On education in Finland ▸ Sobre la educación en Finlandia

Rosa María Torres

Fotos: Finska

 
Visita de estudio en Finlandia | Finland study visit

▸ Conversando bajo la lluvia | Talking in the rain

▸ Timo y Giorgio

▸ Escuelas sin zapatos

▸ Finlandia: Tecnologías en escuelas y bibliotecas

▸ Dos malentendidos sobre la educación en Finlandia

▸ Confianza: Palabra clave en Finlandia

▸ Los estudiantes finlandeses no saben de Sudamérica

▸ El secreto finlandés es hacer todo al revés

▸ Yo estuve en «la escuela del futuro»

▸ El relajo del aprendizaje y la buena pedagogía

▸ Finlandia: La educación es asunto de educadores

▸ Una comida caliente al día para todos

▸ 10 ideas falsas sobre Finlandia y la educación | 10 false ideas on education in Finland

▸ Salas de profesores

▸ Un Powerpoint sobre Finlandia

▸ Hacer deberes en la biblioteca

▸ Finlandia pone en jaque las nociones sobre tiempo escolar

▸ Finlandia: Moverse para aprender

▸ La biblioteca municipal de Poorvo

▸ Bienestar de los estudiantes de 15 años en diez países (PISA)

▸ ¿Qué puede aprender Finlandia de Asia en educación?

▸ "Creo que Paulo [Freire] habría disfrutado mucho conociendo escuelas, aulas y bibliotecas finlandesas", Entrevista con Oscar Macías Álvarez y Joaquín Asenjo de FormaciónIB y Red Iberoamericana de Docentes (diciembre 2017)

▸ Las políticas educativas en Finlandia no están orientadas a sacar buena nota en PISA (entrevista a Pasi Sahlberg)

▸ "En el Ecuador, el modelo pedagógico no ha cambiado". Entrevista con Revista Plan V, Quito, febrero 2016.

▸ Glosario mínimo sobre la educación en Finlandia

▸ Sisu en Finlandia, Gambaru en Japón

▸ Pruebas PISA: Seis conclusiones y una pregunta

▸ 26 hechos que distinguen a la educación finlandesa

▸ ¿China, Corea del Sur o Finlandia?

▸ Un GERMen infecta a los sistemas escolares (Pasi Sahlberg)

▸ 10 issues in Finnish education | 10 problemas en la educación finlandesa

▸ Cuba and Finland | Cuba y Finlandia

▸ Finland's education compared | La educación finlandesa comparada

▸ Educación y suicidio (Uruguay y Finlandia)

▸ Finlandia no es fan de la educación virtual a distancia

▸ Finlandia y la educación a distancia en línea

▸ Atraer a «los mejores estudiantes» para la docencia

▸ HundrED: innovaciones educativas

▸ Finlandia: Selección y formación docente

▸ Finlandia y el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida  

 
Para saber más | To Learn More
▸ La educación finlandesa en síntesis (2013)
▸ El Sistema Educativo Finlandés (video, subtitulado en español)
▸ ¿Por qué los bebés de Finlandia duermen en cajas de cartón?
▸ Finland in international rankings and comparisons
▸ John Hattie and Pasi Sahlberg chat about education in Australia and Finland (video, English)
▸ Preguntas sobre la educación finlandesa
 

10 issues in Finnish education ▸ 10 problemas en la educación finlandesa

Photo Tiina Kokko / Yle

En español, abajo

Most of what we read about education in Finland is good news. However, it is difficult to believe that the Finnish education model is problem-free. Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg - author of Finnish Lessons - shared on Twitter (May 2013) his views on the Top 10 issues Finland's education faces today. I translated them into Spanish (see below). 

Issues Finnish education if facing now (by Pasi Sahlberg) - 2013
What are the issues Finnish education system is facing now? I'll tweet my Top 10 within the next two weeks starting now. Reactions welcome.

