Students on strike in Santander, 9 May 2013

Education strike Santander, May 9

On May 9 there was a nationwide education strike (huelga) in Spain, including Santander and the University of Cantabria.   

The first time we heard about the huelga was when Corin was given this flyer (right) at university, informing students about the strike on 9-M (9th May), encouraging them to wake up, choose, get up and fight! and inviting them to assemble on 30 April for a pre-srike information session and demonstration at the university.  
Calls for student participation were broadcast via twitter and facebook (see student union twitter page from May 9 below).  Meanwhile, the student council of UC sent students an e-mail one week prior to May 9 urging them  to participate in 'huelga a la japonesa';  (Japanese strike).  Apparently it's an urban legend in Spain that the Japanese 'strike' by working harder than normal:  disruption by over-production.  Thus, this e-mail encourages students not to cut classes but, instead, focus even harder on their education that day, and attend special events designed to promote a quality education through debate, symposium, and reflection.  'The strike is not a reason not to go to class', says the e-mail.

UC student union twitter page, 9-M

During the week before and after the huelga, I asked various 'players' (i.e. parents, teachers, and students at various levels of education) to share their thoughts. Below I've summarized my findings:  

Disclaimer:  I don't know that these examples are representative; they are just the voices of the people I know here.

University exchange student (Corin)  He was concerned with whether or not he needed to go to class.  Professors assured students that classes would not be cancelled; however, on the day it turned out that most of them were. In the lead-up to the big day, he was handed strike-related flyers, received strike-related e-mails, and heard a lot of noise as students were preparing their rallying calls in the hallways.  

Spanish university student (Carmen)  She didn't have much to say about the strike; she doesn't really know what they are trying to accomplish.  She explained that it doesn't affect her because her professors are giving classes as normal.  However, she acknowledges that many students won't be in class because they will be participating in the strike.  She will not be participating.

Parent of Spanish university student (Margarita):  She doesn't agree with the strike. She pays approximately 2K euros (2600 dollars) per year for her son's tuition, and she acknowledges that this doesn't come close to covering the cost.  The state pays the rest, and she says 'as a taxpayer I know that we can't afford it.  Our country is in ecnomomic crisis'.  She suggests there needs to be a new model for financing university education.  In her opinion, the students are being manipulated by 'the left' for purposes of 'political grandstanding', and the professors shouldn't condone it by canceling class that day.  

strike in the rain!

High school students (Oscar and Paula)  As we might guess, they see it as a free day, a welcomed day off school.  Something like a 'hurricane day' in Florida!

Parent of high school students (Anita):  She feels that the Spanish education system is broken; she doesn't see how they can make any more cuts.  Education and health care are two things all governments must provide, she says, and cuts need to be made in other areas, not those two.  

Primary school teacher (Leila):  She is not going to participate in the strike, but she believes each teacher has to make his/her own decision based on conscience. Although, she points out, the children will arrive at school that day like every other day, and someone has to be there, if not to teach them then at least to take care of them.   

Primary school teacher (Pablo):  He is concerned that the new government is trying to privatize public services (education and health care) by taking funding away from public schools and hospitals and channelling it towards private alternatives. The public schools, whose mission is to provide a 'quality education for all', are therefore having to do more with less, while taxpayer funds are being diverted to private schools and used for capital improvements.  This is one of the reasons for the strike -- it's not only about cuts, but also re-distribution of funds.  

Parent of primary school children (Ignacio):  He thinks for a while, and then says 'I try to look at the situation logically.' He goes on to explain that in his opinion, health care and education should be provided by the government because they are essential for a stable society.  The problem now, in the economic crisis, is that there isn't enough money to pay for both of them without making drastic cuts.  If the option is either to make cuts or to stop providing health care and/or education, then he accepts that making cuts is the lesser of two evils.  However, he points out that the politicians are still finding money for their 'pet projects' and he blames the current economic situation on politicians, stating 'we need a completely new government.'

University Professor (Jimena):  She summarized the two reasons for the strike as follows:  

(1)  University funding:  The new government has cut funding for universities so that research is being stopped, tenured teachers are going back into the classroom, and non-tenured teachers are being laid off.  Although this is happening in Madrid and many other Spanish universities, it has not yet happened at the University of Cantabria. This, she says, is because of the UC president who is 'fighting for us'.  

