Foreign trip gives teachers a lesson in lack

Could ease culture, language barrier

Thanks to a continuing education grant from Duke University, nearly two dozen public school teachers were able to travel for 10 to 14 days in July to Guatemala, where they learned what education is like in a developing country.

Most of the teachers were English-as-a-Second-Language instructors, though some were elementary school teachers with a very high number of Spanish-speaking students. The grant paid for most of the trip, but a few teachers had gone previously and paid their own way to tag along.

The Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership granted $925,000 to three different programs in early 2006, and this year's teachers were the third group to make the voyage to Guatemala.

They were part of the Spanish Language Leap program, which trained staff and faculty members from four schools in conversational Spanish.

Many teachers were already fluent, but being "immersed" was still a truly enlightening experience.

"To be immersed in Spanish culture, and to understand our own students more" was incredible, said Maryann Smith, an Exceptional Children teacher.

The experience heightened some teachers' awareness about the region from which many of their Hispanic students and their families had emigrated.

"I wanted to have a better understanding of them and also be able to talk to their parents a little better," said Meneca Davis, who teaches lower-school children at George Watts Montessori.The group mainly stayed with host families in and near Antigua. They visited local schools and saw the disparities in resources for teachers in Guatemala. In their free time, some even climbed a volcano.