Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Juana Manso (1819-75)


We,educators, are not utopian. We know that social levelling is impossible, since money will always divide men into classes’
Juana Manso (1819-75)was born in Agentina and as an educator she had two main concerns: that education in all its dimensions should reach women (and vice versa) and that it should not to be dogmatic Catholic education.
She was the initiator of a movement for coeducation as a method based on the recognition of equality between men and women. Also, she was one of the first women concerned about children’s rights.
Schools with progressive methodologies
. Manso complained that in Argentina the teaching profession was exercised in a humiliating fashion. Because of that, she sent to the Legislature of the Province of Buenos Aires a bill for an Organic Law for Common Education in which she asked for professionalism, appropriate salaries with periodic increases, and so on.
She proposed educating children in keeping with their nature. To do so, she proposed dividing childhood into four periods: the first, attention and observation; the second, attention and comparison; the third period for exercising memory; and the last one for applying the imagination.
Maria Montessori once said ’teaching through the paths of joy and love makes learning enjoyable.’ Juana did believe in that saying and she also, as Montessori did, encouraged teaching through play.
She was buried in the English cemetery. Friar Junior proposed the following epitaph: ‘Here lies an Argentine woman who, in the midst of the night of indifference that enveloped the country, preferred to be buried among foreigners rather than defile the sanctuary of her conscience
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Monday, December 17, 2007

Rosario Vera Peñaloza

As a final assignment for School Management, we were to find out something about an educator in Argentina that made the difference. While doing my research, I found out about Rosario Vera Peñaloza. It was really hard to summarize or focus just on some aspects of her life so as to make it fit in the blog (as we all know, an entry should not be too extensive), because she led a very motivating life. Just to mention a few things about her:

  • She was born in Atiles, Valle de Malezán, La Rioja on 25th December 1873
  • She was orphan when she was a child and her maternal aunt was the one who brought her up and taught them her first letters.
  • She founded the Kindergarten attached to Escuela Normal from La Rioja.
  • She toured through the country encouraging popular teaching to transmit new techniques for teaching and found libraries.
  • She created the subject on folklore studies to keep the national character in a country with lots of immigrants.
  • Not only did she follow Froebel’s and Montessori’s principles, but she also studied, compared and adapted them to the reality of Argentina.
  • She placed a lot of importance on children using their hands as a way of activating the brain and expressing themselves.
  • She died on 28th May in 1950 and from then on, to pay homage to her, the National Kindergarten Day was installed.

As you can see, there were many things this wonderful teacher did and maybe we do not know about her as much as we should. Lots of teachers have made a difference and there will be many more in the future and that is why we need to think and investigate about their lives. They worked hard to leave a mark on students, colleges and people in general, and maybe it is time we start learning from them.

María Lorena Recio

P.S. By clicking here you can go to another blog to read a poem that is really good about teachers making the difference