Teachers from International School San Patricio, SPAIN visit DAIS 2018

Mi nombre es Félix Rodríguez-Tembleco Serrano, soy maestro de Primaria en San Patricio International School Toledo (España).

 

Hace 2 años recibimos la visita de dos profesoras indias, Anupama Pillai y Valli Madhavan que enriquecieron de color y sonrisas nuestras clases de los niños pequeños, compartiendo juegos y experiencias en nuestro colegio. Mi sorpresa… meses después sería cuando nuestra directora, Dª Zuleika Miramón, me llamó a su despacho y me ofreció poder compartir experiencias y trabajo en el colegio de aquellas profesoras el colegio Dhirubhai Ambani International School en Mumbai, ¡qué experiencia! pensé, pero después comenzarían a surgir miedos, dudas… irme de Toledo a Mumbai 7600 km, dejar a mi familia en España, marcharme tres semanas a Mumbai en mis vacaciones... pero siempre he creído que la educación es para valientes, para gente que quiere cambiar el mundo y para eso se necesita ver lo que ocurre en él, enriquecerse de nuevas experiencias y crecer con otras personas.

 

 

El 1 de agosto del 2018 mi compañero Josué Cano, gran profesor donde los haya, y yo, embarcamos en un avión rumbo a Munich y después Mumbai, destino que tanto había rondado en mi cabeza durante meses atrás. Había leído decenas...creo que centenas de artículos sobre Mumbai pero era el momento de descubrirlo por mí mismo. Llegamos a la 1 de la madrugada y allí en la puerta del aeropuerto había un señor con un cartel con el nombre de nuestro colegio, International School San Patricio Toledo, montamos en un coche que nos llevó a la residencia. Empezaba nuestra aventura.

 

El jueves por la mañana descubrimos el colegio que sería nuestra “casa”durante las tres siguientes semanas, digo casa porque sinceramente así nos hemos sentido. Desde el primer momento el departamento de español Elisabet, Jay y George con la coordinadora de español a la cabeza Nitika Gupta nos recibieron con las puertas abiertas satisfaciendo todas nuestras necesidades, facilitándonos todo cuanto necesitábamos horarios, claves de internet, lugares para trabajar, acreditaciones,... El viernes nos pusimos manos a la obra, habíamos venido a aprender y a disfrutar de este gran colegio, el cual, nos ha dejado participar en sus clases, aportar nuestras humildes ideas, compartir y disfrutar de su mayor tesoro… sus alumnos.

 

 

Dentro de las diferencias y particularidades entre España y la India, entre Toledo y Mumbai, entre el San Patricio International School y Dhirubhai Ambani International School encontré una cosa en común, algo que es lo que más me gusta de mi colegio y el pilar en mi forma de ver la educación; la sonrisa en la cara de los niños y el brillo en sus ojos. Me voy feliz de vuelta a España porque he aprendido mucho en estas tres semanas en las cuales he sido profesor y alumno, español e hindú, cristiano, hindú, musulmán, europeo, asiático…

 

Para terminar agradecer a todos los que de una manera u otra han contribuido a esta experiencia al Colegio San Patricio International School y al Colegio Dhirubhai Ambani International School, en particular al departamento de español y a Yassir Choonawala por ayudarnos tanto en estas semanas y creer en una educación internacional en la cual no existan fronteras este siempre abierta al mundo. No puedo despedirme sin pedir perdón por las preocupaciones y molestias causadas. Muchas gracias por todo y hasta siempre.

 

Un afectuoso saludo. Félix.

“We both have lived a truly worthy experience in an excellent school”

 

First of all, I would like to introduce ourselves. We are Félix Rodríguez and Josué Cano and work as a teachers at International School San Patricio Toledo. Félix is an experienced teacher in Primary level (PYP) and under 9 football coach in San Patricio. He is not just one of the most popular teachers in the school, but also one of the best colleague you can ever have. I am Josué Cano, teacher of Individual and Societies in Secondary level (MYP) and History and Spanish B in Diploma.

 

 

We both were chosen by the school for this exchange of teachers and return the delightful visit of Ms. Anapama Pillai and Ms Valli Madhavan to our school almost two years ago. The expectatives that we put on the trip to India have been greatly exceeded. Despite I (Josué Cano) have been in India last summer as a tourist, I have not had any experience teaching in an Indian school, and it was a good opportunity for me come at DAIS for three weeks. Otherwise, as I have never been in Mumbai before, I was excited for living in such impressive, full of contrasts and lively city.

 

I have enjoyed sharing ideas with the Spanish’s Department teachers, speaking with students and being part of some classes. I also liked the excellent treatment given by all the staff, smiling for every greeting. I would especially like to thank to Nitika Gupta, as a Spanish Department Head, and all the excellent memberships of that group: Elisabet, George and Jay. They were in every moment a supportive help for us as well as in order to be integrated and getting involved in the school, classes and outside of the school. It’s been a great pleasure knowing the rest of the staff members, whose always treated us as an colleague, sharing food, experiences and ideas.

 

I also will not forget the lovely dinner with Mr. Yassir Choonawala and Mr. Abhimanyu Basu with three more teachers from Czech Republic. It was in a restaurant specialized in fish and some of the dishes had the same flavours that some traditional Spanish fish dishes like “boquerones fritos”, “emperador” or “gambas al ajillo”, but a little much more spicy.

I would like to point out the lessons about Ernesto “Ché” Guevara as a part on one topic for the Spanish B students in which I had an active role, trying to explain them the Cuban Revolution. I felt as a part of the “team” that they are. It was really interesting as well be part of the conversations about cities with the 10 year students, talking with them and answered a couple of questions as an interview.

 

Talking about the students, they surprised me with their clever interventions and ideas (I always say that I learn much more from them than they from me). They showed a good level of Spanish and they were able to follow some complex conversations about the topics worked. They were smiling in any time, with a very respecting behavior and good manners.

 

 

One the the most funny moments was when Félix and me prepared a brief song with the 5 years old students for teaching some greetings in Spanish. As a secondary teacher, I have to say that I was really nervous, but after stated to explain them what they had to do, everything went better and all of them said us “hola, buenos días” with contagious smiles.

 

Furthermore, I enjoyed the History classes with Ms Parut about the Europe situation before Stalin raised the power and mainly the capacity of all the students for creating analytical discussions about different questions. It is remarkable the commitment of the students for knowing the period studied.

 

Finally, I would emphasize in the worthy experience of working in DAIS as a part of sharing ideas and knowledge, to enrich our pedagogical experience and staying on the relationships between both schools. I just to say a sincere gratitude to International School San Patricio Toledo and Dhirubhai Ambani International School of Mumbai. We can say that it has been a truly worthy experience in an excellent school.

 

Sincerely, Josué Cano and Félix Rodríguez