Being There and Near

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“The people in the camps need you – to hold their hand and say – ‘I am here, near you,’” says Fatima* a former ESL student from Moria, Greece, on the island of Lesvos.

“I first met Fatima in the summer of 2018, as I was walking along the beach in Greece. I saw two women: one a Somali and the other Syrian,” remembers Liz Stegall-Lewis, Associate Director of Beyond Borders. “As I speak some Arabic, I struck up a conversation with these Muslim women. They were interested in learning English.” That led to Fatima being tutored for six weeks by Marg Lewis and Judith Lewis (Liz’s mom and aunt, respectively).

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Moving Towards an Inclusive Classroom

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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. That kid over there says weird stuff. This kid always needs the teacher’s help. The kid in the corner seems to overreact all the time. And that kid flaps his arms when he gets excited.

How many times have we thought “My students make fun of the kid that ______ (you fill in the blank). They don’t like to hang out with him. I don’t know what to do.” More often than we realise, these behaviours may simply be symptoms of a deeper issue.

It’s natural to see someone who is different or something we don’t understand, and automatically react negatively. We don’t move towards understanding and acceptance until the difference is explained or we become familiar with what we see—often both.  

We like to celebrate and talk about diversity in our classrooms and in our circles. Unfortunately, when we actually encounter the individuals that fall outside of what we abstractly call “normal,” misunderstandings and problems often arise. The truth is that acceptance of these students doesn’t just happen. Acceptance comes through education, experience, classroom community building,[1] and facilitated discussion. This is when we can see mindset shifts and students moving away from separation and into inclusion.

We’d like to think it is enough to teach that God loves everyone the same and thus we treat everyone just as we’d want to be treated. That is a good first step. However, it doesn’t really address some of the unique differences our students face that often require a more targeted response.

If we are not having conversations with our students about individuals who are differently-abled, they will continue to see them as outsiders. However, when we bring disabilities out of the shadows, acknowledge their presence, and educate ourselves and our students about them, we begin to make our classrooms truly inclusive.

Here are some ideas to get the conversation started:

  1. Have students brainstorm and write down what comes to mind when they hear the word disability. Discuss the differences between physical disabilities vs. “hidden disabilities” (autism, ADHD, learning disabilities).
  2. Autism is now identified in 1 in 59 individuals[2]. This is a great video that demonstrates what it is like to live with autism: “Amazing things happen video“
  3. Brainstorm perceptions vs. facts of different kinds of disabilities. Help students discern the difference between these and why it matters.  
  4. Brainstorm ways that language can be used to colour our perceptions. Is someone loud or enthusiastic? Impatient or eager? Bossy or a strong leader?[3]
  5. Put students in someone else’s shoes through experiences. Give them a test in German (or another language they can’t understand), play sounds of nails on a chalkboard, assign work that they cannot complete. Then debrief this experience.
  6. Have students research celebrities who have faced disabilities: Tom Cruise (Dyslexia), Ray Charles (blindness), Handel (epilepsy). What effect did these disabilities have on these people and their way of life? Do students personally know anyone with a disability? Does it keep them from doing what they want to do?[4]
  7. Promote self-advocacy. Give students the language to name their challenges, to put words to what they are experiencing in school and in life and equip them to advocate for themselves and their special needs.
  8. Model the truth that we believe: Every person is unique. Some of us struggle with reading; some of us struggle to balance well, bounce a basketball, multitask, or communicate with someone when we are in a conflict. We all have things to learn and ways we can grow. Being honest and vulnerable about our own weaknesses or challenges when talking with our students opens us up and makes us human.

Remember, understanding is the beginning of acceptance.

Morgan N.
Special Education Consultant
TeachBeyond, Asia

[1] “Morning Meeting Archives.” Responsive Classroom, https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/category/morning-meeting/.[2] “Autism Facts and Figures.” Autism Speaks, https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-facts-and-figures.[3] Koenig, Jen. “Autism Awareness Resources.” The Autism Helper, 1 Apr. 2019, https://theautismhelper.com/autism-awareness-resources/.[4] Disability Awareness Activity Packet. https://www.dvusd.org/cms/lib011/AZ01901092/Centricity/Domain/1318/Disability Awareness Packet 2.pdf.
Photo Credits: Banner Photo. via Shutterstock. Playing Alone. via Shutterstock. Inclusion. via Shutterstock. 

Morgan N. is a certified special education teacher from Chicago IL who is currently serving in Southeast Asia as a special education consultant.

