A few miles beyond the brilliant white beaches and cobalt blue ocean of Maceio, a popular tourist Mecca on the Brazilian NE coast, is Escola Estrela do Mar (the Star Fish School). This storefront school sits next to a noisy local freight train that runs alongside the road. Huge, ancient tropical trees shade the road. Stretching up a steep bank behind the school is a motley collection of adobe shacks and dilapidated homes that make up this favela (slum or ghetto). The bright green banana palms, orange flowering trees, and colorful washing hanging out to dry, cast an elusive mask over the harshness and depravity of the poverty.
Twenty-seven children, age 4 to 8 years, were attending the school when I visited last November. All the children come from local favela families. Most of Brazil’s huge metropolitan areas are surrounded by a number of favelas, which often hang precariously on steep hillsides and cascade right into the comfortable, middle-class neighborhoods. This is where the poor and disfranchised of society try to survive. While Brazil’s middle class is slowly expanding with the country’s increasing economy, a huge percentage of the population still live in extreme poverty.
All the families whose children attend the school are very poor; many have no fathers, and some lack both biological parents. Drug abuse, teen pregnancy, alcoholism, chronic unemployment and domestic violence are common. All the children are children of color - various shades of brown, with tight, curly hair - the girls in carefully woven plaits. The Brazilians call these people of mixed heritage mulato (mixed European-Black) and moreno (European and Indian).
The Need for a School
This school is the dream-child of David, from Washington DC, and his Sao Paolo wife, Claudia. Their dream is to provide an enriching, nurturing, quality education for local children, while at the same time proving to the Brazilian establishment – particularly the public education establishment – that low-income children of color can be educated and can become very successful.
On my last visit to Brazil in November 2007, David and Claudia invited me to visit their school to observe and provide some input into their methods, approaches, and practices. I had the pleasure of meeting them and observing the young children learning and interacting with each other, the teachers, and other staff in the school.
Brazil provides free public education to elementary-age children. And recently the federal government passed a law that pays parents (though not much) when their children attend the local public school. But, based on my experience as I visited a variety of public schools in several Brazilian states and cities, the quality of these schools is from poor to horrendous. In many cases three separate sessions are conducted within the same building each day (thus each child attends about 3 hours a day), the teachers are often over-worked and demoralized, there are few if any of what we would consider essential resources, and the only teaching method is direct instruction to very large classes, in overcrowded, poorly lit classrooms.
Only the poor attend the worst of the public schools. The better schools (federal public schools) are associated with universities and serve children of professors and local politicians; other middle-class families send their children to a range of private schools that are geared to preparing these wealthier children for entrance into one of the country’s many free colleges. Early childhood programs (serving children up to first grade) are also segregated by class: a variety of typical international and other private programs for the wealthy and middle class (Montessori, Waldorf, university centers, and community centers) and creches for the poor: extremely poorly equipped and understaffed programs run by the city or a local church organization.
While much of Europe and the US believe that all children can benefit from a free public education, many developing countries reserve their best educational effort (in money and human capital) for educating children the society believes can succeed and contribute most. In Brazil, these children tend to be middle class and wealthy children of European and Asian descent. The poor of Brazil include people from all backgrounds of this very multiracial society – Europeans, Amerindians, Middle-eastern, Asian (Japanese), Afro Brazilian and mixed race; however, a disproportionate percentage of the poor and desperately poor are people of color; many are children.
Local Brazilian public schools receive their money directly from the federal movement (as opposed to our system, where most of the money comes from state and local taxes). However, this federal money is filtered though various local political entities within each state. In Alagoas state, where Escola Estrela do Mar is located, most of the federal money never ever gets to the individual schools. According to David, It ends up in an ongoing Brazilian nightmare of government corruption.
Dream School
With this educational backdrop and the context of abject poverty and racism, David and Claudia are running their dream school. It’s not an idea, a pie-in-the-sky dream, or a utopian plan: it’s a three-going-on-four-year reality.
Their efforts remind me of Dr. Maria Montessori ‘s Casa di Bambini. This was the name of the school Montessori established in the slums of Rome. She was asked by the city officials to educate young children from the slums, whom the educational establishment had declaimed “could not benefit from a regular public school education.”
David and Claudia believe otherwise, and have set out to prove their beliefs to the world. And, just like Maria Montessori, they may well succeed!
Escola Estrela do Mar
On entering the school, I am greeted by heat and noise! The very small area reverberates with children’s voices, and reflects the heat of a NE Brazilian midday. The classrooms are small and cramped. But the children are eagerly trying to follow the teachers and learn; the teachers are eager to teach. There are quick smiles, verbal and physical praise, and lots of encouragement “to try again!”
I visit a computer lab, English language class, and a class on respecting and preserving the local ecology. The school also teaches math, science, Portuguese, history, swimming and character education. They will be adding art, music and dance. And the school provides three healthy meals each day. At the back of the school is a very small area for playing games – mostly the favorite of all young Brazilian children – futebol.
New School Building
Since my visit, the school has moved to a wonderful new building, which has a totally different feeling from the school I visited last year – large, open, serene, and nestled between a variety of trees and shrubs that provides a cool oasis among the buildings and disorder.
Like most Brazilian schools and community centers (which work in partnership with schools to serve the needs of poor children), the center of the building is a large, outdoor courtyard. All classrooms, labs and other rooms feed into this open area, which is the children’s playground. And, because of the wonderful Brazilian tropical weather, the courtyard play area can be incorporated into many of the lessons as children move comfortably from the classroom to the outdoors.
