Educational Adventure with Panamanians

"The idea for cooperation with Panama on community education came about as the result of Panamanian Minister of Education Dr. Pablo Antonio Thalassinos visiting Israel to look into various educational programs. At first, a group of 25 Panamanians from very rural areas of the country came to participate in a course here in February 1995. I remember thinking to myself at the time that it was admirable that the Minister of Education was sending 'real' people, from the field so to speak, to participate in the course," says Rosenthal.

"After that, we suggested setting up an on-the-spot course in Panama. Michael Ganor, a sociologist by training, and I went together in August 1996 to Panama to give a course on Community Education. The real purpose of the course was to teach both parents and teachers about the principles of community education - involvement and intervention. We arrived in Panama only to find out that the number of participants had doubled! It was very difficult for us to teach twice as many people, but we felt that we couldn't disappoint anyone," she explains.

Rosenthal defines community education as a system in which decisions are made by all relevant parties, and not just the management of the school. Parents, children, teachers and members of the community at large each have an opportunity to offer their insight and input regarding the policy and activities of the school.

"In the beginning, the concept that the school is ideally child centred was a bit perplexing to the participants. It was difficult for them to accept the idea of the child as an integral part of the learning process, rather than the more formal object of receiving information from the teachers. We started to work on this approach by talking about the formation of school committees, with many different sectors represented. It is up to each school to define what their idea of 'community' is, and what bodies are to make up the 'community,'" she emphasizes.

Rosenthal remembers that classes were held in an isolated location in the middle of August, with no air conditioning and "90% humidity." But, despite the difficulties of the physical location, the participants simply didn't want to stop learning. Rosenthal and Ganor worked in shifts, often from 8:00 a.m to 1:00 a.m without a break, in order to accommodate their students. The trainees were as enthusiastic as their Israeli teachers, and as Rosenthal says, "they just didn't want to go home."

Most of the teacher trainees in the course were high school graduates, in a country where educators are considered quite high up on the social ladder and parents are seldom involved in their children's education. "It seemed to me that there was little connection between the teachers and the parents even though the social status of teacher is very high, and they are considered pillars of the community. Parents were not involved in any way in their children's schooling. It was amazing for parents to suddenly discover that they had something to contribute toward their child's education. A link between teachers and parents was a revolutionary concept for them," explains Rosenthal.

"For parents and teachers to interact in the educational system was totally new to them. They became part of the educational experience. They had been used to frontal lectures and exercises. When we introduced them to participatory programs and interactive lessons, for them, it was nothing less than the discovery of a new process and the response was excellent," she adds.

In February, 1997, another group of Panamanians came to Israel to participate in a Course on Community Education. This time, the participants included supervisors and educational leaders. The hope is that participants at the management level will be able to initiate changes at the higher levels of policy establishment.

As in the previous courses, Rosenthal taught a wide range of subjects, including what she calls the four main questions that define community education: What are the local needs? How can we achieve our goals? Who are the players involved? And where is the activity going to be taking place? According to Rosenthal, once the local educators, parents and students start asking these questions, they are on their way to finding the answers for their own community.

Different approaches to education were presented to the Panamanians. However, on a practical level, there is a harsh reality that also faces these teachers: hungry students. It is hard to discuss theories of education when one is confronted by the fact that one's students haven't had breakfast. Rosenthal says that the teachers felt that it was not a matter of obtaining more resources, but rather a matter of reorganization. Ways of integrating food and nutrition into a comprehensive approach to education were also discussed.

The subject of community education covers a very wide range of topics, including parenting workshops, parent-teacher involvement, adult education, environmental education, and surveying parent involvement in school activities. Rosenthal realizes that broad changes in educational approaches do not occur overnight. However, she feels that the participants' strong desire to identify their problems and get answers to their questions will create a momentum in Panama that can serve as a basis for change.

"Our participants fully understood that investing in youth is an investment in the future of their country. They are up to the challenge. They don't want to just keep talking about it, they want to do it," she says. But perhaps the spirit of Rosenthal's Panamanian experience was captured by one parent, who had never ventured out of his village his entire life until the course.

"On our final evening, his eyes filled with tears as he looked at me and said simply, 'what do you know....I can do it.' I think that says it all," says Yehudit Rosenthal smiling, glancing over her shoulder once again to the photos and letters tacked up on her wall.