Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in May 2023 undergraduate student Molly May (C’24) interviewed Marren Lino, a teacher at St. Martin de Porres Primary School in Belize City, Belize. Lino discusses the school's improvements in communication, faith-based workshops, and parental support.
Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your relationship with St. Martin's?
Well, I'm a full time teacher here at St Martin's. I've been teaching here for the past five years. Well, for me here at St Martin's, I feel like I was belonged to be here. Like, I needed to have been here to help the students grow in reading, and also remembering their letter sounds since I'm dealing with infant one. Also, I believe that God led me here as well because I wasn't here first. I was at a Caye Caulker school, a private institution, and I wasn't comfortable teaching there. So I applied to St Martin's and I got a positive response. And as I got the positive response, I jumped on it and I was like, I'm going to do my best. So my objective here is to ensure that I do my job, which is to cater for the needs of the children and ensure that when they leave my class they learn something.
So it's interesting to hear that you switched to St. Martin's. So what was it about the community that really drew you in?
I believe it's about history that I have here, because I graduated from here in standard six. And I also did community service from SJC. I did my community service here and I also volunteered and help Mrs. Encalada who was in a class at that time, so I believe that I had a more, like a bonding relationship, with some of the teachers here before I actually became a teacher.
So I'd love to hear how has St. Martin's changed from the time you were a student to the time you were back as a teacher?
I would say communication at some point - although it's sometimes off because, for some reason, we get information right - sometimes it's not clear, but for the most part, we try our best to work as a team to ensure that whatever has been said to us, we do it. You know, like complete our lesson plans on time. If it's additional work we need to do, we ensure that we promise that the division, infant one we always meet and plan and ensure that whatever weaknesses we have, we talk about it and ensure that we can, you know, curve it around and let it become a positive instead of weakness again. So communication has been more - to me, it grew from before when I was here, and now, because Mrs. Wade emails about what is happening for the week. I believe that's a plus because sometimes as a teacher, your mind is all over the place and you need that guidance, you know, some point. So that email help us and go, "Oh, I need to remember I need to come to mass this week because my coworker, who's a part of the lower division, is leading the mass and we are responsible to be a part of it." So communication wise, we're doing a little better in that area.
Also, when it comes to getting closer to God, the formation that Father David is doing with us is a plus. I believe that it helped us as teachers to remember, Hey, we're not alone in this. We need to know that there is a God, and we need to know who is God, and we need to get closer to him. Ensuring that if we want to feel like we're not to burden in the job or feel overwhelming, we need to ask God to help us to calm down and ensure that we get our job done, but not under pressure. And try to balance what we're doing. So the formation is also a plus for us, and also when it comes to - for me, in my class - parental support has been really a plus for me this year. And over the years that I've been here, this year has been one of the most - I can't complain at all. Support from parents has been very good. So those are some of the pluses that I saw that has really changed me.
And also, what are the changes here at St Martin's since I'm here. But one of the things I think that we need to work on is ensuring that we're working as a team. I feel like that's a weakness here at St. Martin’s. We tend to not want to talk or voice our concerns because we don't want to be misinterpreted and being judged. But we still need to hear what's happening, what are some of things we can change, what are some of the things we can do better in general? Because all of us are teachers. We have a talent. It's just for us to be more open about it and try not to ensure that words or negativity comes in play that will kind of hold us back from doing what we want to do. Because if we're just here, just sitting and not saying a word in the meeting and say, okay, you just agree with everything. But in reality it's not true. It's okay to say, "I don't think it's right for us to do this. And this is the reason." And you have a right to say what you think is right for you. You know, and at the end of the day, if that's the agreement, if we need to do the job, well, we're going to do it. At least I speak and not hold in what I believe is not right. So that is my concern about that question.
You definitely mentioned a lot of things, I'd like to go back and go a little bit deeper into some of those. Can you explain, what is the formation that you've been doing?
