Yesterday we were visited by teachers of “Escuela Mixta Sinaí” from Retalhuleu in Guatemala. They received a workshop on Waldorf pedagogy, rhythmic movement in the classroom, and form drawing. As you can see in the following photographs, it was a sizable group that came to experience something of the Waldorf way. We are grateful to the Sinaí school or their interest in Escuela Caracol as an example of integral education.
If you walk into any Waldorf classroom in the grades, one of the first things to strike you is probably the chalkboard drawing. Chalkboard art has become a time-honored tradition in Waldorf schools. It is how the teacher brings to imaginative life the content of the lessons. In a day when dry erase wipe boards (and their fumes) have taken over, Waldorf schools remain a sort of classic throwback to the days of chalk and slate. Dry erase boards, however, simply do not lend themselves to the artistic sensibility and emotional range that bright colored chalk can bring to a classroom.
It is also an important part of how the teacher’s own artistic activity — his or her own development and activity — relates both directly and invisibly to the child. Children experience great anticipation of the teacher’s next awe-inspiring image, which they later have a chance to recreate in their own books, in their own way. The images connect to the curriculum content and take the child deeper into the experience, through his or her feelings.
Here you can see a few of our teacher’s recent chalkboard drawings at Escuela Caracol. We cannot get slate chalkboards here, so we have to make our own using plywood and homemade chalkboard paint. Sometimes the grain of the wood is a challenge for the teacher, but the overall experience in the classroom is worth it.
You can also see the video of one of the most famous Waldorf Teacher Brian Wolfe in action With Some chalk.
The national newspaper Prensa Libre recently published an article about Escuela Caracol and our pedagogic method.
We reproduce the text below. You can also read the entire article here.
En la escuela Caracol, Celeste Porón comparte clases con 48 niños de comunidades de varios municipios de Sololá, que hablan kaqchikel, tz’utujil o k’iche’, y con hijos de extranjeros de Estados Unidos, Francia, Alemania, España y otros países de Europa que radican en Sololá.
La pluriculturalidad que se vive en la escuela Caracol no es su única peculiaridad, algo que la distingue del resto de establecimientos del país es también que es la única donde se práctica el sistema pedagógico Waldorf, que al contrario del sistema educativo tradicional, no es jerárquico, dirigista ni competitivo.
Sistema novedoso
El sistema Waldorf estimula la libertad, creatividad y el conocimiento desde una perspectiva integral y holística. Los niños relacionan lo aprendido con la propia experiencia, para lo que utilizan cabeza, corazón y manos.
El director de la escuela Caracol, el estadounidense Joshua Wilson, detalló que el sistema que utilizan es diferente: “Vivimos en una era de información. Todas las respuestas están a unos clics de distancia. Saber la respuesta correcta no es lo importante. La pregunta importante no es ¿qué sabes? Lo importante es ¿quién eres?”.
Wilson indicó que el sistema se enfoca en las preguntas: “¿Eres una persona que sabe manejar la información, cómo aplicarla de manera efectiva y responsable?”.
Según Wilson, otros cuestionamientos que deben responderse son: “¿Eres una persona con confianza en sí misma para manejar la vida con la voluntad de hacer algo, de producir algo? ¿Eres una persona que puede ver varios lados de un problema? ¿Una persona que puede seguir aprendiendo? ¿Eres una persona que se siente responsable al mundo, que cree en un mundo mejor, que puede imaginar un mundo mejor, y que se siente que puede tomar un papel en este mundo?”.
El maestro Erbin Samuel Quiacaín Sajvín contó que cada docente hace su propio currículum, y los niños elaboran sus propios libros, de acuerdo con la necesidad en el aula.
Las evaluaciones se llevan a cabo de manera técnica y con métodos de observación, para determinar el desarrollo del niño en su manera de expresión, aprendizaje, forma de actuar y relación con los demás.
La maestra Sandra Pérez, maestra cakchiquel, indicó que son ocho docentes y a los niños de primaria se les imparte danza, música, arte, jardinería, educación física, matemáticas y los idiomas inglés, español y kaqchikel.
Los alumnos locales son becados hasta en 97 por ciento, mientras que los extranjeros pagan colegiatura completa.
La administradora Mercedes Franco comentó que los padres de familia interactúan con sus hijos. “No solo vienen a inscribir a sus hijos, sino deben mantenerse cerca para participar en el desarrollo estudiantil”.
Manuel Tuch Sancoy, padre de familia, expuso que la educación que recibe su hijo es distinta a la que él recibió y tiene más enfoque en la naturaleza.
Trayectoria
Siete años
La escuela Caracol está aprobada por el Ministerio de Educación y es una de las más de 900 que utilizan la pedagogía Waldorf en 83 países, la cual fue promovida por el austriaco Rudolf Steiner.
El director Joshua Wilson recuerda que la escuela fue establecida en Guatemala en el 2007 por él y su esposa, Corina, con el apoyo de Nicolás Sacach Mendoza, albañil; Amarilis Sancoy, cocinera, y Andrea Arrivillaga, quien este año se gradúa como la primera maestra guatemalteca Waldorf. Para más información consultar el sitio www.escuelacaracol.org
November is the month of kites at Lake Atitlán. Each year at Escuela Caracol the children look forward to making and flying their kites all over the town. They make them using a reed that grows naturally in the mountains and crate paper of different colors. Sometimes they even cook jocotes (our local fruit) and then use their pulp as a glue. Kite making helps to develop their sense of symmetry (without which the kites won’t fly!) as well as skills in practical geometry.
Escuela Caracol we give thank you for your assistance to the inauguration of our new classrooms. Especially Engineer Jürgen Bartzsch, German Consul Martin Schwarz, Mayor of San Marcos La Laguna Edwin Sancoy and Escuela Caracol Parents. The presence and participation of each one of you made this event so special.
This is a small sample of how wonderful it was that day.
Children 5th and 6th grade learned about the process for obtaining maguey fibers. They learned that maguey fibers obtained by processing the leaves. The leaves were cut from the body of the plant and the spines removed. The leaves were then cooked in an oven to make then tender. Once they were cooked, the leaves were used as food or scraped over a pounding slab to obtain long threads to make ropes or to spin to weave textiles.
We are pleased to invite you to the inauguration of our new classrooms.
We have organized several activities, such as music, food, Festival del Jocote and kite flight.
The event will be covered by the national media.
Come and share with us this special moment!
While our local river still flows from the rains, the classes are making hikes back in the valley to explore the river. Here you see the class 3-4 at the “roca grande”, also called the “elephant rock” sometimes. It is one enormous rock the size of a house with waterfalls on both sides. Other photos here include the class 3-4 visiting the Museum Tzunun Ya’ in San Pedro La Laguna, where they learned about our local volcanoes and ancient Mayan culture.
Discover a little about the environment in which the Escuela Caracol is located, and some of the spaces where every day our children play and learn.
When we returned from our mid-year vacations in August, the students in the primary grades began having dance class once a week. The class takes place in the dance studio of La Cambalacha, our neighboring arts center. Gabriela Cordón, who has taught dance classes for Caracol in the past, is teaching the class. The movement work she does with the students is broad in scope (e.g., cross-lateral, balance, stretching, strengthening, coordination) and is both challenging and fun. Certain elements are even similar to eurythmical work, such as interweaving group movement. In this photo you see the 3rd-6th grades in their class.