In addition, the proposed changes include cutting student grants and scholarships while raising tuition.  Jimena explains that the way the system has always worked in Spain, the students pay for their university studies through a combination of grants, scholarships, other state funding, and a small parent contribution.  But now, with tuition going up and grants being reduced, it is becoming impossible for people with average incomes to afford university.  What about loans? I asked.  That's not something people do here, she explained.  But, she said 'people are starting to notice the new British system' (government loans) and 'wonder whether something like that will end up happening here'.  (Note:  The government loan system in UK should not be confused with student loans in the US.  In the UK, students do not start paying back their loans until their earnings reach a certain level; then payments are deducted automatically from salaries through the tax system.  It's a fixed percentage of income above the threshold, and typically it's thought of as an 'extra tax we have to pay because we went to university.'  If someone never earns above the pay-back threshold, they never have to pay it back, and they are not considered to 'owe' that money to anyone. They are just 'not subject to the tax.') 

(2)  School curriculum and funding:  The second reason for the strike, said Jimena, is the proposed changes to the public school system.  These include:  

(a)  More hours per week devoted to religion (studying the bible) which will be considered an academic subject for which students get a grade.

(b)  Music and art, which students are currently required to study for four years, will be cut to one year, and made optional.  

(d)  More funding is to be given to 'semi-private' schools.  She explained that there are three types of school in Spain:  Public (free), private (with fees that can be anywhere up to 6K euros a year), and something 'in the middle.'  In this middle category, parents pay about 50 euros a month and the schools also receive state funding.  There is typically a long waiting list for these schools.  The proposed change adds funding to the middle category and takes it away from the public category.

Santander, May 9, 2013

Education international, in a May 8 article, describes the reasons for the strike as follows:

Spain’s education community will use the strike to express its unanimous rejection of the reform plans imposed by the Education Ministry, under the leadership of José Ignacio Wert.  These reforms are an attack on several fronts - on primary and secondary education, on university education and on the education powers of local governments.    

Ideological reform

Wert’s Organic Law for Improving Education Quality (LOMCE) makes far-reaching changes to the current Organic Education Action (LOE, 2006) which has been in force for barely six years.  So far, no group of pupils has been educated throughout their entire school attendance under the terms of this law, and there has been no evaluation of its efficacy.

The unions believe the reforms promote an elitist, retrograde educational model. Pupils are segregated at an early age into educational streams of differing levels, while access to higher education is restricted due to a sharp rise in university fees.

There is also an obsessive attention to external evaluations, without teacher participation. The curriculum is also restricted, downgrading holistic approaches to teaching that are fundamental to the development of the individual. At the same time, the educational powers of local governments are being cut, hugely hampering the possibility of developing education policy at a regional level.

In short, unions warn that the reforms are opening the pathway to the covert privatisation of public education.

Drastic cuts

Since 2010, Spain has lost almost one-third of its education resources, with budget cuts of over €6.3 billion euros.  Thousands of jobs have been lost at every level and stage of education, while the working conditions of education professionals have deteriorated.

Grants and assistance to those most in need have been drastically reduced;  many forms of support and compensation for pupils with learning difficulties have been eliminated; and there has been an exorbitant rise in fees for certain levels of education, such as early childhood education, vocational training, and university education. 

So, on the morning of May 9, I went to the university. The hallways were quieter than normal, but there were students working in the library, professors working in their offices, a few people in the cafeteria, and the occasional burst of noise as students practiced their rallying calls and chants for the demonstration that afternoon.    

Despite the e-mail from the student council urging students that 'the strike is not a reason not to go to class', and despite Corin's professors having said they would be having class as normal, all his classes that morning were cancelled.  His afternoon class, however, was held as normal, albeit with fewer students.  

While high school students stayed at home, many elementary school children showed up to school that morning as normal because working parents don't always have other options. The teachers who did not participate in the strike took care of the children. However, they explained, 'it was a day for babysitting, not lessons.'

As you can see in the pictures, bad weather (it rained non-stop during the entire day of 9 May!) did not prevent students, teachers, and parents from 'taking it to the streets' in Santander.

