Friday, July 20, 2012

School Visit

Today we had the opportunity to visit a local junior high public school in east Jakarta. The school has 51 teachers and 615 students.

The majority of the teachers were women, which was not surprising. There were several male teachers but they were definitely in the minority. An interesting observation was that the men and women don't sit by each other. All of the women sit together as do the men.

We were so lucky to meet with these students because they are actually out of school due to Ramadan; however, many students and the entire faculty returned for our visit. I observed a social studies class and had an opportunity to talk with Indonesian social studies teachers about global education.

The principal welcomed us in a general meeting and thanked Allah for the opportunity to have us there. She thanked Allah again at the closing meeting. I couldn't help but think of America's strict separation of church and state...however my Oklahoma peers say that still happens in Oklahoma.

I visited an 8th grade social studies class with about 20 students and asked them what makes them happy and they said:

Hanging with friends, music, doing well in school, and making their parents happy.

Not too different than their American peers!!!

Here are some pics of the school visit today! Enjoy!!!

xxooxo



2 comments:

  1. These pictures from the school are fabulous! I love the signs and statements, "Discipline is the key to success" in particular! I do like the idea that the students have the same interests and expectations as our own students. I'm excited to see what your next experiences will be!

    By the way, I'm not sure how to change my Google "signature" - so that garbled code + c'est moi is me, Jenn! XO

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  2. Bella ran from the room when we read the students reply to your question on what makes them happy. She agreed with all but the doing well part.

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