“The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of dusk.” – G.W.F. Hegel.

While written over 200 years ago, this timeless remark by historical philosopher G.W.F. Hegel articulates the enigmatic nature of human understanding through experience. His point is that we can only comprehend an experience, or a time period, at the tail end of that experience, as that time period fades from our present reality to our past memories. It is with this thought in my mind that I write this reflection. Only now, as my time at the New Hope Foundation draws to a close, can I begin to articulate the various inspirations and revelations I’ve been fortunate enough to partake in as a colleague and student in this inclusive ambience of critical education.

The first of these learnings is a sense of just how much a school can do with a relative scarcity of resources. In the 2013 school year, the New Hope Foundation is providing an education to 170 students, spanning across 4 academic grades; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Basico, and 4th Diversificado. This translates into 7 different classrooms, each with 20-25 students, and each brimming with intellectual stimulation on a daily basis. Students sit in groups at shared tables, and are encouraged throughout the lesson to share and discuss the topics of the day with their peers; to this extent, the teacher is transformed into a facilitator, and the students are transformed into teacher-learners and learner-teachers. The result is a level of critical thinking and group collaboration that could teach much to the Canadian education system. The curriculum incorporates agricultural and outdoor projects, and so students take their education beyond the classroom regularly. The school is also creating a number of projects to expand their sustainability and sovereignty, such as a path of historical memory, a system of production for milk and cheese, and a new career track program to educate students on community well-being and rural development.

This leads me into my second principal learning thus far; the power of education to revitalize culture, history, and community. This is best illustrated through the path of historical memory, a long-term educational project the students are building. The project will be completed in 2 years, and is a multi-kilometer path with 6 kiosks on the way. Each kiosk is being built by the students, and will contain an information sheet detailing the history of a community in the Rabinal municipality, in Achi, Spanish, and English. The students are leading the design and construction of this project. The primary purpose of this project is to give students a chance to shape and mold their own understanding and recreation of the local history, and by so doing give them a meaningful connection to the cultural revitalization that forms the bedrock of the school. The design and construction of the project also links classroom and outdoor learning, because, as one student put it, “it makes math class useful.” I sure wish I had a project to teach me the same lesson when I was young.

My final learning might also be the most personal and profound aspect of my time in Guatemala: the extent to which an educative environment as inclusive and critical as the New Hope Foundation can be a welcoming and safe space for an intercultural ambassador such as myself. I arrived in August with a minimal foundation in Spanish, a rudimentary background in teaching, and a dearth of knowledge about the local culture. I was hardly prepared for what I was getting into. The experience hasn’t been without its challenges, especially at the beginning, when I felt that the integration period was excessively long. Nevertheless, through my entire time here, teachers, students and colleagues have always greeted me with a smile and a ‘buenos dias.’ The students didn’t take long to get to know me, and a silly conversation about girlfriends was never far off. I was always invited to see the projects, and on occasion work together with the students planting trees or painting rocks. It’s something completely beyond quantification or measurement, but the feelings of growth and learning that we shared provided the raison d’etre for my time in Guatemala and my passion for education. These moments, whether frivolous or profound, hold a special place in my heart.

Perhaps it is fitting to end this reflection with the realization that much of these learnings are difficult to measure, articulate, or even understand. Perhaps it is still too early to say what I’ve learned, and I won’t be able to articulate such things until I return to Canada. Perhaps it will take me a lifetime to come to grips with the intense magnitude of emotion and learning that has been this internship. Yet despite ongoing ambiguity, one thing remains certain; my time at the New Hope Foundation has been an absolute hoot, one that I won’t forget.