The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has brought among many changes, the way in which classes are offered worldwide and in Yucatan, “learn at home” (Aprende en Casa) has been used, however, teachers such as Alejandro Mis Can and David Elías Alejos Burgos, are an example of innovation in terms of pedagogy, so much that one of them was awarded national recognition by the Red Ensamble Practices Innovative Foundation.
Alejandro Mis admits that the best thing he knows how to do in life is working as a teacher, and among 322 projects in the country, his method was selected by the way in which the system provides learning in the midst of the pandemic.
His experience in schools of the National Council for Educational Development (Conafe) has allowed him to learn about the context in which hundreds of girls and boys live in indigenous communities and right now that he is teaching third-grade classes at the bilingual school “21 de Agosto”, in the Chan Xcail community of Chichimilá, Yucatán it was a challenge for him that his students continue with the contents.
From the moment he was notified that classes would be suspended, he began to wonder what to do, because he knew well that his students would not find it easy to follow federal and state programming through televisions, much less online (most of them don’t have internet service).
“In the community, they lack many services, it is an area of marginalization and we do not have cell phone service, we do not have internet and the girls and boys do not have television, much less a cell phone,” said Mis Can.
In March, the teacher went out to do a census in the community to learn about the situation in which his 20 students live and that is how he decided to implement a different strategy.
Taking into account that it was almost impossible to continue with the existing agenda, he chose to work on the issues of good nutrition, good hygiene practices, and socio-emotional intelligence, for which he prepared 15 files, through which he also sought to be linked with the content on textbooks.
The teacher distributed the cards house by house and in them, in addition to information that contributes to the learning of the girls and boys, it also encourages direct interaction between parents and their children.
This project helped the school director, Geovanny Ek, and the zone supervisor, Enrique Cetina Flores, also a winner of the ABC Masters call, to encourage him to sign up for the call issued by the Ensamble Network.
“The project is just one example of all the needs that indigenous education teachers have, and how we have to modify our practices during the pandemic and this work started from issues that I considered essential.”
With this pedagogical dynamic, the teacher has also been able to get to know the tastes of his students closely and has led to the development of skills and the recovery of skills, because the cards give instructions on playful techniques such as riddles, stories, lottery games, and board games.
The Yucatecan teacher was recognized on November 25 and he obtained an honorable mention in the Innovative Environments category and his students will also receive a tablet as part of the award.
In this way, the teacher continues with this form of teaching and goes from house to house, handing out the material that he prepares for a whole week and without charging a single peso to the mothers and fathers.