At the back and the two sides of the building are gardens, trees, shrubs, and open spaces. These areas are used for a variety of ecological, nature and science education, along with growing vegetables and fruits for consumption by the children. Use of the wonderful Brazilian outdoors is a central component of the school’s curriculum. The purpose is to teach children about the fruits, vegetables, flowers, birds and animals of their native country, to grow healthy fruits and vegetables for a balanced diet, and to learn about ways to care for and protect this wonderful legacy for future generations.
The classrooms are large and clean, with tiled floors and large bulletin boards on the walls. They are soundproof, well lit, cool and comfortable. Natural sunlight bathes the classrooms from large windows, bringing in dappled light from the central courtyard. The computer lab’s walls will be lined with computers for all the students (and their parents) to use, as soon as the new computers arrive.
This new building has allowed the school to increase its enrollment. Now 90 children, age 3 to 9 years of age, attend the school for the entire day. The school will add a grade every year until the children graduate from high school. The high school will prepare them to successfully pass the vestibular (much like the British “O” level and “A” level tests), the official entry exam required for entrance into Brazil’s free universities.
School Philosophy
“We start with the basic belief that all children can achieve their unique potential if provided with the complete education necessary do to so, starting at an early age”, says David. A strong emphasis is placed on the personal, physical and emotional development of each child. Children learn self-respect and discipline; they learn to respect others and to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment where everyone can learn and grow.
The activities and culture of the school are designed to facilitate children’s natural desire for learning – curiosity, creativity, playfulness and honesty. Thus learning and teaching focus on each child’s unique interests, experiences, developmental stages and learning styles. The teachers, volunteers and programs carefully nurture children’s intellectual, aesthetic, physical, and caring development. Parents are provided opportunities to volunteer in the school, and are taught ways to support and assist in their children’s learning. They can also learn basic computer skills themselves.
School Program
The program for the children is a comprehensive, whole-child approach: academics, English as a second language, computers, art, character education, ecology/environment, and nature studies. But the curriculum also includes a monthly field trip into the community and regular Professional Days.
The purpose of the field trips is to expose students to the community and the vast number of professional and employment opportunities beyond their small favela. The Professional Day is an opportunity to have students become familiar with potential jobs and professions that they can aspire to. It also models professional behaviors and attitudes to the children. The professionals who conduct these visits are coached on ways to make their occupations interesting, accessible, and fascinating to the children. Further, these visiting professionals expand the children’s general knowledge of a vast variety of areas, content and disciplines, from auto mechanic and medical technician to computer programmer and community organizer. A monthly volunteer project, Adopt a Grandmother, has children visiting grandmothers in a local nursing home, where they learn about caring, compassion, and community responsibilities.
Staff of the School
The school is headed by a principal, who leads a variety of teachers - some full time and some part-time – including a storyteller. The staff also includes volunteers, interns, student teachers, social workers, cooks and janitors.
While the principal has the required government training and certification, the teachers are all in the process of training to receive a government-approved teaching degree. But the school believes that expectations, values, and behaviors are more important than training. The educational staff must deeply believe that every child, regardless or his/her background and home environment, can succeed. Further, they must show this belief through modeling, effort, enthusiasm, commitment, and spirit. And they must let each child know, in a variety of personal and unique ways, that they believe in them and have faith that they can and will succeed.
Also, because of the school’s unique philosophy, the teaching staff must be willing to examine their teaching approaches, and be open to new ideas, interactions, and ways of teaching children. The school is as much a laboratory for teachers as it is a positive environment for children.
Claudia heads the parent board, and works along with other staff to develop activities and programs to empower parents and to assist them in supporting their children’s education. Regular parent activities are provided at the school, and parents are included in the school’s efforts on the part of the children.
School finances
The school receives no government support, either from the federal school administration or local agencies. The school also does not charge tuition. Support for the school comes from variety of personal, corporate and foundation sources, along with volunteers’ time, student teachers, and personal and financial commitments from Claudia and David. Much of their own money has gone into the school.
Conclusion
There is a growing interest, both in the early childhood education field and K-12 education, to expand our view of care and education to a much more global perspective. (See for example the World Forum, www.worldforumfoundation.org). We can learn a great deal from observing how other nations and societies strive to meet the needs of their young children, work with families, and address the complex issues that impact the healthy physical, psychological and academic development of their future citizens. But it’s equally important to positively change the lives of children who are less fortunate than our own: to do something! The goal of Escola Estrela do Mar is to develop individuals to reach their full potential; to nurture unique people who are gentle, self-confident, emotionally and physically healthy, and who care for themselves, for others and for their environment. David, Claudia, and their enthusiastic and committed staff are doing just this; and I am delighted to learn and grow along with them. I wish them all the best in this courageous effort!
School email:
Find out more about Escola Estrela do Mar’s program, or send them a word of encouragement: www.escolaestreladomar.org
About the Author:
Francis Wardle, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for the Study of Biracial Children, the author of Introduction to Early Childhood Education: A Multidimensional Approach to Child-Centered Care and Education (Allyn & Bacon), Play, Development, and Early Education (with J. Johnson and J. Christie)(Allyn & Bacon), and writer of many articles on various early childhood topics.
