A'oga

A’oga: school

It is easy to think, growing up in the American school system, that culture is separate from school. Being in the small country of Samoa, with a population of 192,000 people, I see how the culture seeps into every aspect of the educational system. I taught for three years in a NYC public school prior to coming to Samoa and I can see how the culture affects the way the school system works. There are some pretty major differences between the schools I went to and taught at in America and the school I work at here in Samoa. Each system has benefits and negatives to it. This post is not meant to point out flaws, but merely to expose people to the school experience I am getting here in Samoa.

The schedule. In America, the schedule at school is very strict. There are specific periods and times that subjects, classes, and each day starts and ends. In Samoa, it is all about island time. When you ask a Samoan what time something starts, you may get an answer like “Maybe 5” or “Early.” This idea of time trickles into the schools as well. While I teach at a larger school so we tend to have a stricter schedule, we still have some flexibility about when things start and end. According to our schedule, school starts at 8:30, but it may start around 8:45 or 9:00. Interval (the lunch period), usually starts around 11:30, but may start early and end at 12:00 or 12:15 or 12:30. Time is very flexible to Samoans and that is seen during the school day.

Tea time. Probably the biggest difference between American and Samoan schools is the abundance of tea in Samoan schools. Nearly every day, I will be asked by my pule (principal) if I want a cup of tea when I walk by her room.  Students are sent to refill tea during interval. It is simply part of the culture in Samoa to drink tea multiple times a day.

Teaching methods. Just like in America, Samoa is pushing to have more student-centered teaching methods implemented in the classroom. America, however, started pushing for this longer ago and has had more time in order to implement these teaching practices. In Samoa, it is not uncommon to walk past a classroom and hear a teacher say something, and the students simply repeat it. Memorization and oral teaching methods are predominant here. This is not unlike America 20-30 years ago. One of my goals in working at the school is to help teachers to incorporate more student-centered teaching methods. Right now, they are just simply teaching the way they were taught and I hope to help them to start to change their teaching in order to hopefully help more students learn.

Principals. In Samoan, the principal is called the pule a’oga or pule (pronounced pool-ay). In America, the principal has the sole job of running the school, which includes a wide range of to-dos. In Samoa, the pule not only has to run the school, but due to teacher shortages in Samoa, he/she also has a class to teach. I am fortunate that my school is well staffed, however, my pule still teaches a year 4 class on top of her duties as the pule.

The school year. In America, our school year is from August/September to May/June depending on what state you live in. This was determined because of the farming season and the need for children to help harvest crops in the summer/fall. In Samoa, the school year runs with the calendar year. It is split up into four 10-week terms with 2-week breaks in between each term. Then, there is a 6-7 week break between each school year that runs in December and January. I am nearing the end of my first term teaching in Samoa and I have to say I like this schedule.

I am still learning about the school system in Samoa and working within it, however, I love teaching so much that you could put me in almost any school and I would find a way to make it work.

The Indirect Effect

I would be lying to everyone and myself if I said I didn’t want to make a difference in other people’s lives. It was a big part of why I became a teacher to begin with. I wanted to have an impact on at least one child’s life. Of course I would love to say that every student I have had has been changed in a positive way by me, but that is just unrealistic. Joining the Peace Corps is another example of me wanting to make a difference in people’s lives. I know that my presence in Samoa is not going to change everyone in my village and what I do may or may not have a lasting effect, but I saw a small, indirect effect of something I do on a regular basis here.

Every day (or close to every day), I sit outside and read. When I first started doing this, my host father would laugh a little. This was just a strange behavior for Samoans. It is very rare that you will see one of them just sitting and reading a book for fun. I actually can’t think of a time that I have seen it. I, on the other hand, have been doing this nearly every day of my service and I think nothing of it.

I finally realized the impact of this small behavior on those observing me. While my host dad may laugh at me and my host mom may say that she wants to read like me, I actually saw someone’s behavior change. My host cousin who is regularly at my fale (house) has seen me read a lot. Sometimes she would read the titles of my books or read a few words on the page I happened to be on. When I got up to get some water, I came back and she was reading my book. When I asked her if she wanted to read, she said she did. Her English is good and she can read it so I got one of the books I had already read to give to her.

We spent an hour lying on the floor, reading. Does she understand what she’s reading? I have absolutely no idea. She was stopping me, however, to ask how to pronounce words or clarify the meaning of a few words. Even to see her reading for pleasure was something that brings absolute joy to my heart.

I didn’t set out reading every day because I thought it would change someone’s behavior. I did it because I like to read and I did it outside because I liked it better than just sitting and staring at the street with my family. To see that this small behavior of mine has had this indirect effect on one person in my village makes me so happy. It really does go to show that while I came here to make a difference, I may make small changes that I won’t even realize initially.