Below are more pictures from the strike.  Note:  Most of the pictures on this blog post came from the website eldiariomontanes.es, in the Cantabria section.  If you'd like to see more photos of the strike, you can click on this link.

A Spanish school arranges Mercadillo Solidario

Today at the elementary school we didn't have English class.  Instead, the school was holding a special event:  A mercadillo solidario (literally: caring market). 

The market works as follows:  Each child brings in two items from home:  (1)  A non-perishable food item, and (2)  something for the market (typical garage sale fare such as books, clothes, toys, and DVDs).  The food is put in a grocery cart, and the market goods are spread out on tables around the room.  

The food is then donated to the Ayuntamiento (local council offices/town hall) who distribute it to the local food banks and give each participating child a bookmark.  Each child then chooses an item from the market.  

All the children in the school, including the 2 year olds (pictured above) came to see the market, and once they were all assembled, there was singing.  Even the 2 year olds joined in (with the hand movements if not the actual singing!)

The children loved giving away the market goods, and tried to persuade me that I needed a Spanish language (cartoon) version of La Pequeña Dorrit and an abridged English version of Tess of the D'Urbervilles.  I managed to resist their high pressure sales tactics (look!  It's English!  Perfect for you!) and instead, chose a cute little picture book called Las Fantasmas Buscan Casa. This choice was a source of great hilarity!

The teachers kindly allowed me to take these pictures, and explained to me how the market worked, and the motivation behind it.  Spain is experiencing an economic crisis, they explained, and, as one of the teachers put it, 'it's so important that they learn, at this young age, to do things like this.'  De acuerdo.    

Dia de la Paz; Peace Day in Spain

In Spanish schools, 31 January is celebrated as Dia de la Paz, a national day of peace and non-violence.  As mentioned in an earlier post, Life in Spain, first impressions, I was able to watch, from my balcony, the festivities in the playground of the local elementary school below.  It was quite noisy, and I didn't really understand what was going on!  

Once I started volunteering at the school, I was able to find out more about it.  Last week, the children were learning the 'simple past' tense,  so I thought it was an excellent time to ask them about Dia de la Paz.  First they showed me the board they had made with all the pictures from that day.

Then, I asked them to remember how they had celebrated, and write some sentences using past tenses.  We talked about it for a while, and I asked them some questions.  

I'll let the children tell you about it in their own words:  

Child 1:  The teacher told us a story about the colors of the rainbow.  

Child 2:  We played a game with balloons.
Me:  What was the game?
Child 2:  We were fighting about the color of the balloons -- what was the best color?
Me:  How did the game end?
Child 2:  We decided that all the colors were the same.

Child 3:  We held up the balloons.

Child 4:  We made a rainbow with balloons.

Child 5:  We listened to music and danced.

Child 6:  We made paper birds in different colors.
Me:  How did you make them?
Child 6:  We folded paper.

Child 7:  The teachers gave us rice.  
Me:  What did you do with the rice?
Child 7:  We put it in the balloons and shook them.  
Me:  What did it sound like?
Child 7:  It sounded like rain.

Child 8:  We made bracelets in different colors.
Me:  How did you make them?
Child 9:  We cut string and we tied it.

Child 10:  We listened to a story.
Me:  What was the story about?
Child 10:  It was a sad story.  
Me:  Why was it sad?
Child 11:  A girl was in the hospital and she died.
Child 12:  Because she didn't have enough paper birds.
Child 11:  It was after a war.  The bomb.  In Japan.  
Me:  Was it a true story?
Child 12:  Yes.

Child 13:  We spoke about Peace.
Me:  What did you talk about?
Child 13:  Balloons.

At the end of the class, I asked the children what their favorite part of the Day of Peace had been.  Answers covered pretty much everything mentioned above:  The stories, the balloons, the game, the rainbow, the bracelets, the music and dancing, and the paper birds.  

Invisible gorillas, PJI principle 8, and Cultural Lessons in Barcelona

Parque Güell, Barcelona

Feb 11, 2013: 

Have you seen the 'invisible gorilla' selective attention video?  If you have, and you were one of those who missed the gorilla, like me, then you might be interested in this article published today by Alix Spiegel for NPR, called 'Why even radiologists can miss a gorilla hiding in plain sight.'

