Day 9 of Michelle in Belize

Today we had to rise early to catch the 6:00 am water taxi to Belize City. Before we left San Pedro we stopped at a deli and got Johnny Cakes, a type of biscuit with whatever you wanted in it, for breakfast. The water taxi was about a 2-hour ride, and once we were in Belize City we traveled by van for another 3 hours to Dangrigo. Our purpose for traveling this distance was to see a school where students are taught the Garifuna language; this is the only Garifuna school in the country.  I can only say that it was amazing to see students learning in this environment, and to see teachers that are fluent in 3 languages (Garifuna, English and Spanish) teaching with such enthusiasm. Students were reading in English and Garifuna while engaged in learning. The students did several performances for us including singing, dancing, and playing the drums. As we observed, it was quiet different from the schools in San Pedro in that the children were all so well behaved. I asked the teacher of the 3-year-old class about the behavior and she told me that the students are expected to behave from the beginning that that this is re-enforced daily.

4 year olds that speak English and Garifuno

Toy boat

After visiting the school we were taken on a tour of the museum that explained the history of the Garifuna people. The guide explained about the customs, spiritual beliefs, food, and dress. The pictures below show just a few aspects of the Garifuna culture. It was a small museum, but presented a wealth of knowledge and interesting facts. I was so impressed with the effort put forth by the people to keep their heritage alive and making sure the culture continues.

Traditional dress of the Garifuno people

Once leaving Dangrigo, we headed back to Belize City to meet with four representatives for the Ministry of Education. First, they told us about 4 of the main issues of concern for education:

1.     Principal leadership—They feel that principals are not leading the way they should or not being instructional leaders based on observations. Also they stated that around 90% of principals are not formally educated.

2.     Literacy—struggling readers

3.     Teachers are not formally trained, but is has just started being a requirement to earn an associates degree and obtain a license. About 35% of the teachers have been formally trained.

4.     Special Education is a huge problem here mainly because the students are so scattered throughout the country and again, the lack of trained teachers.

 Next, we were able to ask questions about education in Belize. One thing that stood out to me was that teachers are only evaluated 2 times per year, even though most are not trained. As stated above most of the principals are not trained, nor are most of them considered instructional leaders, but they are evaluating the teachers. If teacher do not “pass” their evaluation then they do not receive their yearly pay increase.  The Ministry representatives did state that some principals just fill out the evaluation form with high ratings no matter how effective the teacher is.

Belize does give yearly assessments after Standard 4 (5^th grade) called the Belize Jr. Achievement Test in Math and ELA, and after Standard 6, which is the Primary School Exam (PSE).  Each school administers their own assessments, but not required by the government. The test scores are used to assess the needs of the schools, but teacher evaluations are not reflective of test scores.  After spending about 2 hours discussing and comparing educational issues in Belize and the US. The water taxi ride was nice and peaceful, and I just listened to music the entire ride.