Tags: Best Instructional Practices, Special Education

Cowman International School is our newest partner

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TeachBeyond welcomes Cowman International School as a new partner. Located just outside Cap Haitien, Haiti, the school was founded in the 1960s by One Mission Society to serve the children of missionaries. Today, 90 percent of the students are nationals. One Mission Society is in the process of passing ownership into the hands of the newly formed school board.

The school is attractive to Haitians because it is a Christian school and is the only one in northern Haiti where English is the language of instruction, according to Marilyn Wadge, school board member. French is one of two official languages of Haiti, the other being Haitian Creole. Several families travel a great distance daily to bring their children to Cowman. It does not have boarding facilities.

Melissa Gross, the director, says that when she first visited the school in 2010 it had 23 students. Enrollment had more than doubled when she returned as a faculty member in 2013. Today there are nearly 200 students in grades K-3 to 12. Cowman added grade 12 this year, and will graduate its first class of seniors in May 2019.

“We came to help develop the high school, and that is the reason for the growth in the past few years. There is a demand from Haitians for high school, and we could grow more if we had the space and more teachers,” Melissa says.

TeachBeyond members who began teaching at Cowman this year include Kristen Robinson, Zenobia Curtis, and Bradley Pyle. Shawn and Jaimie Tiechmer are in the process of raising financial support. The school pays a $750 monthly stipend and TeachBeyond members raise additional monthly support.

Recruiting faculty was one of the reasons Cowman sought partnership with TeachBeyond. There are openings in the current school year for a science teacher in the junior and senior high school and a teacher for grade 6. They are also looking for a special education teacher. Click here to see openings and send an inquiry.

About three-fourths of the teachers are Haitian, and the rest are missionaries. “Our national teachers are not certified. We are developing a plan to provide professional education leading to certification,” Melissa says.

The school offers some extra-curricular activities such as football, basketball, and volleyball. A student-led praise and worship band leads worship in chapel every Friday morning. Arranging for coaches and other after-school supervision is a challenge and falls disproportionately on missionary staff because Haitian teachers are only expected to work the length of the school day.

Cowman’s mission is to provide a Christ-centered education based on North American curriculum and standards to develop Godly future leaders. The school also serves the whole family on many topics from developing strong marriages, Godly parenting strategies, to simple education in health and nutrition.

Love for Others, God’s Way.

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Susan was distracted all morning. Not her normal self, she couldn’t seem to start working and played with her crayons during directions. She talked to her neighbour during work time. Mrs. Jenkins corrected Susan a little, but mostly watched and let it go as just an odd day for Susan.

At lunch, Mrs. Jenkins had her first break, fifteen minutes to eat quietly. She took her first bite when someone stood at the corner of her desk. It was Susan.

“Mrs. Jenkins, could you help me? I don’t know how to do our work from this morning and I don’t want to take it home.”

“If you had paid attention, it wouldn’t be a problem.” That is what Mrs. Jenkins thought as she laid down her sandwich. Instead, she looked in Susan’s eyes and said, “Yes. Let’s see what we can do.”

32932339950_7d0969d68b_qWhen she finished, her break was gone. But, Susan was set.

This is love, God’s way. It is about what is best for someone else. It is about giving yourself, a sacrifice of some sort. It is about the thousands of moments and times teachers show God’s love by remembering His greatest gift to us and how much we don’t deserve it. And, then doing the same for a child.

Love, God’s way, is powerful. It breaks down barriers in lives and cultures and countries. Nothing can stop it as it seeps into hearts that are hungry for someone to care unconditionally, with nothing expected in return. It is radical in a world based on transaction. It is free. But, it requires sacrifice.

The life you give away is yours. While you may not physically die, your gift of your life for the sake of children demonstrates love, God’s way.

Whether rich or poor,36502702275_3c3194c158_m Christian or not, everyone craves this love. “Good” kids need to know that this love can’t be earned; it is not bought with good behaviour. Messy kids need to know someone is on their side, even though that love is expressed through caring discipline. God’s love differentiates according to need and changes lives.

As one of TeachBeyond’s core values, “love for others” brings purpose and power to what we do. It guides our words and choices both in the classroom and outside of it. It aligns our daily work with God, minute-by-minute, for any situation or place. Love is our method and our message. It is the goal of our instruction.[1] John tells us that it is how people know we are Jesus’ followers.[2]

This agapao type of love is not soft and sweet, although it can be. This love is not the world’s “love” that thinks first of hugs or chocolate or sex. God’s love is the sort that often acts in spite of the other person, not because of him or her. When God loved the world enough to give His only Son, it was not because He liked our sinful, messy, and rebellious world. This love takes strength and courage. It is not for the timid.[3]
Love, God’s way, has much more to do with choice and action than feeling, although often the feeling follows. This love shows itself in hugs and encouragement as well as discipline and demands. It acts in a way that is best for the other. It is hard work and empties us of self.