Formation is like a workshop, a religious workshop, primarily focusing on like the sacraments. But we as Catholics are also getting to know different - like St. Ignatius. We learn about the different vocations that when it comes to priesthood, being a part of a marriage, single life. So it's more like getting to know different things about the church and also getting to know about God, because that's what we as a Catholic institution, our primary focus is religion. And in the classroom, we do religion. However, some of the contents that we teach, like Father David stated that instead of us saying Mary, the mother of Jesus, we would say Mary, the mother of God. So we were like, "Wow, all these years, you know, Mary is the mother of God," but he's just trying to tell us that it's the same. However, it's more for us to say the correct way now. So we're getting to, know, some of the religious aspects of what's going on. And for me, I am amazed. I'm like, okay, I need not really a lot to change, but some of the little things I've been teaching, I'm not saying it's wrong, but we need to kind of change some of the wording of what we are teaching the kids, you know?
So some of those small changes or clarifications. So I'm interested in how that religious training in the formation ties in to your classroom teaching? What are the main religious messages that you try to teach your students?
Well, for example, when it comes to praying, I ensure that the children are reverent. I always tell them we need to respect God. The way we pray is also how we respect God because we may not know that God is real, but he is and he's around us every day. But we need to know if we want him to listen to us, how is it that we're going to present ourselves to him? So I teach them how to stand up, put their hands together, how to make the sign of the cross, and showing that when I teach, like when it comes to the Bible stories, I explain to them the real main idea of it.
For example, today we talk about this story, Jesus walk on water, and we talk about who was the disciple. Instead of saying Apostle, because we already used to, you know, words like disciples and apostles. We get it mixed up, right? So I explained to them that, remember the story, Jesus walk on water and we know that Jesus have many followers. And who was the person who wanted to walk on the water with Jesus? And they would say, "it's Peter." And so it's like more of a discussion to do with religion, but also ensuring that what Father David stated about Mary. I still say Mary, the mother of Jesus. I'm like, "Oh my gosh." You know, it's hard to correct what you already teach. But for the next school year, God willing, I am going to set my mind about that wording. So it's just, you know, a little clarification here and there, but it's kind of hard, like what you said, to change what we already teach kids. But I was amazed of it. I'm like, okay, so Jesus is like the person. And then like, we would say he's - how you describe it again? When you're not fully human, it's like you have a spirit. Both person and a spirit in you, that's like how Jesus was. And Jesus was like the person, like representing God or image of God. And he does what God asks him to do, you know? He was the one that was the real creator. Like, instead of saying, like, "that was Jesus," we would say, "he's God." So those are the things that I was like, wow. I refer to that person as Jesus, I say, "okay, Jesus came on earth," but it's really God. But for us to understand it's really God that was here on the earth. So that's just a few clarification.
You know, so you've talked a lot about the technicalities of the word in the word, things like that. How about kind of broader values and the principles that you try to teach your students or show your students? How is that inspired by the Jesuit values?
Well, we do have the core values that we teach the children - integrity, community, just to name a few. One of the main things I teach my children is love. Always look out for each other and ensure that we are respectful, we are loving, because at the end of the day, we are one. Similar to the core value of community, we are working together as a team and we should look out for each other despite what happened around us. If someone falls on the floor, we should, you know, if he or she cries, we should not bully that child. We should pick up that child, brush him or her off. You're going to be fine. I always ensure that the children have a positive mindset when it comes to the actions that happens in the class. If somebody falls down, one or two would grab him or her from the floor and fix the chair. I don't need to explain that in the class, and I'm really amazed.
When it comes to working with each other, that's another thing. I have them working in groups at some point, but some of them still have that, you know, being all like it's only them. Intrapersonal instead of interpersonal, having others coming around them. So they still have that big personality, like we just want to stay by themselves and they don't want to share. But I try my best to break that up, because at the end of the day, when you go to the other class, they're going to need to be exposed to other children. So that's some of the values I teach my children - love, respect, working as one, community, and ensuring that, they're here at school and being positive. Some of them say, "Teacher, why do I need to learn that?" I do have a student who always questions me like, you know. Teacher will never teach a thing you don't need to learn. Everything teacher teach, you need to learn because it's going to help you later on in your life, even if you don't use now, later, you will use it. So those are some of the values I teach.
