education, dominican style

Hello! I`m waiting to observe a class on Microsoft Word. We thought it was supposed to start at 2, but now it is 3, perhaps. My guess is it will be more like 3:15.

This is something we´ve been learning about the Dominican education system: people generally have low expectations of their teachers. Classes start late, end early, and usually have a long break in the middle. The average Dominican child spends 2.5 hours in class per day.

The average Dominican teacher teaches by writing notes on a chalkboard (or reading them aloud) and having the students copy them down, word for word, into a notebook.

But, as our ebullient technical trainer Ann tells us, "Education is a great field in the DR, because there´s lots for us to do!"

We´ve been learning a lot of helpful teaching methods and a bit less about computer skills.

It seems like the class is actually maybe starting now, so I´ll cut this short.