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As London-area schools slogged through the pandemic with online and hybrid learning, it was a different story in the Dominican Republic, says a city principal just back from mentoring teachers in the Caribbean nation.
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“We were so fortunate here at Thames Valley (District school board) for the most part to have things like internet and Google Classroom, and to have professional learning for education,” said Sue Bruyns, principal at northwest London’s Sir Arthur Currie elementary school.
Bruyns’ trip to the Dominican was her latest with Teacher Mentors Abroad, a charity set up in 2005 that focuses on “building capacity and strengthening the skills” of mentored teachers, she said.
In the Dominican, where about 40 per cent of the population lives in poverty and another 10 per cent in extreme poverty, teachers have to pay for their own internet in some cases and often used WhatsApp to connect with students amid shutdowns, she said.
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The Dominican education ministry “did put together some work booklets and some little TV shows similar to TVO that some kids could access, but access to education was much more compromised . . . than here,” Bruyns said.
Many schoolkids in the country became “disengaged from education,” she said.
“Or, they had so much screen time, they’re struggling with regulation or being back-in-person or lost (some of) those socialization skills while . . . at home,” she said. “It shone a greater light on the importance of getting kids in school and getting them to socialize and connect with teachers.”
Dominican classrooms are often “very meagre” and teaching methods can be rigid and traditional, with the teacher standing at the front of the class and pupils copying what they write on the blackboard.
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Teachers there often face opposition from administration over using more innovative teaching methods, Bruyns added. “We get a lot of courageous participants. We are pushing the envelope.”
Mentors teach Dominican educators how to include group work, community circles and “energizers” to keep kids physically active in their teaching, she said. “That’s the fun part, watching their trajectory while they build their skill set.”
Mentored teachers appreciate the help, Bruyns said.
“There is a greater appreciation for the work . . . because they don’t have same access to professional learning,” she said. “People are interested and want to learn.”
While in the Dominican, Bruyns said her group stayed at the home of a local organizer, and at a retreat with nuns observing a week-long vow of silence.
“It’s not resort living by any stretch of the imagination. There could be 12 of us in a room with one bathroom,” she said. “(But) they embrace us as part of their community.”
HRivers@postmedia.com
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