Issue 1: Finns have lost inspiring vision that would spark system-wide renewal. Students and teachers say change is necessary now!

Issue 2: Finnish teachers fear that there'll be more central control & standardized testing in the future. Many would consider another job.

Issue 3: Finnish kids say they don’t like school. But they like education. Old model of school is dead. What would wake up Finns to change?

Issue 4: 3000 16-year-olds don’t continue education after basic school. Some never study again. Some find school irrelevant for life. Sad.

Issue 5: Finland has invested heavily in technology in schools during the last 2 decades. It remains underused in many schools. What next?

Issue 6: ‘School shopping’ is becoming common in cities. Neighborhood schools are no more places for community action -> segregation.

Issue 7: Public funding for schools is decreasing. Local governments are in trouble – small schools disappear, inequality increases.

Issue 8: Pundits and politicians rather than experts and practitioners dominate public discussion in Finland; opinions before expertise.

Issue 9: Finnish school system has no engine for innovation. PD is thought to be enough. School-driven innovation is haphazard and rare.

Issue 10: Teachers feel their authority to manage student behavior is decreasing. Jobs are at risk due to unclear lines of authority.

Casi todo lo que leemos sobre la educación en Finlandia son buenas nuevas. No obstante, resulta difícil creer que el modelo educativo finlandés esté exento de problemas. Pasi Sahlberg - autor de Lecciones Finlandesas - compartió en su cuenta de Twitter (mayo 2013) 10 desafíos que, a su juicio, enfrenta hoy la educación en Finlandia. Los he traducido aquí al español.

10 problemas de la educación finlandesa, hoy (por Pasi Sahlberg) - 2013

1. Los finlandeses han perdido una visión inspiradora capaz de desatar una renovación de todo el sistema. Estudiantes y profesores dicen que el cambio es necesario ¡ahora!

2. Los profesores finlandeses temen que haya más control centralizado y pruebas estandarizadas en el futuro. Muchos considerarían cambiar de trabajo.

3. Niños y niñas finlandesas dicen que no les gusta la escuela. Pero les gusta la educación. El viejo modelo de escuela está muerto. ¿Qué moverá a los finlandeses a cambiar?

4. 3.000 adolescentes de 16 años no continúan su educación más allá de la educación básica. Algunos no vuelven a estudiar nunca más. Algunos encuentran que la escuela es irrelevante para la vida. Triste.

5. Finlandia ha invertido fuertemente en tecnología para las escuelas durante las dos últimas décadas. Esta permanece subutilizada en muchas escuelas. ¿Qué sigue?

6.  Las "compras escolares" se están volviendo comunes en las ciudades. Las escuelas del barrio ya no son lugares para la acción comunitaria -> segregación.

7. El financiamiento público para las escuelas está decreciendo. Los gobiernos locales están en problemas: las escuelas pequeñas desaparecen, la inequidad aumenta.

8. "Comentaristas" (pundits) y políticos, antes que expertos y practicantes, dominan la discusión pública en Finlandia. Opiniones más que conocimiento y pericia.

9. El sistema escolar finlandés carece de motor para la innovación. Se asume que tener un Ph.D. basta. La innovación basada en la escuela es más bien esporádica y rara.

10. Los profesores sienten que está disminuyendo su autoridad para manejar el comportamiento de los estudiantes. Su trabajo está en riesgo debido a líneas de autoridad poco claras.

Otros textos relacionados en este blog

- Por qué Finlandia dejó de estar en el «top» de PISA

https://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2023/10/por-que-finlandia-dejo-de-estar-en-el.html

Escuelas del mundo ▸ Schools in the world

Rosa María Torres

Hace mucho tengo en mente escribir un libro con este título, con reportajes (español e inglés) de mis visitas a escuelas y programas educativos en todo el mundo. Mis opciones profesionales y de vida me fueron llevando, casi sin darme cuenta, a viajar no solo como un modo de trabajo sino, fundamentalmente, de aprendizaje. 

