Love the kids and let them love you back!
I'm back today with another small piece of advice for y'all future EVS/ESC volunteers. Don't worry, this one is actually pretty easy to explain, and I swear I'll do my best to keep it short (although you should never trust me when I make such promises).
2. Enjoy the time you get to spend with your little humans, 'cause it's a straight-up blessing (oftentimes disguised by yells, fight, and general messiness).
I'm writing this now, in the middle of the longest global quarantine many generations have experienced, and I can tell you that I honestly miss those troublemakers.
It is something you quickly come to realize when you start working with kids, that they give you so much energy and fulfillment to last you for a week filled with painting disasters and playful accidents. Really, if I know one thing in this unprecedented situation that we're currently living, is that I miss waking up in the morning with my fellow volunteers and going out to schools and afterschool centers and just spending time trying to rein in the craziness that kids inevitably bring out, in the classrooms as well as outside, if you're so lucky to get authorization from the teacher to venture out in the courtyards.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes they can be a lot to handle. So much, in fact, that you will feel the sudden desire to grow extra hands to keep them all under control. Chaos is not optional in this line of work, no matter how much effort and dedication you put into planning activities and studying techniques to discipline them, those little angels will find a way to summon madness seemingly out of thin air.
Still, you will love them, believe me. Earning a smile from your kids for coming up with something fun to do in the same old, run-down classroom they came to think of as a prison, can be the most rewarding experience of all. Even when things simply don't go that smoothly, on those days when you just can't seem to connect with them, you will want to be around them. It's a trial and error process, after all, like with everything else. The beauty of working with children is, though, that they will notice and appreciate you showing up.
Even on the days when you're just winging it and your energy is down, they can lift you up. Rely on them to inspire you, and challenge you, and drive you crazy, because they will deliver equally on all of these things.
A couple more things that will sound cheesy, but I promise it makes sense to mention them here, if not for anything, as a warning for y'all rookies.
➵ Be creative! They truly enjoy watching us making fools of ourselves, so in the time we get
to spend with them we try to keep our activities playful and light. Don't just think "It's fine,
I'm going to just come up with something on the spot" because they will read right through that and if you have a class of - pardon my french - smarta**es on your hands, they will call you out on it, and in a blink of an eye, puff! You have lost their attention! I'm not trying to say that you have to squeeze your brain for something for every single slot (even though, ideally, that's kinda the job right there!), but try to somewhat switch it up.
Also, consider this: as you get to know both the kids and the environment they live in every day (parents, teachers, other authority figures, etc.) you will see that they respond well to encouragement and patience. I'm not going to preach to you the best way to do this job because, as it happens with many other things, your approach towards it is incredibly personal and it is something you need to figure out on your own. However, just try to keep this in mind in the moments when you're tempted to yell (and you will be, trust me). If you react in a calm and controlled manner, they will imitate you eventually. Always lead by example, 100% guaranteed the best way to guide them.
➵ Read the room! The first few minutes you spend in the classroom on a certain day are crucial to gauge the class' mood and attention span. This means that sometimes you will be forced to adjust your plans to ensure that the little angels don't just start running around and raising hell. There is a good amount of improvisation involved in this line of work that you simply cannot do without. So, get ready to jump in and exercise your mind-reading skills! The good news is, soon enough you will be able to tell how an activity is going to work out even before suggesting it to the kids. Experience truly is the best master ;)
➵ Aaaand, last but not least, set clear limits for yourself, your comfort, and the children's wellbeing and education. This could seem a bit convoluted, maybe, but hear me out. Kids being kids, and from less-than-ideal situations at home on top of that, there are going to be moments when they cross some lines. I have seen it with my own eyes, and I've personally struggled with finding an appropriate way to respond to it.
I mean, saying "no! you don't do that!" was easy, the harder part is making them actually understand what's going on, why are they being scolded, and what is wrong with this particular behavior. For instance, Roma kids can often be very intense in terms of touching, and physicality in general, and this can quite obviously create some problems when volunteers are not used, or simply not okay with, this kind of familiarity. Speaking from what I've observed so far, repetition, patience in explaining your argument, and a little bit of an iron fist work wonderfully in these cases. Try hard not to give up and let them just do whatever, as that is clearly not the point of you being there. They probably don't know any better, but you do, and what kind of an educator would you be to not share that knowledge with them?
