Spanking and Hugging

The school culture here in Honduras is a bit different from the U.S. in a few ways. Tom and I have been taking a graduate school class this week (along with the entire staff) from noon to 5 every day. We teach from 6:55-11am and then learn all afternoon. Our class is designed to allow us to form a School Improvement Plan. 5 hours per day of discussing our school with our colleagues has made us realize and appreciate some of the unique things about teaching in Honduras.

1. Hugging- Every morning I have at least 6 fourth graders waiting at the classroom door by 6:40am. They are so excited to learn! They greet me with warm smiles and hugs. Several times throughout the day, students come up to show me work, drawings, and things they find interesting. Often times, they’ll initiate a hug afterwards. In the library, Tom is greeted every Friday morning by his first graders with a big group hug. Touching is common and encouraged. It’s great to literally be able to give students a pat on the back or a little squeeze when they get something right.

2. Spanking- I remember birthday spankings from my childhood. I don’t actually remember who they would have come from, but I do remember the idea of a spanking for each year and “a pinch to grow an inch” at the end. After teaching in the U.S. for 3 years, I know that birthday spankings in the classroom would be a quick ticket out the door. It’s simply not done! Yesterday, one of my 4th grade girls approached me to let me know her birthday would be next week. She asked me if I would please, please, please give birthday spankings. "In school?!” I asked her. “Yes! All of the teachers do it! In third grade and second grade. The whole class counts and then we get a big one at the end!” I replied, saying that I didn’t do that, but we could definitely celebrate in some other way.

It got me thinking about how touchy we are about touch in the U.S. The birthday spankings don’t hurt them, and anyone who works with kids would agree that every child needs physical touch from adults who care. I’m still not convinced that I’m the kind of teacher to do birthday spankings, but it got me thinking…

3. Socializing- When you live in the same small town you teach in, it’s not uncommon to run into your students outside of school. While at the mall on Sunday, Tom and I saw 5 different students out with their families (and half of the staff too!) The older kids greet Tom with a “Hello, sir!” or “What’s up, sir.” The younger ones usually see us and cry out “Meeester Lew!!” or “Meeesis Lew!” and then get very shy. It’s incredibly sweet. This week, the Family Lewandowski was invited to a 4th grader’s birthday party at Pizza Hut. She invited the whole class and her teacher too! Unfortunately, we’ve got our grad school class at the same time. The teenagers often frequent the bars and dance clubs, so it’s a regular occurrence to run into some underage students when out for the evening. Since our friends are mostly teachers at Mazapan, it’s always a little funny to see students out on the town at night.

All in all, it’s a refreshing change. It’s kind of like turning the clock back 20 years and forgetting all of the “fear of a lawsuit/politically correct” mentality. While some things about this can be frustrating, it also brings back a warm feeling of really connecting with people as fellow humans.

That’s all for now. I’m baking banana bread (Thanks, Dole, for the free banana samples!) and it’s almost ready to pull out of the oven!