by Yael Karakowsky
My name is Yael Karakowsky; I am from Mexico and have been a preschool teacher for the last 3 years. I often ask myself how many “dreamers” are out there … doing everything they can, walking that extra mile, never missing a chance and always seeking to do a little bit more. I consider myself a fighter, a dreamer and sometimes … a person that expects more than what is actually possible. Being a good citizen and a dreamer in Mexico can be a little hard, since we are dealing with a society full of contrasts. This could be even harder when you are working with children and pretending you can inspire them to change the world, since “children are the future”.
Mexico is a beautiful country full of welcoming, warm-hearted and family-oriented people who love to be surrounded by family and friends with high moral values. So then, what is wrong with this picture? The fact is that we always pretend to be the “perfect family” (everything happens behind closed doors), we love shortcuts and easy things, labor is cheap and there is a high lack of education. At the same time we face serious economic issues: money is concentrated in approximately 13-17% of our population, while according to some estimates, 40%-60% of the population lives below the poverty line (OECD) and 60% households are below 6 minimum salaries. This added to the actual economic worldwide situation ends up in educational backwardness, unemployment, sickness, and much more. All this results in: a) very successful parents – in business – with no time for their children; b) parents that have to work hard – many times in more than one job, since labor is cheap and not well valued; or c) unemployed parents that may end up sending their kids to work.
In Mexico, while schools can be doing great efforts, the entire society strives to keep on the traditional path – grow up, study something ‘good’ for your future, get married and have kids. It is rare to find someone who finds the time to actually analyze his future, his professional career and goals, as well as someone who wants to be a responsible parent, as opposed to just wanting a child. Years ago we faced authoritarian and chauvinistic families – women were supposed to stay at home and educate children, the father was the economic support and his word was the law at home. Children were not allowed to ask, listen or talk at every time. There were unlimited rules and “because I say so” was the last and -never under discussion- word. I wouldn’t dare to say that we are not chauvinistic anymore, but I do think that the Mexican society as many others, has passed to the total permissiveness, dragging a high lack of values. Since everyone is a parent and there is a high rate of unemployment, passion in life is lost and it is hard to transmit or inspire. So, many could have the opportunity to study a career, but as said before, there is a high lack of passion in each person’s own life and goals.
This is what I mean by saying there are great contrasts. Children may have the opportunity to attend good schools, but they would be dealing with ambivalence when facing a very different reality in their daily lives, at home, and when dealing with the entire society. We can inspire children to think and analyze, but if parents and outsiders act differently, stop their initiatives and get the same results, children will be affected and our future, too.
As school leaders, we should go further. We should involve parents, students and the entire society. It would be only this way in which we can make an effort to make it as a whole and not just as part of a change. Children should face real dilemmas and start analyzing, thinking and resolving them by themselves. We should encourage new generations to break with the established, to live instead of pretend, and inspire while doing so.
So,are we probably focusing too much in the results, without analyzing the way and the procedure it takes in order to get there? We are probably either:
-Too worried to teach, to educate, to set a good example… that we are missing our own goals, our own happiness, which could be a good option to follow in order to be able to reach what we are looking for and transmit and inspire others to do the same.
Or,
-Too immersed in ourselves, trying to get the results we are looking for; the child we are expecting to have, the medals on our shelves, and the “perfect society” … that we are forgetting how to be human, how to connect with children and with ourselves?