School Snapshot: Teaching EFL in Argentina
Yay! This is our first ever installment of the School Snapshot Project. We’re so excited to launch this series because, well, isn’t it just fascinating to see what schools in other countries are like? We think so!
In this School Snapshot, English as a Foreign Language teacher Pamela Arrarás describes 4 public schools in her native Argentina.
What follows is Part 1. Check back next week for Part 2.
photo by schoolofeverything
To start with, I’d like to mention that in Argentina most English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers work in more than one school.
Our students have 2 hours of foreign languages per week, which means a teacher needs to have around 20 classes, of 25 to 30 students each, in order to have a 40 hour, full-time position.
Since schools in Argentina generally are not very big (unless we’re talking about a big city), most teachers will go from one school to another, even during the same day.
Teachers’ schedules are quite unique; each teacher will have a different schedule depending on how many courses s/he teaches and in how many schools s/he teaches.
One year, I had 16 classes and worked at 11 different schools. That is not the rule, but it can happen. Right now, I work at four different schools, and I am so happy there I hope I can continue teaching there for many years.
photo by Pamela Arrarás
Overview of my 4 schools
I presently work at these 4 schools:
- a middle school in a very small town called J.A. Pradere
- and a high school in a town called Villalonga
- two middle schools (we call them ESB, which means Escuela Secundaria Basica) in a big city called Bahia Blanca
Middle school in J.A. Pradere
The school in J.A. Pradere, called ESB 7, is very small; only 90 students attend 7th to 9th grade from 8 am to 12.30.
The students come from the area around J.A. Pradere and are bused to school. A van picks them up if they live in a farm and not in town.
The trip is sometimes an hour and a half, and for that reason, many students eat breakfast and lunch at school before going back home.
High school in Villalonga
The high school in Villalonga, which is called EEM 1 (Escuela de Educacion Media), is bigger, with over 300 students attending.
It’s still in a rural area, so many students get special driving permits to be able to drive to school if they live in a farm. They have to do this because in Argentina we are not allowed to drive until we’re 18.
This school has an afternoon shift, from 1 pm to 6.15 pm. In the morning the same building is used for the ESB students in Villalonga.
The town has only one high school, so most students spend a lot of time together and have known each other since they are children.
Two middle schools in Bahia Blanca (EET and ESB)
The schools in Bahia Blanca are located in two very different places: the Escuela de Enseñanza Técnica 3 (EET 3) is downtown, and the ESB 53 is located in a small neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.
EET 3 is a very big school; there’s over 1500 students attending on three different shifts, and the reason why the school is called “EET” and not “ESB” is because it is a technical school; students can continue their high school in the same building once they finish the ESB on grade 9, but to do so they need to complete a certain number of extra classes since technical schools require a double shift in order to complete all the workshops.
So students in technical schools generally attend classes in the morning, then go home at 12.30 or eat in the school’s cafeteria, and then come back at pm and have classes until 6pm.
It is a very long day, and technical schools are generally very big since they have workshops, cafeterias, etc.
ESB 53 is very different from EET 3; the school is very small, only 120 students, and the building is very simple.
Only students who qualify to get free lunch eat at school; everybody else eats at home, therefore students arrive around 8am and go straight to classes, and leave at 12.30pm to go home for lunch.
Transportation
photo by Pamela Arrarás
Students in Argentina do not have school buses; we either walk to school, or ride the public buses at a very small fee (around 10 cents).
Parents also take their kids to school, or in some cities, parents hire a transportation service for them we call “transporte escolar” (you can identify them because they are generally white and have an orange stripe on the side); it’s generally a small van, with a driver and a person who looks after the children while the driver makes his route, making sure the children stay in their seats and behave properly.
In Argentina there are a lot of schools, small ones but spread all over the country. Families can choose which school they want their children to go to, they are not limited to the school that is nearest to their neighborhood; but if you cannot travel far, there will generally be a school within a 10 minute drive from your house.
Meals
Only students who are in the free breakfast and lunch program eat at school; for that reason, not all schools have a cafeteria area, and in some cases, when a new free lunch program is implemented in a school that has no cafeteria the students eat in the commons or in a similar area where tables and chairs will be arranged for that purpose.
