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.