A Discussion with Teresa Flores, Teacher, Obra Social y Educativa Don Bosco, Montevideo, Uruguay

With: Teresa Flores Berkley Center Profile

May 24, 2012

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in May 2012 undergraduate student Charlotte Markson interviewed Teresa Flores, a third grade teacher at Don Bosco School (Obra Social y Educativa Don Bosco, OSEDB) in Montevideo, Uruguay, a school affiliated with Fe y Alegría Uruguay. In this interview Flores discusses her dual roles as teacher and after-school program coordinator, the challenges of educating students coming from impoverished areas, and what motivates her to continue teaching.

Can you tell me about your background and how you came to work here?

I am 33 years old and was born in Montevideo, in this very neighborhood. I have been a teacher for 10 years and was a public school teacher until 2011. Now I work full time in the OSEDB. In the mornings I teach third grade, and in the afternoons I act as the after-school coordinator, as well as a tutor for children with learning difficulties. In addition to being a schoolteacher I am also a martial arts instructor, working to protect children from violence.

Can you tell me about your work as after-school coordinator?

When a teacher notices a problem with a certain student, whether this is a conduct, performance, or social behavioral issue, we ask the parents to come speak to us. Together with the teacher we try to find solutions, always with the student’s best interest in mind. Sometimes parents contact us when they notice their child struggling with a certain issue. We are here to help the parents and work around their schedules, because many of them work very long hours.

As coordinator I also work with the social worker, especially when an intervention is necessary. Most of the children here receive a scholarship, and most come from the surrounding slums. This means that many of their basic needs are not met. They do not have running water or electricity, and their houses are made of materials such as tin, cardboard, or wood. In the OSEDB we try and take the children out of that situation for nine hours a day, show them a different reality, and offer them a comprehensive education. Comprehensive means that the children are not only taught academic subjects, but also study computer science, English, gardening, physical education, music, and cooking. Additionally, the students are able to eat breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack here. There are children whose last meal of the day is the snack here at school, and they do not eat until the next morning when they are back in school.

Tell me about general challenges and positive aspects of education in Uruguay.

The educational policy in Uruguay is aiming towards making all schools full-time. The motivation behind this is to take the child out of its marginalization and off the street, and offer it a comprehensive education, including workshops as mentioned before. One problem is that we do not have enough workshop leaders. So the same teacher stays with her class for nine hours and does whatever workshop she can think of. A problem we have been seeing over the last decade is a lack of support by the families. That is why the educational policy foresees taking care of the children from a very young age onward. In public schools many children in fifth and sixth grade are already involved in drugs. So the teacher is the one who has to work with these children, who often do not have families at all.

Another problem is that the educational budget does not include sufficient salaries for teachers. It is not uncommon for a person who has no formal education and cleans the streets to earn more than a teacher who had to attend university. Of course this demotivates many teachers, especially since wages are the same across all public schools.

On the other hand, if I compare my students with what I have seen from students coming from Spain or the United States, we are ahead here in Uruguay. The Uruguayan child learns, and it is literate. The percentage of analphabets in Uruguay is very low, and if you do find someone who is an analphabet, she will be at least 50 years old. In this generation of the past 10 years, there aren’t any. It is obligatory to enroll your child in school here by the age of 4 years old, because we need to take advantage of this young age when children can absorb the most knowledge.

What is your personal motivation for working as a teacher?

I remember playing teacher since I was a little girl, and when I attended secondary school I realized teaching was indeed my passion. Since I have always preferred working with small children, I decided to become a primary school teacher.

Working at Don Bosco is very rewarding because I feel like I am indeed teaching and fulfilling my role as a teacher. In many of the public schools teachers feel more like social workers, but in this schools there is more support from both the parents and the institution itself.

I get up every morning for the children, and the potential they bring from home. As a teacher I cannot forget where these children come from. It is important to keep their reality in mind, and build knowledge on that basis.

I try to teach the children both for their present and future. We need to provide them with different tools, so that they can then unfold their potential throughout life. This can be done through different means, including traditional academic subjects as well as practical instruction, such as how to behave when home alone.

What does Fe y Alegría mean to you?

We are part of Fe y Alegría because we are trying to educate from the basis of Christianity. Don Bosco aimed to educate children from low-income backgrounds, and we are part of Fe y Alegría because it has the same objective. To have faith means saying, “I can” and “I am capable.” We try to inspire our students with every activity we do, and that is what Fe y Alegría aims at too; it works with institutions that have very few resources in order to promote the social and psychological development of its students.

Opens in a new window