement geared to a quality standard of living for all.
I had to draw a guideline which, from the educational center, would improve the condition of all the members of the community. The problem affected all persons young and old and therefore we had to fix it all.
It was necessary to develop a program, with our teaching partners that would reflect the fundamental changes to society. From that arose the following concepts which should have an impact on students, the families as well as in the group of teachers who were part of the educational institution.
PEACE AS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUALITY EDUCATION
It was noted in the vast majority of students existed violent behavior caused by the strong crisis of social values that crossed all families embedded by the warmongering spirit that had been left behind in their neighborhoods.
For this reason, teachers spoke to students of the need for respect for themselves and others. Without suppressing them or discriminating against the hope, the goal was to internalize these concepts with a sincere and engaging dialogue.
Many of their home values were models of domestic violence. We read and reinforced the political Constitution of Colombia which noted that the family is the basic institution of society. In its article 42 Charter Magna states: the family is the fundamental nucleus of society. It is by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to get married they will be responsible for shaping it.
The State and society guarantee the integral protection of the family. The law may determine the unattachable and inalienable heritage. The honor, dignity and privacy of the family are inviolable. Family relations are based on equality of rights and duties of the couple and on mutual respect among its members.
Any form of violence in the family, is considered destructive of its harmony and unity and shall be punished in accordance with the law. The children held in the marriage, adopted or born naturally or with scientific assistance, have equal rights and duties. (Political Constitution of Colombia). Article 43 of the Constitution of 91 establishes equality between men and women.
In this regard, notes the constitutional section: "women and men have equal rights and opportunities. Women may not be subjected to any kind of discrimination. During pregnancy and after childbirth women will enjoy special care and protection by the State and will receive this subsidy, food, if they have been unemployed and helpless. The State will support in particular woman heads of households."
With respect to these two constitutional articles, teachers invited students to reflect on these rules and see the depth that these issues have. It would not be easy to assimilate nor to implement these in households but through the education process we hoped to make a difference. The students then reflected and adopted critical positions on these issues.
Parents and family leaders were invited to discuss managing their budgets so as to not interfere with the needs of the family. It was important to refrain from activities such as partying which would unbalance the family's income. Family groups were told that if they could have their budgets organized they could focus on owning the things needed to live with dignity.
As for the children, the focus was placed on civility and decency, leading to more respect in the family and to make it more orderly. As to how to convince children, initially educators talked to students individually and in groups to reaffirmed the concept with the intent to internalize those social skills. Papers were presented by the students and read to the class. Dramas were made with the students on the issue of domestic violence and a discussion of this controversial fact ensued.
In addition, children did interviews with parents specifically on the reasons they had come to Barranquilla and reflections on that information helped students better understand their situation.
TEACHING NEEDED SKILLS
We observed that children had many limitations in the acquisition of knowledge therefore our primary objective, as a school was the normalization of reading and writing, as these were basic in the acquisition of knowledge. They looked for readings that are pleasant for children and it is reflected on the most varied subjects.
We also had to help the students adapt to city life teaching traffic rules, organization of the city showing the main sites in the city as: centers of Government, churches, services public and others. To improve the condition of people as human beings was a difficult task. We had to teach them that there are constitutional norms and laws of which they had to comply.
In terms of programs, we not only followed the plan of the Government, but it was important that the students acquire those knowledges which really would be significant in their lives.
A PEDAGOGY BASED ON FREEDOM, RESPECT AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF DISCRIMINATION OR REPRESSION
It is noted that most children, came from families that had a form of informal economy and most lived of the rummaging and selling of items found as well as the technical trades as: masonry, plumbers, mechanics, shopkeepers, small shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs, sellers of fast foods among others.
They were a people free of rules and regulations, therefore, we had to leave them to act in freedom and let them think without suppressing them or discriminate against them.
You can see as with the philosophies of Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky and Goleman, students responded to their style of acquiring knowledge. They were expected to be very free with their own, imaginative, creative ways of building knowledge.
It was observed that school was having its impact on the family, the students were adapting and in a matter of few years they assimilated the morality of the city and an efficient education and quality for their particular interests.
TECHNICAL INDUSTRIOUNESS
In more than 30 years of existence the Education Center in southwest Barranquilla prepared students for specialized training. We sought to teach skills that are useful and productive. This allowed many technical programs of the SENA Community College to be implemented in our institution as an additional pathway to the knowledge that is conducive to the enhancement of the community. Wood engraving and painting courses were developed as well as skills utilizing fabric and computer technology. Partnering with SENA allowed for a wide diversity of programs to meet the specific needs of the students.