He escrito bastante sobre mis recorridos por América Latina - Auladentro, Los achaques de la educación, Itinerarios por la educación latinoamericana: Cuaderno de Viajes, entre otros - pero me esperan decenas de cuadernos y libretas que me han acompañado y siguen acompañando en viajes por el resto del mundo. En tiempos pre- y post-internet, lo mío ha sido siempre el papel, tomar notas mientras observo, escucho, pregunto, converso, y los demás se van olvidando de que tengo un arma entre las manos ... Mientras logro autofinanciarme uno o dos años de escritura por las mías, comparto aquí unos pocos reportajes viejos y nuevos que voy subiendo a este blog.

For a long time I have been wanting to write a book (Spanish and English) with this title, featuring my visits to schools and education programmes throughout the world. My personal and professional choices led to me traveling as a regular means to work but also as an exceptional means to learn. 

I have written abundantly on my visits in Latin America - Auladentro, Los achaques de la educación, Itinerarios por la educación latinoamericana, among others - but dozens of notebooks with notes from other parts of the world continue to wait for me. Pre- and post-Internet, paper and handwriting are my thing when it comes to field visits. A minimally invasive way of invading people's lives and conducting interviews. After a while, people forget I have a weapon in my hands. I am writing while observing, listening, talking, asking, witnessing ... Until I can afford a self-financed "sabbatical" to liberate my notebooks, I continue to upload here some old and new texts from such visits.

Argentina
▸ Argentina: Soñar como consigna*
▸ Argentina: La vigencia y el poder de la radio
▸ Argentina: Educar a las madres en el valor del afecto y del juego
▸ Argentina: La biblioteca como núcleo de desarrollo comunitario *
▸ Argentina: Lección de hoy: Los factores abióticos
▸ Argentina: Programa de Alfabetización 'Encuentro' y Barrios de Pie
▸ Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, México, Perú: De los planes a los hechos

Bangladesh 
▸ Bangladesh: Kazi, el sin gracia  |  Kazi, The Graceless
▸ Bangladesh: Una educación para resolver problemas de la vida
▸ Bangladesh-Ecuador-Australia: Los niños como educadores de adultos
▸ India: Los Laureados con los Premios WISE a la Educación (BRAC) | WISE Prize for Education Laureates: Bottom-Up Innovators (BRAC)

Bolivia 
▸ Bolivia: Una clase de alfabetización en español traducida al aymara

Botswana
▸ Botswana: Niños Basarwa  |  Children of the Basarwa

Brasil
▸ Brasil: El barrio como espacio pedagógico: Una escuelita itinerante*
▸ Brasil: Dos escuelas, dos directoras, dos estilos de gestión*
▸ Brasil: Una biblioteca escolar como debe ser
▸ Brasil: "Niños, no se olviden de usar el hilo dental"*
▸ Brasil: Un Congreso de Alfabetizandos en Sao Paulo
▸ Brasil: Talleres de lectura para maestros 
▸ Brasil-Ecuador: A propósito de afinidades históricas y lingüísticas 
▸ Brasil-Chile-Ecuador: Proyecto arquitectónico versus proyecto pedagógico
▸ Brasil-Chile-Haití-Paraguay-Venezuela: ¿Curricular y extracurricular?

Colombia 
▸ Colombia: Un día en la vida de un niño rural 
▸ Colombia: Escuela Nueva: An innovation within formal education 

▸ Colombia: "Antes, aquí era Escuela Vieja" (sobre el programa Escuela Nueva)
▸ Colombia: Los Laureados con los Premios WISE a la Educación (Escuela Nueva) | WISE Prize for Education Laureates: Bottom-Up Innovators (Escuela Nueva)

Chile
▸ Chile: Falsas y verdaderas soluciones a los problemas de la educación
▸ Chile: Manipuladores de alimentos, manipuladores de textos*
▸ Chile: Rendimientos escolares y programas compensatorios: El P-900*

