Let's get down to business!

"Differences in habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." -J.K. Rowling

I should start this post by making one item particularly clear: While my time in Spain will be self-exploratory, broaden my cultural horizons, help me achieve Spanish fluency, and just be a good ol’ time in general, I was, for lack of a better term, hired to teach English at CEIP Villar Palasi, a primary school in the village of Quart de Poblet, about ten minutes outside of Valencia, accessible by the lovely metroValencia. Moreover, I am also engaging in a side project: a comparative assessment of educational systems, specifically special education systems, in the United States and Spain.

On September 13, last Tuesday, I made the commute for the first time, unsure of what to expect. Knowing that it was a town outside of the city, I assumed it would be small and somewhat rural. In retrospect, I was partly correct: the Faitanar station is directly next to a large, barren field of weeds. Quart de Poblet, according to my cooperating teacher who for the purposes of this blog will be referred to as Sayna, is a lower class neighborhood. Unfortunately, that sentiment was evident based on my initial observation of the surrounding area. Luckily, I’ve worked in worse and with worse but the language barrier may still be a little shaky. 

That being said, everyone at the school was waiting for me to arrive and welcomed me with open arms and “dos besos.” As I walked into the classroom that will be mine for the next year, the students all immediately started pointing and saying, “Sara Fischer! It’s Sara Fischer!” as though I was some form of celebrity. It was overwhelming and hilarious at the same time. According to Sayna, they had been waiting for me since she told them of my impending arrival at the end of last school year. 

My schedule is Monday through Thursday (en espanol: lunes a jueves; y en valenciano: dilluns-dijous). I’m teaching four year olds through sixth grade so there is quite a curriculum range to plan. However, I welcome the opportunity with open arms. 

As one can probably imagine, the Spanish system of education is quite different from the American system. The following table describes some of the differences:

USA	CATEGORY	SPAIN
Students usually begin formal schooling at age 5 in Kindergarten.	Age of Entry	Students are not required to begin school until age 6; however, most start at 3 because the three years before first grade are free of cost.
Compulsory for Kindergarten through Grade 9; most go through Grade 12.	Grades	Compulsory for Grade 1 through Grade 10; most begin at age 3.
Yes. Public Head Start programs are available in some places but many children to to private pre-kindergarten programs	Pre-School Programs	Yes. “Pre-School” which is referred to as 3 Infantil, 4 Infantil, and 5 Infantil is offered by all public primary schools free of cost.
College/Technical School: Graduate from high school or hold an equivalent degree.	Post-Secondary Requirements	University: Graduate from Secondary School at 16, go to school for two more years to receive your bachillerato, attend university for four years. Technical School: Graduate from Secondary School. Music and Dance School: Attend a performing arts academy after Grade 8 until graduation from post-secondary school OR go to a post-secondary institution after Grade 10.
Roughly 7:30 to 3:00 Monday through Friday, late August/early September through mid-June.	School Day	In September and June: 9:00 to 1:00 In October through May: 9:00-1:00 followed by siesta with school resuming at 3:00 and ending at 4:30.
Generally, major religious and national holidays are observed with minimal days off throughout the school year.	Holidays	ALL Catholic holidays as well as Holy Days of Obligation are observed, as well as town, regional, and national holidays.

American schools obviously use English as the primary language. Schools in Valencia have plurilingual systems because the two main languages in the region are Spanish (Castellano) and Valenciano. There are multiple approaches to teaching languages in the schools:

• Programa de Ensenanza en Valenciano (PEV): This is aimed to children whose mother tongue is Valencian and all instruction is in Valencian. Spanish is introduced from the start of school, but is only implemented gradually throughout primary school. 

• Programa de Inmersion Linguistica (PIL): This program is aimed to children who do not speak Valencian, however, Valencian is introduced in lower levels of school. Spanish as a subject is introduced in first grade.

• Programa de Incorporacion Progresiva (PIP): The main language is Spanish with Valencian being spoken in earlier stages. Valencian is introduced as a subject in the first year and it is used to teach other subjects starting in the third year. 

• Programa de Educacion Plurilingue (PEP): Allows schools to introduce English in 3-5 of Infantil.

• Programa de Ensenanza Bilingue Enriquecido (PEBE): A foreign language (mainly English) is introduced at the beginning of schooling. 

Being that it is outside of the main city, CEIP Villar Palasi mainly uses PEV and PEP with an English class thrown in everyday. 

On a more personal note, CEIP Villar Palasi has one class per grade with no more than twenty students in each class. One class only has ten students. There is a large number of students with disabilities, both mental and physical, in the school. There are at least two students in wheel chairs, a student with Down Syndrome, a student with William’s Syndrome, and student with Cerebral Palsy, four with ADD/ADHD, seven with Learning Disabilities, and five with speech and language disorders. Because of the large numbers of students with disabilities in my school, I am curious to know whether the Generalitat Valenciana took our backgrounds into consideration in correlation with the school demographic or if it was random selection and luck of the draw. The large number of students with disabilities in my school will help me complete my research well and although I have not done enough research or observed enough anecdotes in my time at school to speak in an educated manner on the similarities and differences of the special education systems, I can say that there are laws in place that are reminiscent of IDEA, ADA, and NCLB, but I am unsure to the extent that they are implemented. 

I know this is a lot of information for now and I know this post was probably boring for some, but this is my life now and I plan to make my glorious return to the United States with research based evidence and anecdotes that I can hopefully publish one day as I intend to pursue careers in Bilingual Special Education or Bilingual School Psychology. 

But for now, I am just looking forward to the rest of this year and learning as much as I hopefully teach.