Parents were also linked through training in trades such as shoe-making, developing leather products, clothing, embroidery and print that turned out to be successful. Working as a team allowed many young people as well as their parents to acquire a modus vivendi.
On the other hand, many of our students were linked to SENA to continue their education. This allowed them to be successful in their jobs and in their technical training to improve their socioeconomic situation.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Since the Education Center was developed it was expected of Seno Luz and all teachers to lead by example. They were expected to live with the greatest possible dignity, not only in their actions but that their housing site was nice, well-built and painted, in addition, all belongings were kept in an orderly manner for students to see when they visited.
All teachers try to be respectful with their students, and also their parents. All were expected to use decent and courteous language and honor their friends and acquaintances. I think, that as a model of being a good friend we will educate with love and respect. As a result of our behavior, we see that many of our neighbors try to imitate the positive things that I practice.
In addition, as an educator, I have always tried to be a good mother, raising my children to be good examples as others will learn from their actions. I have noticed that there are many parents worried about their children and have imitated this behavior that I practice.
The neighborhood of this educational institution is a confluence of a wide variety of neighborhoods where imitation is a form that validates behavior and learning. People try to imitate and endeavor to better their neighbors or friends, not so much out of envy, but by a state of the people of the popular strata of Barranquilla's own emulation. You can detect what is designated here is an instrument that well managed and interpreted can be useful, for the achievement of social change in the South West of Barranquilla and in any part of the Colombian geography.
Enter a group of students that show conditions in their behavior that is unacceptable. We had to determine the best type of treatment necessary to adapt to school life.
THE “VULGAR” PEDRO (not his real name) CAME TO TERRORIZE THE SCHOOL
Pedro entered the school with a strong desire to fight every student. He bullied students until they agreed to defend and support him. Other students followed his lead as they too began to use vulgar language and the slang of addicts. He likes to hide things from others to create chaos in the classroom.as well as mess with the little ones, however he appeared but afraid of elders. He was expelled from several schools. Living with the sister of his father (aunt) who has raised him since childhood, his mother is a drug addict and violent.
His father is a good person but is very sick, possibly dying of cancer so he is unable to attend to his son. There are other siblings living with him making life more difficult. He has a bicycle with which he uses to escape from his aunt but he uses it to seek out an undesirable neighborhood filled with crime. He accompanies one of the major drug dealers in that area.
His behavior in school is aggressive and violent. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and receives medication to modify his behavior somewhat.
THE BEHAVIOR PLAN OF ACTION
The student now needs to fulfill his educational obligations. He uses many techniques to avoid doing his work. When the time comes for recess it is made clear that those who do not meet their school obligations will remain in class until they are met. Although it took three hours to complete the task, we were persistent.
Looking for solutions, his mother said that visits to the psychiatrist made little difference. It was subsequently observed in classes that the more tired he gets, the more irritable and violent he becomes. He pushes smaller students and puts his hands on girls, holding them and using disrespectful language.
Shown that the child is lacking love and a friendly family atmosphere, our decision was, as educators, to treat him with firmness and love seeking compliance and a positive reaction. While other schools have removed him, our school will persevere. We created a pleasant atmosphere while protecting the safety of all students.
We also gave him an academic assessment in the form of a small test to assure his assignments were appropriate. It is important that he is not frustrated by his work but also that he shows improvement in his academic skills. In the process of change, not despair, values are internalized through readings on his level and improvement will be rapid because the truth is that he is a very intelligent child. His reading is now improving slowly as is his behavior.
ANOTHER CASE STUDY
Juan David (otherwise). is a child who goes looking for problems with others. He is constantly lying and always on the move. He has difficulty sitting still and is constantly disturbing others. Heis considered a fourth grade student but reading is somewhat less than that.
He lives with grandparents who accept everything he does. There is very little discipline in his home. His mother lives with another husband and has indicated she does not want him.
Treatment plan.
We talk to him firmly and observe him on all occasions. When demands are made of him, he cries. John leaves school on a regular basis. We then find him and return him to school. He is angry when he returns and it is difficult to convince him to be forthright. He is clever and able to deceive those around him. His gossiping causes difficulty among his peers.
Our goal is to work with him and keep him busy at all times. We supplement his academic education with hands on activities that encourage him and give him satisfaction. We are persistent with him in a loving manner as it is essential that he conform to school as well as society.