The rest of the students eat breakfast and lunch at home, and arrive some minutes later than the students who eat at school.
The food is cooked at each school’s kitchen, it is generally home-made and varies according to the skill of the school’s cooks. I love the smell in J.A. Pradere’s kitchen, for example. Those ladies are so good!
photo by Pamela Arrarás
Check back next Monday for Part II of Pamela’s School Snapshot…
Click here to read more School Snapshots.
Pamela Arrarás has been working in the field of EFL/ESL for over 11 years. Originally from Argentina, she is currently living in Greensboro, North Carolina as a cultural exchange teacher with the Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF). In addition to teaching EFL/ESL at the middle and high school level, she is currently pursuing an M.A. in English and Spanish as Foreign Languages from the Spanish Universities of Jaén and León.
What else would you like to know about schools and education in Argentina?
[...] very good friend of mine, Cate Brubaker, has just posted the first part of the “School Snapshot” on Argentina as part of her website. I was delighted to work with her on this, and I’m very happy to see [...]
[...] What follows is Part 2. You can read Part 1 here. [...]
Since I teach history in the U.S. I am always curious what students in other countries learn in history class. At my high school students need to take 4 years of history. In 9th grade they study world history from 1800-present which is the course I teach. We begin our year learning about Napoleon and how his taking over in Spain led to revolts in Latin America. My students know Jose San Martin. We discuss Argentina 3 times during the course of our year and last spring Cristina Kirchner was a key person on our final exam. In 9th and 10th grade students must take US History I and US History II and our state exams test knowledge of American history. In their last year of high school students choose an elective. They can study European history, Psychology, The US Civil War, WWII, US Government, or Legal Studies.
Dear Mary Lou,
I wanted to tell you I’m so excited about your comment! In Argentina we have Social Studies at the Elementary and Middle School level, and we study: Native American peoples and the Discovery of America in 4th grade, the revolution and wars of independence in 5th grade, and the first days of our nation (“proceso de construccion del estado nacional”) in 6th grade.
After that, in 7th grade students will get an “overview” of the history of Mankind. They will start studying Prehistoric times, how men evolved into homo erectus (you’ll excuse my lack of technical vocab for S Studies in English), and from there they will move on to how mankind started farming, the Middle Ages, etc. until they end up comparing and contrasting the different social movements that gave shape to the biggest two ways of seeing the world today: capitalism and various types of socialism. 8th grades studies Modernity in more depth, and since there has been many changes as far a curriculum design goes in the past 3 years in Argentina, that’s all I know for now, until I go back home and see for myself.
In high school students have different “orientations”, and once they choose their pathway, they have to take certain classes; I don’t know which specific classes they have when it comes to history, but I will find out for you if you want. I’ll gladly answer any questions your students may have; maybe we could have a Q&A blog together?
[...] blog reader and high school history teacher Mary Lou recently commented on Pamela’s School Snapshot, she mentioned her curiosity about what students in other countries learn in their history classes. [...]
[...] Pamela’s School Snapshot she mentioned that most kids in Argentina do not eat lunch at [...]
[...] this episode, our friend Pamela from Argentina explains [...]
[...] wrote our very first School Snapshot- check out Part 1 and Part [...]
[...] here’s the best part: the conference is in Bahia Blanca, where Pamela lives! (She’s presenting a workshop on using technology in the EFL classroom. It’s [...]
That was a very interesting read, thanks!
I’m a driving instructor and found the part about the village of Villalonga interesting. It is 17 when you can apply to have a driving licence (provisional) in the UK. Maybe 18 would be better though!
[...] here’s the best part: the conference is in Bahia Blanca, where Pamela lives! (She’s presenting a workshop on using technology in the EFL classroom. It’s [...]
[...] Pamela recently said something in reference to 2010 that made me smile (I’m paraphrasing here): It’s good that Aaron and I have each other because love is the best remedy for the times when things really suck…yes, love…and….PLANS! [...]
[...] What follows is Part 2. You can read Part 1 here. [...]
[...] blog reader and high school history teacher Mary Lou recently commented on Pamela’s School Snapshot, she mentioned her curiosity about what students in other countries learn in their history classes. [...]
[...] this episode, our friend Pamela from Argentina explains [...]