Now, the second part of this advice is slightly more controversial. Schools in Romania, and especially in disadvantaged or ethnically segregated neighborhoods are not the top-tier institutions you might expect. This can somehow reflect on the teachers' attitude towards the children, meaning that you can come across situations in which the teachers are not very cooperative or devoted to the class' education. It is not something that you alone will be able to combat, and obviously, it is not your job to make them see the light since this type of discrimination is so deeply ingrained in the social tissue that change can only happen over a long period of time and thanks to comprehensive strategies and policies. However, you can definitely offer another perspective to these children, aka show them that someone does care about them and their life prospects. My point is, be advised that the current system will not make it easy for you, but it can surely be rewarding to even just set a different role model for these kids.
So yeah, this is about it for today's letter to my future self. I really hope this helps you out there get an idea of what you can expect from volunteering in Romania and working in non-formal education.
Cheerio! Catch y'all later!
➵ Be creative! They truly enjoy watching us making fools of ourselves, so in the time we get
to spend with them we try to keep our activities playful and light. Don't just think "It's fine,
I'm going to just come up with something on the spot" because they will read right through that and if you have a class of - pardon my french - smarta**es on your hands, they will call you out on it, and in a blink of an eye, puff! You have lost their attention! I'm not trying to say that you have to squeeze your brain for something for every single slot (even though, ideally, that's kinda the job right there!), but try to somewhat switch it up.
Also, consider this: as you get to know both the kids and the environment they live in every day (parents, teachers, other authority figures, etc.) you will see that they respond well to encouragement and patience. I'm not going to preach to you the best way to do this job because, as it happens with many other things, your approach towards it is incredibly personal and it is something you need to figure out on your own. However, just try to keep this in mind in the moments when you're tempted to yell (and you will be, trust me). If you react in a calm and controlled manner, they will imitate you eventually. Always lead by example, 100% guaranteed the best way to guide them.
➵ Read the room! The first few minutes you spend in the classroom on a certain day are crucial to gauge the class' mood and attention span. This means that sometimes you will be forced to adjust your plans to ensure that the little angels don't just start running around and raising hell. There is a good amount of improvisation involved in this line of work that you simply cannot do without. So, get ready to jump in and exercise your mind-reading skills! The good news is, soon enough you will be able to tell how an activity is going to work out even before suggesting it to the kids. Experience truly is the best master ;)
➵ Aaaand, last but not least, set clear limits for yourself, your comfort, and the children's wellbeing and education. This could seem a bit convoluted, maybe, but hear me out. Kids being kids, and from less-than-ideal situations at home on top of that, there are going to be moments when they cross some lines. I have seen it with my own eyes, and I've personally struggled with finding an appropriate way to respond to it.
I mean, saying "no! you don't do that!" was easy, the harder part is making them actually understand what's going on, why are they being scolded, and what is wrong with this particular behavior. For instance, Roma kids can often be very intense in terms of touching, and physicality in general, and this can quite obviously create some problems when volunteers are not used, or simply not okay with, this kind of familiarity. Speaking from what I've observed so far, repetition, patience in explaining your argument, and a little bit of an iron fist work wonderfully in these cases. Try hard not to give up and let them just do whatever, as that is clearly not the point of you being there. They probably don't know any better, but you do, and what kind of an educator would you be to not share that knowledge with them?
Now, the second part of this advice is slightly more controversial. Schools in Romania, and especially in disadvantaged or ethnically segregated neighborhoods are not the top-tier institutions you might expect. This can somehow reflect on the teachers' attitude towards the children, meaning that you can come across situations in which the teachers are not very cooperative or devoted to the class' education. It is not something that you alone will be able to combat, and obviously, it is not your job to make them see the light since this type of discrimination is so deeply ingrained in the social tissue that change can only happen over a long period of time and thanks to comprehensive strategies and policies. However, you can definitely offer another perspective to these children, aka show them that someone does care about them and their life prospects. My point is, be advised that the current system will not make it easy for you, but it can surely be rewarding to even just set a different role model for these kids.
So yeah, this is about it for today's letter to my future self. I really hope this helps you out there get an idea of what you can expect from volunteering in Romania and working in non-formal education.
Cheerio! Catch y'all later!
Song of the post: "Another brick in the wall" by Pink Floyd
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