Louise Jardine - July to August 2009

Louise Jardine: louise_jardine@yahoo.co.uk

I worked with Ballet de Santa Teresa. My placement was funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust because it was the main part of a research project I’ve been working on. The research project was closely linked to my job in London – I’m Projects Manager for Laban, a dance training institution offering degrees in dance. I also work with community groups and primary/secondary schools delivering dance and combined arts projects and I teach dance.

I taught contemporary dance classes to students at BST. I also taught some choreography classes and supported outings to places of cultural significance so the children and young people learnt more about the city they live in and their history. I supported Vania’s ballet classes and some of the techniques, styles and phrases the children learnt and created with me will be used in the school’s end of year show.

Please ensure volunteers on this placement speak Portuguese at elementary+ level. It would be very hard to contribute meaningfully to the work of the school without any Portuguese language skills.

Iko Poran had my CV and knew of my interest in working with a dance organization before I arrived in Brazil. This, combined with my own initiative (I prepared lessons, resources, researched dance education and community arts in Brazil etc before I left the UK) enabled me to contribute to the work of the school. I really feel that organizations hosting volunteers aren’t always getting the support they deserve due to a lack of preparation.

4 or 5 weeks is a very short time and I think it’s unrealistic to think a volunteer can contribute without better preparation before arriving in Brazil. Schedules could often be arranged via email so that work can begin straight away. I feel that with a few days to acclimatize to a new place, it would be far more beneficial to everyone if volunteer’s skills were put to better use quicker.

I had the most incredible time with BST and really hope that I helped and supported BST as much as they inspired me. I tried hard to contribute and fit into the schools ways and structures and would advise any future volunteer to do the same. My advice would be to listen a lot and to remember that we are there for them, not the other way around.

My experience has encouraged me in my own work and was certainly a challenge! I would volunteer again but I think I would only do so for a longer time period (6 months minimum).

I would also add that the best volunteers I met in Brazil were self motivated, resourceful, creative and independent. The experience would not suit someone who needs to be looked after.

I hope this is constructive and thank you for everything you did to help me work with BST.

Hanna Kivistö, 26.06.09 - 20.08.09

Hanna Kivistö:

ojalasupiera@hotmail.com

I assisted two other volunteers in giving English classes to the younger (4-7 year-olds) and the older (8-14 year-olds) kids two days a week. I also gave Spanish classes for the older kids twice a week.

The English classes were spent mainly in preparing the kids for an exam they were having. Both of the groups learned names for school objects, colors, numbers, animals and food items. Since there was another main teacher, my job consisted of responding to the kids questions, helping them with the exercises and just giving them attention. I didn’t do any formal teaching. I had a lot teaching material with me, but the main teacher already had her own material, so I couldn’t use mine, but left it in the ballet for future needs.

I was the only teacher giving Spanish classes in the Ballet and apparently they don’t have volunteers who teach Spanish that often. The group I had was very varied, some of the kids were 8 years old, some of them were 14. Some of them had already studied Spanish at school for a year or two while others were complete beginners. I used my own material, which I left at the Ballet on my last day, and also asked the children what they wanted to learn. I started every class with a short revision of the previous class, after which I taught the new material and made the kids work in pairs or groups and use the newly learned items orally. We ended up learning numbers, family members, some basic verbs, countries and nationalities, emotions and some aspect on the pronunciation (especially the /rr/). Since in my opinion, learning about the culture is equally important as learning the language, I included a lot of cultural information: we listened to songs, read small articles about Spanish speaking countries and I showed them pictures. We also talked about the importance of learning Spanish in general.

In general, I would recommend the future volunteer to study some Portuguese before arriving, since no one at the ballet speaks English. Also, it is difficult to teach the kids if you don’t know any Portuguese. I would also recommend the volunteer to take an active role and keep contact with the Ballet constantly, since that way you achieve more and are aware of the possible changes in schedules.

The English classes

Talk with Natasha, the main teacher, about the lesson plans and if you have your own material, don’t hesitate to show her that. The English competence of the kids is very poor and you might want to prepare yourself beforehand to the fact that they require a lot of repetition and you might not make that much progress as you’d wish. Think about your role as a teacher in the broader sense and remember that it’s not all about learning grammar, but also about giving the kids a responsible adult who listens and genuinely cares for them.

The Spanish classes

Feel free to use the material I left; ask Geiza or the kids where to find it. My plan was to continue with gustar and describing people and geographic locations, so maybe you could start there. The kids are very eager to learn Spanish, so I don’t think you will come up with any motivational problems, but be aware of their different levels. If you can, try dividing the kids according to their level of proficiency. Little by little you could also draw their attention to the aspects of pronunciation since they had quite a few problems with certain sounds.