You can read the full article (and watch the invisible gorilla video) here, but the gist of it is that, in a selective attention study, 83% of radiologists did not see a picture of a gorilla superimposed on a chest x-ray.  Why not?  Well, the 'obvious' answer is that they weren't looking for gorillas; they were looking for tumors.  Nevertheless, when you look at the picture, it's hard to believe that they could have missed it.

So can it really be the case that you can look right at something and, if it's not what you're looking for, not see it?  We all know the expression 'you see what you want to see', but it might be more accurate, then, to say 'you see what you expect to see.'  Whichever it is, if you are not seeing something that's clearly there, simply because you are not looking for it, that must have important implications for, well, just about everything.  If you're not convinced, here's the conclusion of the NPR article:

'In other words, what we're thinking about — what we're focused on — filters the world around us so aggressively that it literally shapes what we see.' 

Yes, that's pretty powerful.  And it reminds me of something:  Principle 8 of the Valencia Peace and Justice Institute's 'how we treat each other.' 

Principle #8:  Identify assumptions.  Our assumptions are usually invisible to us, yet they undergird our worldview.  By identifying our assumptions, we can then set them aside and open our viewpoints to greater possibilities.  (To see all 13 principles, click here)

I remember reading this for the first time and thinking 'easier said than done!'  If our assumptions are invisible to us, how can we identify them?  It seems an impossible goal.  But perhaps we need to think of our assumptions as the invisible gorilla.  To see the gorilla, you first have to know it's there.  So how do you know whether what you know about the world is real, or whether it's an assumption?  What is reality, anyway?  Is anything real?  Isn't everything just perception?  (Think Matrix, Plato, Sophie's World).  We may never be able to answer these questions, but what's important is that we ask them.  If we keep asking, and keep our minds open to what others are telling us, we may be able to shift our perception enough to spot the gorilla.

So this brings me to a story about a 'spot of bother' I got into last month in Barcelona, and my faulty assumptions that were exposed as a result. I was having a coffee at an outdoor cafe by the port, when a man with a basket of roses approached me.  He handed me a red rose and held his hand out for payment.  I didn't have any cash on me, nor any intention of buying a rose.  So, I smiled at him and explained politely in Spanish that I was sorry, I wasn't carrying cash, and didn't want to buy a rose.  He didn't answer but kept pushing the rose at me and holding out his hand for money.  Assuming it was my poor Spanish that was the problem, I tried again to explain using different words, but it didn't do any good; he started making gestures and noises of desperation and grabbed my hand with his two hands and started pulling on it!  I looked around frantically for the waiter, expecting him to show up any minute and ask the man to leave, but he didn't.  I continued trying to come up with alternative vocabulary to convey the message that I had no cash, and to please leave me alone.  But he wouldn't leave me alone, and the waiter never came to rescue me. 

The point of the story is that my poor handling of the situation was based on no less than three false assumptions, as explained to me later by the waiter.  

Assumption #1:  That I had failed to communicate effectively in Spanish, and that's why the street vendor didn't understand me.  (In fact, it turned out that he was from Pakistan and spoke no Spanish).

Assumption #2:  That the harassing of customers would be speedily and effectively handled by the restaurant management.  (In fact, it wasn't!  And when I asked the waiter whether aggressive selling was allowed on restaurant premises, he shrugged his shoulders and said 'of course, this is Spain.')

Assumption #3:  That the way to refuse an unwanted sales pitch is to smile and decline politely. (In fact, I was told later, that was where I had made my fatal mistake. I was instructed that in future I should ignore street vendors; not smile, not speak.  Behave as if they are not there.  'If you make eye contact, you are doomed!')  Note:  I still find this difficult. From my cultural perspective, ignoring people who approach you is just plain rude.   

Of course, in the overall scheme of things, this minor incident is of no consequence.  But, it does illustrate how strong our invisible assumptions can be -- and could help explain why we keep using the same strategies to problem solve, even in the face of irrefutable evidence that they aren't working!

Pictures from Barcelona, Jan 2013

La Sagrada Familia

Up on the Olympic Hill, with a good view of the port, and the QM2!