Lakeland College students got a crash course in teaching, courtesy of an excursion to Mexico.
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Dirt roads and bus rides got Lakeland students around Ensenada, Mexico, as they got some hands-on learning in classrooms.
“Lots of dusty roads, lots of time in the van to sing songs and tell stories and get to know each other,” reported Jackie Bender, Lakeland College dean of university transfer and foundational learning.
Bender has been making the trip out for 10 years, helping students develop their skills in real classroom experiences.
“(The trip) builds confidence, they (Lakeland students) develop skills on how to plan for transitions in their lessons and how to deliver, so there’s clarity, how to give feedback, all those key things that teachers need to know how to do,” she said.
Bender said the mission in Mexico started with Sandy and Randy Huebert, who went to the area for a home-building project.
“They went 17 years ago to do a house build,” she said. “While they were down there, they decided it was in their heart to help.
“They really felt called to support teenage girls who were abandoned, abused or caught up in sex trade, and do more to help that age group, 12- to 18-year-olds.”
Each year, the Hueberts host multiple groups that participate in various mission projects throughout the area.
This year, there were 10 people in Bender’s group, including her son, who paid his own way to get there.
“The rest of these nine ladies are either in their first, second or third year of an education program,” she said. “Many of them had never taught before, so we really pressed them into the opportunity to teach, design lessons, and work with a variety of kids.”
Prior to leaving on the trip, the group met to go over their teaching plan.
“On the night that we’re going, we worked together. We met about every two weeks to design lessons that had a Canadian flair to it,” Bender said. “The focus is to teach English. Many of the student schools we were in had no English-speaking ability at all.
“They would do a Canadian beaver and do a beaver craft. They would talk about Canadian money or Canadian food, pop culture and geography.”
Their days began with grabbing a bag lunch, hopping into their 12-passenger bus, and heading out to teach.
“Padson (International School) is the school we worked every morning, Monday Tuesday and Wednesday of our first week,” she said. “Padson is the wealthiest school in Ensenada. It is a great experience to visit, but it’s very different from the other schools that we went to.
“All the kids speak English, most of the teachers speak English, they have lots of resources.”
Their afternoons would take them to schools where English may not have been present.
“In the afternoon, we would go to migrant camps, missionary schools or Indigenous schools and try to teach the same way that we do in the morning,” she said, noting the other schools they visited rarely taught English. “It’s a language the students didn’t function in. So, they learned really quickly how to use their hands to get their ideas across or use words or actions or songs.”
The trip provided Lakeland students with valuable practice managing a classroom.
“It’s really a crash course for future teachers and an accelerated experience for them,” Bender said.
The group has had interpreters to translate in the past.
“We have had interpreters here and there sporadically over the years, and it takes the pressure off the students,” she said. “The students have to figure out the non-verbal cues to use to get their message across and they learn it pretty quickly.”
On top of their in-classroom teaching, they also worked with local university students.
“One evening, we went to the local university and did a collaboration with other teachers who were training in language instruction,” she said.
Other days saw students running kids’ programs.
“For two of the days, we ran kids’ programs. One was for a missionary school and the other was for two homes for unwed mothers or kids that were in the foster program,” she said.
One hurdle the group had to overcome was the rising cost of the trip.
“This group knew how to fundraiser. They worked really, really hard,” she said. “Our costs doubled this year in terms of our total expenses.”
This year saw support from Feast on the Farm, a fundraiser hosted by Lakeland College to support student-led initiatives. They also received community funding, including $2,500 from the Rotary Club of Lloydminster — where Bender gave a presentation on June 15 — and $1,000 from the Lloydminster Lions Club.
The trip also has a large benefit for the students in the region.
“They get to hear about Canada, which some of students have never really travelled out of their community. They get to learn some key English phrases, they get to play and have fun. They get to connect with people from another country. It’s really powerful,” Bender said.
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