Last week, I sat with a team of TeachBeyond teachers in a sensitive country as they discussed Transformational Education. They are immersed in a world that strips away the easy answers. Each one of these experienced teachers talked about love as central to their job in the classroom.

And, they also understood that the only way to love like this is to first be loved by God and transformed by Him, to let the Holy Spirt make them different and empower them.

The beginning of love for others is to know and feel that you are loved. To meet God often enough to begin to understand the incomprehensible and overwhelming love He has for each of us. “We love, because He first loved us.”[4]

As Paul reminds us in Ephesians, may each of us “know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” and that we may see Him “do far more abundantly beyond all the we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”[5] God makes loving others possible.

This is good news indeed. And students like Susan are counting on it.

Joe N., Th.M.
Elementary School Principal
Asia

[1] 1 Timothy 1:5

[2] John 13:35

[3] 2 Timothy 1:7

[4] 1 John 4:19

[5] Ephesians 3:19-20

 

Photo Credits: Teacher & Students. Global Partnership for Education – GPE Flickr via Compfight cc Veddah girl. Allesandro Pucci. via Wikimedia Commons. cc. Art Project. All32932339950_7d0969d68b_q4Ed Flickr via Compfight cc

Joe has served in Christian school leadership in three schools  over a span of 32 years, spending 14 of those as a headmaster and the rest as a principal. Additionally, Joe has been a speaker, writer, and consultant for Christian schools. He is now serving with TeachBeyond as an elementary principal in Asia.

Christmas Greetings!

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A short video with Christmas greetings form TeachBeyond members around the world…

 

New school year at Pag-asa.

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School began in August at Pag-asa, here are some words from them-

‘You prayed, we prayed, God abundantly provided and school started with a flag raising ceremony, prayer and happy students. God provided a beautiful  building with amazing landlords. All 40 students are excited and encouraged. Please continue to pray for the students and teachers as well as God’s provision for running finances’.colour 3

HOPAC, Tanzania

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Two of our UK members serve at HOPAC, ‘Haven of Peace Academy’, this is a Christian school admitting students aged from 5 to 18+years. It is situated on a twelve acre campus overlooking the Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Haven of Peace Academy was founded in 1994 by five missionary families who wanted to create a place where their children could receive academic and spiritual education in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The school opened in Oyster Bay with 47 students and 4 teachers. Today, our school has grown to become a student body of more than 300 from over 30 nationalities. Our campus is now situated on a beautiful property in the Kunduchi Beach area.

The mission of the school is: To provide an excellent, Christ-centered, international education that meets western academic standards and equips students to live out a biblical worldview in all areas of life to the glory of God.

Please pray – for this school and all the people connected to it; for TeachBeyond UK members working there and for their staffing needs.

Return from Bolivia

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We give thanks for one of our members Lora Bunting who has recently returned from spending time in Bolivia. She shares her story with us- My name is Lora Bunting, and I recently completed an 18 month term teaching at the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Centre. The school provides a quality education in English and with a Christian orientation primarily for local and missionary children in Bolivia. The school has grown from 34 students in 1977 to a present enrollment of more than 230. SCCLC serves Bolivia and the nations by providing a quality comprehensive multilingual Christian education that meets and exceeds national and international academic standards and prepares students spiritually, academically and socially to transform their world. 

This adventure put me in situations that has challenged my physical and mental ability but has also given me a sense of freedom that I have never had before. I have found myself during this experience and truly know who I am after it. I am continually reminded that our Heavenly Father is constantly pouring down his blessings on us.

The most rewarding element of working at a Christian school is being able to freely pray with the children. Every morning we had our greeting time where the children sat in a circle on the carpet, and I then I took prayer requests. Although some of the prayer requests are more praises for new toys they had been given, a lot of them are for parents who were travelling out of the country on business, sick pets and family members that were truly meaningful. I was amazed at how well the children pray! I wrote their prayer requests next to their name, and ask them the following week if their prayer had been answered. Most of the time they have been!

 Although it was very difficult at times being away from the own comfort of my home in England and family and friends, I was blessed with the friendships I had formed on the mission field and the children that blessed my heart

Beth Potter (Teacher – Project Pag-asa Philippines)

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Today in Science we learnt how the earth rotates, creating day and night and time zones. One of my 15 year old students was amazed! Incredible how much we take education and knowledge for granted. Read more