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The trip where so much went wrong but the students learned so much!

In education, there is a lot of talk about experiential learning: “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience” (David Kolb, a psychologist who came up with theory of experiential learning). But let’s face it, it’s very hard to accomplish the transformative experience inside a classroom where the 100+ year old design has been going strong. Forward thinking educators designed Week Without Walls (WWW) – an opportunity to step outside the classroom and step into the world – to help meet the learning needs outside the four walls.

Volunteering with the organization TECHO (roof in Spanish) has been my WWW baby since a brave student and I organized a trip of 30 students traveling (30-45 minutes outside of our school) to a marginal community living in extreme poverty to help build five basic houses for families in need. That first year I was so terrified a student would fall off the roof and I would be forever responsible. Little did I know that would be the least of my worries. Second year, we went out to build eight houses and were surprised to find that there were many complaints that we had capped the number of students at 40. This year, we let registration run for its full course (we had students joining in the last week!) and we took 72 of our students to build 12 houses!

There’s a lot to be said about the incredible poverty and inequality that I witness every year, and my family and friends have heard me pour my heart out, but this will be a post strictly about education: the logistics of planning a trip; what and how students learn; and the power of collaboration.

Logistics of planning a trip AKA how the best laid plans can blow up

Student leaders: TECHO at my school was initiated by and continues to be run by student leaders. Students, as part of their senior project, fundraise money mostly through corporate sponsorship and some bake sales. This element of fundraising gives them the experience of having to talk to adults in various fields, make presentations and answer a lot of emails – basically giving them a taste of an adult job. Furthermore, they promote the trip among the school and work closely with the TECHO organization when it comes to organizing the actual construction. This work that the student leaders do has real results: if they fundraise enough money, we build more houses. The confidence that comes with accomplishing that feat is irreplicable in a high school classroom. However, a lot of mistakes are also made.  These mistakes can drive the supervising teacher (me) nuts but with a lot of communication and a lot of support, the learning that comes from those mistakes is even higher because again, there are tangible results.

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Collaboration with a nonprofit: While I’m working with student leaders at school, the organization TECHO does all the work that makes these constructions feasible: developing relationships with communities; filling out surveys to see which families qualify for a house; creating agreements with schools where we can stay overnight; and, organizing enough experienced volunteers who can guide us with building the houses. Of course, there is many an opportunity for things to go wrong in any of those logistical steps.

Logistics: For this trip, we learned, on the Friday before the Saturday morning departure that the sleeping arrangements for the weekend in the community had fallen through. Part of the TECHO volunteer experience is more than just constructing but living and understanding poverty (for example, last year we stayed at a school where we were shocked to learn that the water doesn’t always work, which subsequently lead to a disaster in the bathrooms).  Having to arrange additional buses to return home from the community, email parents about the change and most of all, explain to the students the quick change was a headache to say the least. Furthermore, we still wanted to maintain some integrity of the original plan so we organized an impromptu tent city at a local ranch for the following night. And yet, through all these changes our students stayed positive and focused on the goal: building homes for those who need them. It was incredible that not one student complained to me. And so while logistically the trip was a bit of a disaster I feel like the most important goals, students learning and people getting homes, were still accomplished which certainly feels like a success.

Collaboration: Taking on a trip this size alone is a recipe for failure; therefore, I am so grateful for the amazing team of collaborators that created this experience with me. I was reminded of this proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Having a team to rely on for working through logistics, for addressing emergencies, for complaining or having a laugh, ensured that the challenges were not overwhelming or debilitating. Having a support system in education gives you the confidence to take risks and push yourself as an educator and I’m very grateful to find myself in such a community.

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Student Learning

I’m not cynical but I’ve wondered on more than one occasion why students love the TECHO experience so much. It’s hot, dirty and very tiring. We sleep on the floor of a school (or maybe a tent) for two nights, eat food that often makes our stomach upset, and do back breaking work that could easily be accomplished with 21st century electric tools. And yet, I’ve regularly had kids tell me, “Miss, I love TECHO!”

Their reflections tell similar stories:

“Techo was an amazing experience that I will not forget. I was truly amazed by the results and efforts of my teammates. The community was somewhat okay in my opinion because most houses were in terrible conditions. Houses were covered up in sheets, aluminium plates, barrels, etc. It looked like they were living in harsh conditions and indeed they were. My reactions when I got there were that I felt the need to help. I did not feel sad, but I felt that I was there to help someone.”

“The weekend I spent at TECHO during WWW was one of the best weekends of my life. I learned a lot about the situation the less fortunate in my country live in. The community was abandoned, it had some brick houses, but none of the houses had either doors or windows, just holes. It had a small church in the middle, that I am not so sure people use it that often, at least when we were there I didn’t see any people walk into the church. After the first glance at the community I felt home in a strange way, not because it reminded me of my house, but it showed what Mexico was all about, strong people fighting to overcome the situations and Mexicans helping each other to achieve a goal it is only possible by us, not the government, but the people.”

“Sometimes I feel bad because I don’t have the newest phone, videogame, etc. But then I saw how appreciative these people were with how little they had and it changed my whole perspective. After the build I felt like a new man. Brenda, the lady from the house was very grateful and all she said was “thank you” over and over again. I felt really happy to have been able to change the lives of the families and I now live life in gratitude.”

“After the build in this community, I came home and I felt very very sad. I saw my house and realized how grateful I was and that I didn’t appreciate enough. Of course, I love my house, but I had never stopped to think about it. In that instant, I also recalled the face of these two brothers for whom we had built the house. It seemed as if we had given them a mansion when many people I know including myself would have a hard time living there.”

Experiential Learning

One of my favourite parts about about WWW is seeing students who are not traditionally academic thrive. Surprise, surprise: Not all students thrive in a book and computer setting. This is good and important for a world that needs outside of the box thinkers and doers, not to mention the multitude of hands on and creative thinkers.  TECHO can often be one of those opportunities for students to shine.

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Most teachers, students and volunteers would agree that the hardest part of the TECHO constructions is putting in “pilotes”, wooden posts that are the foundation of the house. These require digging 15 holes in specific spots (that I’ve gotten wrong on more than one occasion), securing the posts with rocks and gravel, while making sure they are level with the lead “pilote” as well as actually being level with the ground, AND also being in the exact specific location where they need to be for the floor to fit and be stable. During this year’s build,  I was reminded of students who were absolute pros about making this happen. I distinctly remember calling them over after I had dug the holes, because they managed to get the “pilotes” securely in at record pace. Those kids did awesome work, and at every moment when I saw them in class afterwards I would also see them in that perspective: confident, talented, and capable.

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Perspective

At the end of the day, the thing that saves us teachers during these crazy trips of ups and downs is perspective: why am I doing this? Do the people in the community feel like someone outside their community cares about them? Yes. Do my students gain a sense of understanding about the realities of our world? Yes. Is there hope for the future? Yes. And that’s it; there you have it, folks. Did I spend hours trying to figure out logistics? Yes. Did my students have a good time AND learn about the world? Yes. Mission accomplished, for now. Next year’s planning probably started yesterday!

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