Ecuador
▸ Ecuador: Los contorsionistas
▸ Ecuador: Racismo y retardo mental
▸ Ecuador: Gabriela sabe leer pero tiene miedo
▸ Ecuador: Niños que trabajan y estudian (Centro del Muchacho Trabajador-CMT) 
▸ Ecuador: Campaña Nacional de Alfabetización "Monseñor Leonidas Proaño"
▸ Ecuador: El nombre de Ramona Cuji
▸ Ecuador: Alfabetizando con el 'Yo Sí Puedo' en Cayambe
▸ Ecuador: El aula y el patio
▸ Ecuador-Argentina: Instalaciones educativas abiertas a la comunidad
▸ Ecuador: Adiós a la educación comunitaria y alternativa

Egipto
▸ Egipto: Para eliminar el analfabetismo hay que eliminar la pobreza

Granada 
▸ Granada: Un día de comunidad-escuela 

Guinea-Bissau 
▸ Guinea-Bissau: Paulo Freire, Guinea-Bissau y la alfabetización
▸ Guinea-Bissau: La escuela del Tío Bernardo
▸ Guinea-Bissau-Brasil: ¿Escuelas para enseñar y escuelas para explicar? 

Haití
▸ Haití: El molde de la reforma educativa*

India
▸ India: Una escuela islámica en Jaipur
▸ India: Entregar no basta... (Operación Pizarra)
▸ India: Los Laureados con los Premios WISE a la Educación (Pratham) | WISE Prize for Education Laureates: Bottom-Up Innovators (Pratham)

Jamaica
▸ Jamaica: Zapatos para ir a la escuela 

México
▸ México: La escuela de la maestra Raquel*
▸ México: Los espejismos de la innovación en educación
▸ México: Madre Tierra *
▸ México: Y colorín, colorado, este cuento nos ha atormentado...*
▸ México: "Dos temores me detienen: el director y los padres de familia" *
▸ México: Derechos de los maestros, ¿y los derechos de los alumnos?
▸ México: Aprendiendo a leer y escribir en lengua mixe

Mozambique 
▸ Mozambique: 60 alumnos en primer grado 
▸ Mozambique: Escuelas sin aulas, aulas sin escuelas

Nicaragua
▸ Nicaragua: Desmantela y va de nuevo*

Perú 
▸ Perú: Círculos de alfabetización 'Sí Podemos'

República Dominicana 
▸ República Dominicana: Una clase de alfabetización entre rejas

Ruanda / Rwanda
▸ Rwanda: A blog is born

Senegal
▸ Senegal: Children's Rights: A community learning experience

Sudáfrica
▸ Sudáfrica: Buses que sirven de aulas

Tailandia 
▸ Tailandia: Un aula de clase ancha, ancha...

Uruguay
▸ Uruguay: Mi visita al Plan Ceibal y la rotura de las laptops del OLPC
▸ Uruguay: Si a los niños se les permitiera escribir libremente ...
▸ Uruguay: "Trabajo dos turnos y hago crochet"*
▸ Uruguay: Internet devuelve la vista y amplía la lectura a los ciegos

Venezuela
▸ Venezuela: Cooperativas, Misiones Bolivarianas y escuela rural
▸ Venezuela: Colegio durante el día, Misiones a la noche


* Incluidos en: Rosa María Torres, Itinerarios por la educación latinoamericana: Cuaderno de viajes, Editorial Paidós, Buenos Aires-Barcelona-México, 2000; Itinerários pela Educação Latino-Americana – Caderno de Viagens, Artmed Editora, Porto Alegre, 2001, 344 páginas. Prólogo de Fabricio Caivano.


Para saber más / To learn more:
Portraits of classrooms around the world

A Teacher's Monologue

Rosa María Torres

(Texto en español: Monólogo)

If, as a teacher, they tell me that I cannot teach, thta I am not inspired by a vocation in teaching, who is to be held accountable: I, or those who - with al their knowledge and experience - accepted me and saw me move towards a career for which I am now told I am ill-equipped and incompatible.

