Some High School Students in the Main Plaza in Podgorica
Today I met some students from what they call the "Gymnasium". I have been told this is the best or one of the best high schools in Podgorica. I am still not sure what the word "best" means when it comes to judging schools, but I will leave that question for another day!
Anyhow, here are some pictures. I don't have time to write a lot but there are a few things I feel a need to say.
One of the first things we talked about is their English class. They showed me their book. Here is a picture of it. It comes from England. It reminds me of the English books I have seen in Thailand, Ecuador and Peru.
I wanted to take a picture of this page because of the question that says, "How much often do you think about grammar?"
Here is that question:
Now I might not be an expert on 15 year olds but I have met a lot of them around the world and I am pretty sure that this isn't a question which would really inspire them to want to learn English.
Next they showed me the lesson they are working on. It is an expert from one of John Steinbeck's fictional book It is something about a Pearl. They said it was a very boring story. I asked them if they learned more English from their English book or from the TV and they all said from the TV.
They are going to have a test on the excerpt tomorrow. They will be asked questions about who did what etc. from the story. It really makes me feel sad to know this is how they are spending their time in the English class when there are so many more interesting and relevant ways to teach them English.
Here are some more pics.
I told them that they could be punished for hugging like this in some schools in America and they found it hart do believe. I also told them that in many schools in America you need to have a "hall pass" if you go to the bathroom. They said they don't have anything like that in their school. In fact, I am pretty sure that I have only heard of this "hall pass" from students in American schools. I mention this because I want to call attention to the reality that America is not as free as it is often believed to be. I also want to help Monenegro keep some of the freedom they enjoy. At the same time I want to help improve the education system here. I believe it is possible to have both freedom and learning. In fact I believe learning is enhanced in an atmosphere of freedom and participation by the students. I won't say "democracy" because that word is much overused these days, and in fact there are very few schools which could be called democratic in the world, according to my experience after visiting many schools and talking to many students in many countries.
I really like this country called Montenegro. I want to help the people here as much as I can, especially the young people while there minds are still open. One more comment is how approachable these students were. I often find this with high school students here and in other countries. Yet this is not the same just a few years later with university students. I am not sure what happens, but some change takes place. I have seen this many times now in enough countries to be sure there is a significant difference. I also have some videos but I am not sure when I will have time to edit and upload them. They said one of their friends is good with editing pictures so they will talk to him for me.
We also talked about teen suicide a little. They told me of a 13 year old boy who took his father's gun, loaded it with bullets and killed himself. I am not sure of the boys name but perhaps they will email me with it when they find it. They said he was being what we would call now "bullied" by his classmates. I feel certain he also had problems in his family. I feel certain because I have never heard of a teen suicide or an attempt where there was not some kind of abuse taking place in the family. I hope that my new friends will help me put an end to the abuse in the homes here in this beautiful part of the world.
I want to leave this story on a positive note. While I feel critical of many things happening in the USA, where I spent most of my life, I now have feelings of hope, like many people in the world, that Obama can start to turn the direction the country is headed in. I feel inspired by him and this is why I purchased the domain ObamaInspires.me, which my teen friend Anton is building for me.
Here is that link
Here is a link to one of the videos we made. I dont know if it works yet....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JNz1DR8g_c
Here are some pictures of their high school which Srdjan sent me. His name sounds like "surgeon".
Approval vs Disapproval and Needs
(I have deliberately made this one long paragraph. If you live in Podorica and ask me why, I will tell you!)
It is interesting to see people's reactions when I show them this page. One person in his twenties looked at the students writing on the bench and said "What are they doing that for?" He said it in a disapproving tone, not a curious one. Another person, himself a student and just 18 years old, asked me "Do you approve of that?" I said, "I approve of people trying to fill their needs." He was a bit puzzled by my answer so I explained that if people have a need to express themselves or a need for attention, I approve of them trying to express themselves or to get attention. If they have a need to feel and be creative, I approve of them trying to fill that need. I thought of this when a 17 year old in New Zealand told me she disapproved of her younger sister dating the person she is going out with. She said it scared her that she was already becoming disapproving and judgmental. I knew that the younger sister was dating the other person for a reason, or for several reasons which are valid to her. She is trying to fill some unmet needs by dating him. So I wonered if the older sister disapproves of her younger sister trying to fill her needs. If we would look at disapproval and needs this way, we might become a little less judgmental. I like this country a lot, but I have observed that a lot of people are judging each other here. Maybe this is partly because it has been a closed society for long time and there wasn't a lot else to do! But now the country has become an international tourist destination, almost overnight. New ideas are coming here quickly. I certainly have my share to offer the people here if they are open to them. In any case I don't "approve" of the use of words like "approval" and "disapproval". I am more interested in understanding than approval and disapproval. I am also interested in what is healthy and what makes people happy. The students in these pictures were pretty happy, and one of the reasons is because they felt pretty free. I am a little afraid a lot of people will "disapprove"of what they were doing, and perhaps what I am doing, but I don't see anything particularly unhealthy about writing on things. It doesn't "look good" to people who are worried about image and appearances. And there are many people here, like in the rest of the world, who put a higher value on appearances than on reality. One of the reasons I am making this website in the way I am making it is to show the real Montenegro. This is not a typical tourist information or promotional website. I feel a need to express my own thoughts, feelings and beliefs about what I see her. I know that my overall goal is to help the people here and to help others in the rest of the world. I enjoy helping people. I especially enjoy making young people think and question things. I enjoy teaching them when they are willing students. I like to be around them. And they often like to be around me. One reason is because I don't have a disapproving attitude about the things they do. I know what it is like to be around disapproving people. It is not psychologically healthy. It kills a person's soul one day at a time. It clips one of their feathers of freedom to be themselves. If too many feathers have been clipped, the bird can't fly. Here in the Balkans, and in Eastern Europe where I have been for over a year now, it is easy to see the effect of disapproval and pessimism. Young people here now have new opportunities their parents and grandparents never had. The freedoms to learn and speak English, to travel, and to speak out against injustice or abuse are new to this part of the world. Along with this comes the freedom to be yourself. It is impossible to be yourself if you are constantly being disapproved of. Young people like to spend time with be because I accept them. I trust them to do the "right" thing and I am rarely disappointed in them.
S. Hein
March 11, 2009
