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As of today, I have been in South Africa for 8 days. After 30+ hours of travel to kick start to journey. We left San Francisco in the late afternoon and flew to Dubai, which was a 15 hour flight!!!!! After a quick stroll through the vast Dubai airport, a green juice, and lots of water, we boarded our flight headed into Johannesburg. When we sat down, we realized our flight from Johannesburg and into Durban had a 55 minute space in between arrival and departure. Cue the anxiety. After a long 8 hour flight down to South Africa, we land to find out our gate is still occupied. Other passengers were on our team to get us off the plane and were giving us pointers on how to navigate the airport and customs! As soon as the plane doors opened we took off in a sprint towards customs in hopes we’d be able to jump into the front of the line. Mind you, less than a week prior I had been given antibiotics for Bronchitis and was struggling to maneuver my luggage and my sickly body in an unfamiliar airport. We made it to customs and it was EMPTY. We are the only travelers in the whole room. We rush to the front and find separate booths. Sarah, my travel partner, asked what direction we needed to head now, the agent respond with something along of the lines of “why are you in a rush”, our flight was to board in less than 40 minutes and we needed to still go back through security in the domestic terminal. The customs agent slowly looked at the watch on her wrist, then back up at Sarah and said, “run” and handed her back her passport just as slowly. So we continued to run. Once we made it out of the airport and back in through the domestic area, we found our gate to learn our flight was 10 minutes delayed. Eye roll emoji and a huge breath of relief. This minor delay would also pose an interesting spin to our trip. Once we landed in Durban, we needed to get to our rental car and drive 2 and a half hours North, to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park Animal Reserve, one of Africa’s oldest parks. We were told our check in time was 11:30AM. Our group of six others, was informed our start time was 9:00AM, so they had been waiting 2+ hours for us and almost left without us to begin, with the impression we were no shows! (Oh also, we were driving on the right side of the car, on the left side of the road.) Sarah needed to turn around on the side of a cliff, it took maybe 8 points to get going back the way we had just come from to get to the main camp. Since we were “late”, we rushed to get our packs packed. When we strapped these packs up on our backs, they had to have been somewhere around 50lbs or 23kgs. Then the Walk began. After two days of airplane sleep, we headed off to walk in the bush of the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. Our walk was 5 days and 4 nights. During the nights, between the 8 of us hikers, we rotated our fire watch on the hour. The nights were just as, if not more, invigorating than the day time. During these watches, the bush was in its finest element. The animals were moving in the river reeds to fetch a drink of water, calling out to one another, and were mostly stealth in their movement. The next pin on the map was Durban for 4 nights! We took these days to rest and recharge with beach time, a surf competition in Ballito, margaritas, peri-peri chicken, and sleep. One evening, we went to a Virtual Reality and Digital Media art gallery inside the city hall building, which is also a library and science museum. Up next? We head to Johannesburg this morning to meet up with our friends for our University of San Diego study abroad class with Dr. Rebekka Jez. The course is titled, Healthy and Effective Environments in a Global Society. Through collaboration with teachers from South Africa and Washington DC, we will identify challenges and solutions in our diverse classrooms through the mindset of a Changemaker. Hi all! I am sitting the Dubai Airport as I type this up on my phone. :) As an effective educator and student, active listening is a vital practice. When working with others in any setting, having an open-mind is paramount to any opinions or viewpoints. Through the last several weeks we’ve communicated with educators in South Africa and Washington DC, on topics ranging from universal learning environments, curriculum, and instruction, inclusive methods, and culturally relevant topics pertaining to our two worlds. Although we walk in with knowledge, our colleagues have variations and whole new perspectives of knowledge and experiences to share, the process of learning requires the ability to remain open. Our differences are our strengths. “Motho ke motho ka batho” is a Sepedi saying meaning, “a person is a person because that person exists among others, not in isolation.” The importance of including all people is powerful and can be a complicated place to come from for education. Inclusivity is the simple solution to exclusivity. Now, how can we ensure we're being inclusive? St(U)dent Centere(D) (L)earning! Over the last several weeks, we have connected with educators across the world through email exchanges on topics ranging from language similarities, educational barriers, supportive learning, and building connections through personal introductions. We are bridging connections with educators in Washington DC and South Africa; educators who share a passion of inclusivity in the classroom. Although we are scattered throughout the world, we are determined to create a student-centered and effective learning environment for our future students. To be put simply, inclusion is the solution to exclusion. Through our exchanges there has been mention of the challenges brought on by the Apartheid. This system, although it ended 20 years ago, created a gap in the educational system. Exclusion rates are high, inside the United States and similarly high in South Africa, reasons varying from class and status, remote locations/distance from schools to homes causing transportation difficulties, and attendance rates. The implementation of Universal Design of Learning (UDL), the proactive approach to education, rather than Differentiated Instruction (DI), which is the reactive approach to education, may cause the achievement gap to decrease. These are topics I am looking forwards to discussing in the coming weeks! Let's Socially Locate.
We have begun to communicate regularly with the other students, educators, and faculty in part of this program. I am in awe of the connections being made from across the United States and into South Africa. We have connected with new colleagues from University of Witwatersrand, Jabulani School, Bapedi School, and Phillip Kushlick Special School in South Africa, as well as educators studying at Marymount University. In preparation for this trip I chose to watch the film Invictus. Invictus created a window into a portion of South African history. It zeros in on a piece of Nelson Mandela’s place and impact in that history. At the very beginning of the post-Apartheid era, South Africa was on the edge of racial war. I also chose to read the book, No Turning Back. No Turning Back, explores South Africa post-apartheid through the life of a young child. In relation to Invictus, it was interesting to compare the relatively same time period to a poor child on the streets to a world-known rugby team. One of the most influential experiences so far in my graduate school journey has been writing, reflecting, and inquiring about my own Social Location within the world. In my writing, I have touched upon identity as being a fluid concept. There are parts of our identities we will identify with forever, then there are parts that are ever-evolving. By self-study and understanding my personal social location, this being done by authentically exploring and experiencing the complex social dynamics around the world. Through this continuous practice of studying, I am able to acknowledge diversity with an open-mind and empathy. It’s Happening!
When researching graduate schools to attend for my Masters and Teaching Credential, one of the most impressive aspects of the University of San Diego was the International requirement for candidates. Global study in the educational realm with a Changemaking lens was fascinating and will continuously evolve, as I do. Now the next step, where to travel? I was immediately drawn towards South Africa and its vast beauty. So here I go!!!! I am about to embark on this journey to test my boundaries and get out of my comfort zones, educationally and professionally. From our Changemakers project, I hope to gain strategies for creating an inclusive classroom environment that promotes authenticity and equity, ignite change through collaboration between our diverse worlds in South Africa and the United States, and experience diverse culture to later design a classroom that emphasizes a global perspective in culturally diverse view. |