If, as a teacher, I enjoy teaching, but am confronted with shortfalls others see within me, who should bear the liability: myself, or the institutions - with names, budgets, official seals and signatures - that certified my aptitude, accredited my studies, and furnished me with a diploma that decreed I was qualified to teach.

If, as a teacher, I am told that what I teach is obsolete, irrelevant for learners and long surpassed by new developments in science and technology, who is to be considered outdated: I, or those who design the curriculum, those who taught me what and how to teach, those who train me and propagate outmoded teaching and learning content, methodologies and approaches, often without consultation and lacking themselves essential knowledge on education policies and on school cultures.

If, as a teacher, I am accused of not facilitating learning, and am told that the results fall short of what should be, am I the only one who is at fault? Or should others, too, be held accountable, be required to share in the concern and in the solution: those who supervise and evaluate my work, those who are responsible for the continuing education of teachers and for teacher professionalization, those who are in charge of managing the school?

If I teach day after day, year after year, and they tell me that nothing I do or nothing that I have to give is enough  - not education, training, vocation, commitment, time and effort dedicated to teaching and to learning - where does the problem stem from? Does it lie in myself alone? Or should it be shared by those who restricted the opportunities for my own education, those who now deny me the possibility to continue learning, those who decided long ago that teaching was a profession for the poor and for the unambitious, deserving poor salaries and status, condemned to mediocrity and to limited access to books, specialized journals and the Internet, and yet expected to rejuvenate, each day, the mystique attributed to teaching and rarely to other professions.

Ladies and gentlemen: It is time to address the real issues and the real obstacles. Rather than part of the problem, I am part of the solution.

* Originally published in: Education News, No. 10, UNICEF Education Cluster, New York, November 1994. Also published by Education International in its journal, Vol. 2, N° 2-3. Brussels, 1996.

Children of the Basarwa ▸ Los niños Basarwa

Rosa María Torres

(abajo el texto en español)

In Botswana I learned of the existence of the Basarwa, a nomadic group living in the Kalahari desert and whom the government has been trying to persuade, without much success, to attend school.

Asked why they do not send their children to school, fathers and mothers have basically the same responses: in their culture, adults do not shout at children or hit them; when children do something wrong, adults talk to them. In school, they state, there is no dialogue; mistakes are paid for with punishment.

What do the Basarwa know of school? Some have actually been to school. Others have heard stories of reprimands and punishments, threats and teasing, humiliation and slaps on the hand and the head. The word has spread. Now, neither adults nor children want to go to school.

What kind of people are the Basarwa? What kind of adults and parents are these who neither shout at nor hit their children, who talk to them, respect them and treat them with sensitivity? What kind of children are these exceptional Basarwa children who grow up without fear of punishment, ill-treatment, and physical violence, without fear of telling the truth and admitting to error?

Nomadic, poor, unschooled, in a perpetual struggle for survival, the Basarwa teach us a lesson in ethics, humanity and hope. Their contempt for school, for the type of school they know or of which they have heard, is indeed a sign of mental health, an act of love and protection for their children.

From their hidden retreat in the Kalahari desert, Basarwa children coalesce the hopes of all the children of the world, regardless of race or culture, economic income or social status. Unknowingly, Basarwa parents give life to the utopia so often envisioned and reiterated, signed and ratified, of the right of children to be loved, respected and heard. Through their dignified illiteracy, the Basarwa remind us of the inevitability of a school meant to love and respect children.

* Published originally in: Education News, UNICEF Education Cluster, New York, 1994.

Los niños Basarwa

En Botswana supe de la existencia de los Basarwa, un grupo nómada que habita en el desierto del Kalahari y al que el gobierno viene tratando hace mucho de persuadir, sin éxito, de enviar a sus niños y niñas a la escuela.

