CLUES update

CLUES is going much better at this point that it had been in the beginning of the semester. The other Macalester student volunteers and I have developed a routine for the evenings in response to their needs and through experimenting with the most effective distribution of volunteers. The kids know what to expect, which I think makes it much less stressful for them and lowers the formerly manic energy level of the group. Several families have dropped out of the program, so the smaller group is easier to facilitate in calmer activities, and I think the kids appreciate the increased attention. They recognize us when they arrive now, even the youngest toddlers. They do, however, continue to refer to us and address us as “Teacher.” I am not sure what to make of this; we did stop wearing our nametags after the first few weeks, and while we remember all of their names, it is understandable that they would not remember ours. But I think it is still an interesting dynamic; is it because we appear significantly older than them and are thus generic “Teacher” authorities because we are in a school space, or is it because our perceived identities correspond to the roles of power they typically experience?

We are supposed to be following a curriculum roughly parallel to the themes that parents discuss every week, such as goal setting, health, and academic achievement. Our group is conflicted about whether we should push the lesson activities on the kids, who would clearly prefer to engage in more active play, or respect the programs’ goals of encouraging more explicit aspects of youth development. I hope that the students are not expected to be receiving significant educational benefits from the program, because while we facilitate social interaction and problem solving in the context of group play, the curriculum we are expected to follow is secondary to our goals of maintaining their interest and peace given limited space and resources. This makes me question the appropriateness of allowing untrained volunteers to do important work in youth development in the absence of more qualified people; it seems like more training should be required, which is probably challenging given tight budgetary constraints.

I have noticed a lot of material in the school that reflects the theory we have discussed in class; there are folkloric dancing classes and Latin American heritage is celebrated in hallway art (“la cultura cura”), there is emphasis on healthy eating choices throughout the school, and there does seem to be a valorous effort to make constructive use of traditionally out-of-school time. As it is a bilingual school (only phonic and reading are conducted in English, according to the 2^nd graders in the program), I am interested in how that affects the development of their identity, particularly in terms of role models and culturally sensitive education.