CASE STUDY
Dylan (otherwise) Is 5 years old and is in our preschool. He is a child who is never where he belongs. He is a victim as he is constantly being punched by other students. Although he appears to be deaf, he is not. Larger students beat on him but he doesn’t respond. He does not cry and doesn’t flinch.
When asked to work he seldom has a pencil even though mother has bought him many. His mother brings him snacks that he likes and also likes sharing them with his mother. His mother is dedicated to micro-traffic, is also a prostitute. The father is a lawyer and elder and is slow to make decisions with this regarding Dylan. Father gives him pretty much what he wants. Whatever it takes to make his son happy. Both parent appear to spoil the child.
SUMMARY
These are three examples of the difficulty facing the teachers in this neighborhood school. It is important to acknowledge that many students as well as their parents are those that escaped from the rural areas controlled by FARC and have lived very difficult lives. We understand that we must treat students with a balance of love and firmness but most of all be persistent and never give in to poor behavior.
Other schools have refused to serve these students but our obligation is to all of those from our neighborhood, regardless of the problems they bring with them. Love is good, but this should be provided gradually so that the child must earn it and internalized the values of the neighborhood one step at a time. We also work closely with the families as they live in the neighborhood and are nearby. Our connection with them will help to change and improve the lives of the children. I am a believing woman, always I commend you to God, I always pray with my students, I think, that the permanent Prayer strengthens the will and leads us to the good and to the pursuit of the track and the salvation.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
It is essential that the Government give greater support to popular education, not only financial support which is necessary but to improve the status of teachers at the educational level In Colombia, education is not a priority.
There is a constant struggle for educators who are committed to the cause of the people. Those people who have overcome the culture of poverty that has been imposed as a consequence of the marginality and the war that has undermined the Colombian society.
SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In our search to find pedagogical and methodological solutions that would improve the dysfunctional behaviors of some of our students, we contacted the IASE International Association for Special Educational, which is an entity dedicated to the support of the children with special needs around the world.
In Education Center Seno Luz has counted with the support of the educator and researcher Eldon Lee, an American who has made an important contribution to the improvement of our methods and treatment with the dysfunctional students. We have also been invited by Mr. Lee to the United States and have exhibited and shown our educational experiences in different events. We have also visited Growing Power and Mr. will Allen who showed us how we can develop urban farming. That information has been helpful to our efforts to grow vegetables and flowers ay our educational center.
Educator Mary Gale Budzisz, belonging to IASE has given us ideas and material contributions that have contributed to the improvement of our educational center. Their efforts have helped us build our new school as well as provide assessment materials, desks, copy machines and a variety of other needed supplies of which we are grateful.
THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE YEARS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, OUR GREATEST CONCERN
Educating children in their early childhood became the basic axis of educational training in the center of formation of the school. We began by serving children between two and five years old giving them the thorough education which will prepare them for their future. They began with the pre-primer level of reading and continued with a variety of activities essential for their growth and development.
Families made very significant commitments to the education of their children that transcended traditional education. Students were not only readers, but also performers of the readings decoders and acquire a more semiotic reading related to its socio-cultural context and the realities of the surrounding neighborhood.
Children, with their literacy, will then overcome their socio-cultural deficits. In addition, values training allowed them to improve their material conditions of life. The medium in which was developed presented them as a good citizen with better public services, greater preservation of health and the pursuit of a healthy and dignified life. Children will then transcend the immediacy of educational marginalization and try to deepen their knowledge in many more ways.
CONCLUSIONS
Herein we present a set of conclusions on what has been my educational work in the South-West of Barranquilla, where it can be said that we believe in a pedagogical vision which gives answers to problems existing in this large populated area. We found in education a valid instrument to confront the displacement and the indignity of social marginalization and backwardness.
Consider that one of the ways to fight the indignity and exclusion is education specifically, an education that finds its basis on assimilating the socio-cultural context into the learning process.
It is seen as a second, conclusive element that peace must be the central concern when fighting for a liberating education, counteracting the marginality and the indignity of the children of the neighborhood. In addition, it is necessary to reduce domestic violence in a culture of violence.
A popular pedagogy must be sustained in the name of freedom, respecting the absence of any kind of discrimination or repression with children or students in general.
Finally, we must recognize the necessity to eliminate poverty and marginalization by training the student to acquire a trade or technical work of their choice that will give them the opportunity to auto solve their problems of survival.