So you talked a lot about all the amazing things at St. Martin's - community, and values and everything. But I want to shift a little bit and I want to talk to you about things that aren't working so well, or areas that you need more support. Things that should be improved. So let's start with can you tell me about something at St. Martin's that isn't working how you think it should be working?
When it comes to the staff meeting. We do that every month. I believe that maybe we need to do a little check in more often on teachers to ensure that - even if they say "Good morning Miss! Hope all goes well for the day." A positive message I would say would be needed - not every day, but at least once a week - to let the teachers feel like, oh, you're not in this alone. I am here with you. Because at some point I feel like we're all alone. I feel like I'm not being supervised every time that I believe I need to. Because I'm still learning. I'm doing my best. I'm giving my all. However, I feel like I'm still not giving my best because when it comes to reading, I have good readers. However, I feel I could have challenged the children more in that area. So we need to be supervised more and ensure that we need to know what's happening. Because in the staff meeting, we only have it for an hour, and not everything has been voiced out in that short span of time. So if you would stop by a teacher and say "Hi, Ms. hope all goes well." Maybe Ms. can say, "Thanks very much, but I have a situation in my class," and, you know, that would help Ms. to know I have someone listening to me. Instead of keeping all that's happening in my class to myself. I don't have anybody to say what's going on. So I believe the checking in on teachers is not there.
And like I say, we communicate, but limited. Only in staff meeting. I feel like we could have gone beyond that. We could even have like - I remember when I was in primary school, the teachers have a morning session whereby they pray, they talk, start their morning - even something like that to have the teachers be like, hey, you know, I at least I start my morning right, by praying and ensuring that my day goes well. They even give them a little treat. Maybe I won't say every day, but at least something to help us boost up our energy a bit in the job because at this time, I believe majority of teachers are drained because we are rushing, we need to ensure we check our papers, we are in the system. You know, we need to be on top of our game. The energy to do it is going down and down everyday, so checking up on us more often will definitely help with that. It will ensure that, "Oh, I feel like I have someone to look onto." At least I would be able to talk to this individual at the end of the week. Looking forward to somebody to talk to for the week.
Right, right. So more of those check-ins, emotional support. Before you had mentioned some maybe communication tensions in the meetings. Can you talk a little bit more about - where do you see those tensions in communication, or where are there issues?
Because maybe if the principal stated something - if we see deadlines, or an activity that maybe we can do. Let's say, for example, we need to prepare for a festival of arts. That's a yearly thing. But we just went back to the clubs, right? There is a dance class, a drama class, so that class is supposed to be performing for the festival arts to represent our school But the time that they tell us to prepare for the Festival of Arts is kind of really short. So probably to ensure to not let us feel frustrated about preparing for festival of arts, tell us ahead of time. And you know, I think that the last minute information tends to feel like it's very, very frustrating, especially if you have a calendar of events that you have planned as a teacher. But we do have our calendar. But if you just throw that date on us and we already have a date that we think that we are going to do something and the Festival of Artists is there is like, Oh my. So I believe the time you tell us, deadline, something. Like, for example, preparation, preparation for performance or anything, even games that could be done about earlier timing. But we started clubs late, we started in January.
And I think that was another weakness because if we want to plan something, we should have planned it from the beginning of the school year so that the kids can get used to it. Because up to now my children, some of them forgot which clubs these belong in. So I need to constantly remind them, you belong in dance club you belong in reading club. So even that. But probably it's just a trial, I would say, for us to get used to it. So September, we're fully on board, but that's another thing that they throw at us. They didn't ask us, do you agree? What do you think? Is it okay for us to do the clubs? They just, "Oh, Ms., you're in sports." Not "Ms., do you feel comfortable doing sports club? Which area are you comfortable?" None of that was said. Because if you want to plan something for the school, nothing is wrong with that. But the way you address at and communicate with us about it. You need to ensure that you don't feel you are demanding us to do it. At some point I feel like that was how I felt about the clubs - you have to do this this, is what they tell us. I'm like, "okay, I'm gonna do it, because well, I'm a part of Saint Martin's," and anything they tell us to do we need to be a part of. But the way you tell us, so that's one of the weaknesses I believe we need to work on as a team.