Preguntados acerca del por qué se resisten a la escuela, padres y madres tienen básicamente la misma respuesta: en su cultura, los adultos no gritan ni pegan a los niños; cuando los niños se portan mal, las personas adultas hablan con ellos.  En la escuela - dicen - no hay diálogo; los errores se pagan con castigo.

¿Qué saben los Basarwa sobre el sistema escolar? Algunos de ellos han asistido efectivamente a la escuela. Otros han escuchado historias de reprimendas, amenazas y burlas, humillación y golpes en las manos o en la cabeza. Las historias han circulado. Hoy, ni adultos ni niños quieren saber nada de ir a la escuela.

¿Qué clase de personas son los Basarwa? ¿Qué clase de adultos y de padres de familia que no gritan ni pegan a sus hijos, que hablan con ellos, les respetan y les tratan con sensibilidad? ¿Qué clase de niños son estos excepcionales niños Basarwa que crecen sin miedo al castigo, sin maltrato, sin violencia física, sin miedo a decir la verdad y a admitir el error?

Nómadas, pobres, no-escolarizados, en perpetua lucha por la supervivencia, los Basarwa nos enseñan una lección de ética, de humanismo y de esperanza. Su desprecio por la escuela, esa escuela que conocen o de la cual han escuchado, es de hecho un signo de sanidad mental, un acto de amor y de protección hacia su prole.

Desde un lugar remoto en el desierto Kalahari, los niños Basarwa portan la bandera de todos los niños del mundo, independientemente de su raza, cultura, ingreso económico o estatus social. Sin saberlo, los padres y madres Basarwa dan vida a la utopía tanta veces imaginada y reiterada, tantas veces acordada y ratificada, de niños y niñas con derecho a ser queridos, respetados y escuchados. Desde su digno analfabetismo, los Basarwa nos recuerdan la inevitabilidad de una escuela hecha para amar y respetar a los niños.

* Texto en español publicado originalmente en: Página editorial El Comercio, Quito, 21/8/1994.

Some related texts / Textos relacionados en OTRAƎDUCACION

» Children's rights: A community learning experience in Senegal
» Open Letter to School Children
» Carta abierta para niños y niñas que van a la escuela
» Children's Right to Basic Education
» El derecho de niños y niñas a una educación básica
» Escuelas del mundo  |  Schools in the world
» Por qué los maestros están llamados a ser los primeros defensores de los derechos de los niños

12 Theses on Educational Change

Rosa María Torres
Justicia educativa y justicia económica: 12 tesis para el cambio educativo
Estudio continental encargado por el Movimiento Internacional 'Fe y Alegría'/ Entreculturas, Madrid, 2005.


Rosa María Torres
Educational Justice and Economic Justice: 12 Theses on Educational Change
Continental study commissioned by Movimiento Internacional 'Fe y Alegría'/ Entreculturas, Madrid, 2005. (free downlod - available in Spanish only)

1. From POVERTY ALLEVIATION to DEVELOPMENT.
2. From education as a SECTORAL POLICY to education as a TRANSECTORAL POLICY.
3. From predominating ECONOMIC CRITERIA to a HOLISTIC VISION of education.
4. From INTERNATIONAL AID to authentic INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION.
5. From SCHOOLING to EDUCATION.
6. From the right to EDUCATION to the right to a GOOD EDUCATION.
7. From ACCESS to LEARNING.
8. From the right to LEARN to the right to LEARN THROUGHOUT LIFE.
9. From the SCHOOL to the LEARNING COMMUNITY.
10. From TEACHER TRAINING to THE TEACHERS' ISSUE.
11. From BASIC EDUCATION AS SCHOOL EDUCATION to BASIC EDUCATION AS CITIZEN EDUCATION.
12. From ADAPTING TO CHANGE to PROMOTING AND REORIENTING CHANGE.

Related texts in this blog
From school community to learning community

Open letter to school children

Frato

Rosa María Torres

(Texto en español: Carta abierta para niños y niñas que van a la escuela)

Dear children:

There are many things you should know about, and I am going to tell you about these things in this letter, so that you know what to do in school, and what to expect from it, from your teachers and classmates.

