Today we're talking about... Education in isolated places. Some pros and cons

This morning in our Gran Group we have been discussing about Formal and Informal Education in Serpa and in isolated places more in general.

Let us share with you our point of view:

FORMAL EDUCATION

Cons:

• In class, if you get left out, it could be hard to change your group of friends;
• In a smaller city it is generally not accepted to be very good at something, it's the average level of your classmates that guides your behaviour;
• Usually teachers don't support nor push the most motivated and talented students to do better, more or faster than the whole class;
• Teachers could judge a student for some prejudice they have toward them or their family;
• The lack of opportunity to choose a specific school, e.g. a musical, artistic, scientific one or to change teachers;
• The group usually pushes a youngster to do bad things at an earl age, such as smoking or drinking.

Pros:

• You already know your classmates before going to school: in a way, it is a safer environment;
• In a small town there's not so many distractions as in a big city, so a student can focus better on what he or she is studying;
• Generally the school is at a short distance from the students' houses;
• If you are lucky to find a good class the sense of community and the mood improve;
• The group if it's good can keep you from doing bad things.

A possible solution would be compulsory echanges with schools in bigger cities abroad, to give a wider point of view of the world, beyond their own small town. You can also involve the students in other exchanges that don´t have anything to do with the school area, by informing with, for example, putting up posters on the walls promoting the exchanges, or bringing up the subject in class, etc.

In addition to that, we propose to organise special courses dedicated to each talent, interest or personal motivation. Each student could get an hour a week to decide for theirselves what they want to do. It must be related to school of course, and the teacher of the activity must be able to evaluate the students work and grade it!

We also suggest to give a chance to the talented student, as well as those who struggle in school, offering them support and help through study groups where the participants are encouraged to keep an high standard in what they do.

INFORMAL EDUCATION

Cons:

• Less inspiration for the personal development and for the education more in general;
• In small places people are used to judge everyone they don't know (e.g. immigrants, people with a different culture...), because it's hard to find different people in an homogeneous social environment;
• Also, for the same reason, people with a different style or with different ways to express theirselves are victims of prejudice, and it is very hard to escape from prejudice in small towns.

Pro:

• If you don't study or have a job and you rely on a social allowance you could become an outsider: therefore you fight harder to accomplish better results in school and in your working life, which leads to a better future too.

Conclusions....

People who grow up in an isolated area are usually conscious of their roots and have strong values; they are often raised in a safe environment where everybody knows eachother and want the best for their community.

When you live in a small town it's crucial to be surrounded by a good group of people that push you to do the best at school and in other educational fields (formal and non-formal).

 Aaron (Spain)

Chiara (Italy)

Elin (Sweden)

Inês (Portugal)

Sherin (Sweden)