So you mentioned that, of course, teachers might not feel so comfortable speaking up or expressing what they need. What do you think could be done to make teachers feel more comfortable being able to express these needs?
I believe getting to know the teachers. From the administration. Get to know who this teacher is, what are the strengths and weaknesses that this teacher has, and the way you can talk to this teacher. That's another reason, because if you want a teacher to be on board with you, you have to know how to speak, and your mannerism. Because I might be blunt, but the receiver received it in a different way. So you need to ensure how you speak, how you do things. Because I know some days are bad, and all of us go through that. But some of the days we need to ensure that the way we speak, I cannot be too harsh because I'm talking to an adult. I'm not talking to a child. So even the way we speak, we need to know how to speak to people because that's the way you are going to get responded. If you want to be firm, we need to know when and how to be firm. So getting to know the teachers will definitely help teachers be open for communication, because if you're just passing the teacher and not even saying "hello, how are you," teachers will not be open to you.
So we talked a lot about communication, and support, and things like that. Let's move on to resources or programs, maybe a little bit more tangible things. What would you like to see more of?
Well, we have the literacy program already. However, I feel like we need more manipulatives for the kids to use in the class, like hands on activities. Not really like to buy a lot of things, but at least materials that we can use and say, "I received this from the literacy coach," that we can use for the class to ensure that reading can happen. Or at some point there is a connection where we can reflect back to the resources of what's given. For me in my class, I have manipulatives. However, I feel like it's not enough for the kids. Reading books - I do have that, but I don't have for each level. When it comes to math. I don't have all numbers for the kids to know that oh, this is number one, this is number two. I have a few. So probably, we need to ensure that they have a specific number that would be given to each class. If it's ten building blocks, or if it's ten alphabet buckets or I don't know, but it's something we need to come as a team and decide, "Well, I only have ten resources, so how are we going to divide amongst ourselves?" But for the class, five years, no resources has been given when it comes to literacy. They give us the markers, the Bristol boards, the pen, the whiteboard markers, the eraser, broom, you know, what you can use for your class for the year.
But when it comes to having the children use like manipulatives, hands-on, none of that has been given. I need to laminate all my work, and laminating papers are expensive. So it's limited and not all my children will be able to have equal, you know, each activity for themselves. So the resources are limited and also, I would say - even the teachers when it comes to having a laptop, a projector, a speaker. You know, some of us won't have those things. And they didn't ask all teachers, "How many of you have a laptop? How many of you have a projector?" None of that. Even though, I think they do have projectors in the office, but I don't know if it's useable. We do have maybe, but how effective it is, that's the problem. So the quality of things too. I know it's really expensive because I want to get a projector myself. I go on Amazon and I see the price. $2,000 Belize for a projector, I can't afford it. I need a laptop, right now I need to save that $2,000 for my laptop. Now what about my projector, I can't get that. I understand money is limited, but if we're getting a little donation from somewhere, we need to make use of the donation. If it's one projector for infant one, no problem.
We just need to ensure that teachers are flexible with timing of use and all of that. But at least have something in place. Right now, I don't have a laptop nor a projector, so I'm not with technology. My laptop, it works, but I need to connect it so it works. So I can't move around my classroom to make sure my children can see the screen. So technology zero, in my class.
Have you been able to express to the administration what your needs are for your classroom?
No, because I believe they should ask us at the end of the year, they can call each teacher, "Ms., what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, what are some room for improvement Ms.?" And trust me Ms. will be open, because I have a lot to say. We are waiting to get questions like those from them. I come to school and man, I don't feel motivated some days. And it's not because I don't like my class. It's just the way how things are happening on the compound. One message gets sent and it's not correct, or we need to reschedule. It's like, if it's one message, let it be standardized across the board, you know, so the way how the top people are doing it, they need to be careful of what they're saying. Because at once we had casual (casual dress day), but only infants had casual, middle and upper didn't have casual. There is a miscommunication happening. And then we asked for a dollar because we need to help the school when it comes to bills, or sometimes we don't even know where that dollar goes.