You have probably been told what you are supposed to do, that is, what your duties are: behave yourself, respect your teachers and classmates, do your homework, keep your notebooks tidy and up to date, come to class clean, be nice to everybody. But here we won't talk about your duties but about the things that others must do for you. We are going to talk about your rights.

NO ONE SHOULD MISTREAT YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE A CHILD

No one should pull your ears, hit you or hurt you. No one should make fun of you, put you down, embarrass you in public, tell you to stand in a corner of the classroom, or be rude to you. Children must be loved and respected. You should always go to school happy and without fear. The most important people in school are children, not adults.

NO ONE SHOULD MISTREAT YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE POOR

Being poor is not a crime ans is not your fault. Your teacher is probably poor, too. Everywhere in the world, most children are poor, and most poor people are children. If there are so many poor people, it is because there is injustice. It is our societies and our governments that are wrong, not you.

NO ONE SHOULD MISTREAT YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR COLOR

In the world there are different nationalities, cultures, languages, religions, skin colors. No race, culture or language is better than the other. No one should make you feel badly because of the color of your skin or the language you speak. We all deserve the same respect and the same opportunities.

NO ONE SHOULD MISTREAT YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE A WOMAN

Boys and girls, men and women, have the same capabilities. Don't allow anyone to ignore you and leave you behind, to force you to accept the least, to prevent you from developing all your potential, to give you false advantages because you are a girl. Don't allow anyone to make you believe that women are inferior to men, because it is not true.

NO ONE SHOULD MISTREAT YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE A PHYSICAL

A handicap is not something terrible, and it isn't your fault to have one. Even children who are blind, deaf, mute, or who have a serious disease, can learn if they are given love and proper attention. Children with problems, precisely because they have them, must be treated in a caring, special way.

NO ONE SHOULD MISTREAT YOU BECAUSE YOU COME FROM ANOTHER PLACE

No one should make you feel bad because you come from a different country, city, or town. Maybe you have a different language, different way of speaking, different likes, customs, and ideas. But being different is not a problem. Everyone is unique, different from the rest. We all have to learn to understand and respect what is different from what we are or have.

NO ONE SHOULD MISTREAT YOU BECAUSE YOU DON'T LEARN FAST

Each child learns in a different way. Some are good at some school subjects while others are good at others. If you don't learn fast, maybe there is nothing wrong with you, but with those who teach you and with how they teach you. Nobody can learn if they do not understand what is being taught, or if they don't find it interesting or useful, or if they are constantly threatened and punished. It is difficult to learn if you are hungry, tired, have not slept well, or have no time to play. Don't allow anyone to call you dumb, ignorant, or stupid. If you don't understand something, ask. You have the right to ask questions and to demand that teachers explain to you and teach you well. That is why there are schools. That is why there are teachers.

Dear children: school was created for children to be together, to play, to learn, and to be happy. If you feel sad or uncomfortable, there is something wrong with the school, not with you.

Dear children: don't allow people to only remind you of your obligations. Stand up for your rights. Start learning to speak up for your rights now, as a child, so that you defend them better when you grow up.

* Originally published in English in: Education News, Nº 11, UNICEF, Education Cluster, New York, January 1995. Published in various countries and languages, in international bulletins and journals. Printed on the back cover of the textbooks for Bilingual Intercultural Education published by the government and UNICEF in Bolivia (1993). Also included in the Libros del Rincón Collection published by Mexico's Secretary of Public Education (SEP), and distributed to all rural schools in the country. Edited and distributed as a small booklet in Ecuador in 2003, while I was Minister of Education and Cultures. 

To know more:
Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNICEF)

Related texts:
Rosa María Torres, Children's right to basic education
Rosa María Torres, Children of the Basarwa ▸ Niños Basarwa
Rosa María Torres, Child learning and adult learning revisited