Obviously, I am in Ecuador to do research. I arrived here with a passion for indigenous efforts to protect their identity and way of life, an intrigue with the unique concept of an intercultural bilingual education system (EIBs), and a dream to someday found my own intercultural school in the US. In research terms, these combined to form a plan that looks something like this: research education policy in Quito, do an ethnography of a Shuar intercultural bilingual classroom, do an ethnography on a standard state school in Shuar territory, and compare. Sounds simple, right? I'm all set to go?
Well, then I had this great idea that while I am in Quito, I should network with as many individuals, organizations and institutions as possible who work with these themes and issues. I still think this is important, however when you begin to receive contradicting information and advice from each of these contacts, you begin to feel a bit discombobulated. Maybe that is an understatement. If you know me, a little discombobulation in my life means full-fledged freak-outs, super indecisiveness, I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-with-my-life moments. When I feel a bit out-of-control, I make lists. I make lists for my lists. So, in an attempt to establish a little order in my life, I bought some index cards (which took 3 days and 5 stores to find, resulting in blank business cards from a super mall), wrote each project idea and/or possibility on individual cards, and created a project-plan-puzzle. The list looks something like this:
Sara's Overwhelming Brainstorm List
- do an ethnography on Nantar, the original Shuar community my former teacher's brother connected me with- do an ethnography on a Shuar classroom that is not an EIB
- research standard Ecuadorean state primary school to produce a baseline that EIBs can be compared to
- ethnography in a Huaorani high school in Block 16 (major oil development here) that has had positive experiences with EIBs
- compare Huaorani/Quichua experiences with EIBs
- ethnography on an Huaorani community that has suffered from its experiences with an EIB
- ethnography on a Quichua boarding school that is somewhat of an EIB and has a successful schemata
- study a proactive Quichua school that shifted from an EIB system to a state system, question why?
- multi-case study of various schools with the intent of evaluating the impact of the new law regarding EIBs and the new structure of the gov't institution in charge of EIBs
- spend time in communities with schools formed by the Summer Linguistic Institute (a missionary-based organization that helped to create written forms of indigenous languages, then used as a converting mechanism) and examine the impacts
- spend time in various communities with community-based education initiatives and question why they chose to be a part of the gov't system (DINEIB)
- do an ethnography on an EIB in each of Ecuador's three regions (coastal, sierras, jungle) and analyze how the system works for such disparate cultures
- research the policies, politics and structure of the Ministerio de Educacion y DINEIB
- in almost any of these projects, include the history of DINEIB and indigenous education in Ecuador
- integrate concepts and other scholars' research on concepts of interculturality and plurinationality
- keep in mind the notion that education systems mirror a state's broader social system
Schwew. Feels good to get those all off my chest. But imagine me sitting in a little Ecuadorean café, sipping luke-warm NesCafé, arranging and re-arranging these little note cards, praying to the magic academic fairy gods they they'll float down to the table and arrange my cards into a perfect project.
...still waiting...
A part of me thinks I should just pick a couple and go, knowing that whatever project I pursue will continue to transform right up 'til the end. It is all what I make of it. But another part me feels I do not need to rush, nine more months are spread out before me and there is no need to force a niche. So, right now I can tell you that I'm leaning towards some form of combination of the last six bullet points you just read (if you actually took time to read all of them, I applaud you!).
What do you think?
Um, I feel the stress just reading about your stress! lol! The Great Spirit will guide you. Remember, everything happens for a reason. And know that we ADORE you, and are thrilled to read about your thoughts and experiences. Mucho love! (That's my Spanish for ya). hee hee. -Jes.
ReplyDeleteHi Sara! I love that you're letting us all in on this exciting, messy brainstorming stage of your project... We get the fun of whirling around in all that creative energy without having to make any decisions! What a full and fascinating year you have ahead of you.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your observations about the Ecuadorean take on time, priorities, deadlines, ice cream... And I hope you followed their lead as you celebrated your birthday yesterday! Feliz cumpleanos!