The whole gang at our picnic
Check out this spread! All the kids' Moms sent in a little something. Which required lots of taste-testing different grapeleaves.
I haven’t spoken directly with our students about their hopes for the future. This seems surprising, as I remember constant chatter about “growing up” in elementary school; everyone had “the thing” they wanted to “be.” Even those of us who didn’t know just latched onto one of our friends’ dreams so that we could answer the ill phrased and often asked question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” A pediatrician, a veterinarian, a marine biologist. Maybe it’s the language barrier, but the children at Kestel don’t seem to talk about future professions.
The teachers posing with our generous hostess
It seems that in their society, intensified by the fact that they come from comparatively low-income backgrounds, there isn’t much potential for them to track the path of their own lives. It’s compulsory that Turkish children attend school through eighth grade – I can only hope that they all will. After, if they choose to go on, they meet the ugly face of the countrywide high school examination. The results of the single exam tell them which high school they are eligible to attend, if they made it into a top school, and whether they earned a funds that would, most likely, enable them to go. If they end up able to attend, in tenth grade they choose one of four “tracks” that will decide their future professions. They choose between “Turkish-Math” (for International Relations, Law, Education, Psychology, Economy, Business Management professions), “Science” (for Engineering, Computer Science, Medicine, and others), “Social Sciences” (History, Geography, and Education), “Sports,” “Fine Arts,” and finally, “Languages.” This structure assumes that, in the tenth grade, at the age of sixteen, a student knows the profession she wants to spend her adolescent life preparing for (look at the Yükseköğretim Kurulu Başkanlığı website for more info).
After high school, if she so chooses, the student takes her High School Finishing Exam, which determines the subjects she can study at particular universities. To an outsider, it’s a strict system of tests and tracks that boxes kids, based on their perceived ability, into “appropriate” professions.
I have talked with students in the midst of preparing for the eighth grade exam who think it’s a pain. They study incessantly for months beforehand and then, finally, everything rides on one day. My host mother, whose son currently takes Saturday classes and tutoring in preparation for the big day, expressed her concerns to me. What if her son feels ill that day? What if he does poorly on the test because he didn’t sleep well and has a headache? The structure doesn’t seem to give students opportunities to prove or redeem themselves. I worry that our students at Kestel will fall into similar traps, to never again get the chance to continue their education.
Through working with them, I have seen that they are extremely bright and motivated students who I can imagine going on to high school and college. I can already envision some of them in high-powered professions – excelling and succeeding in their respective fields. I worry, though, that they may not be granted the chance to get there.
The girls pose for the camera
Besides the system itself, our students are struggling against their socio-economic status. Depending on their family situations and backgrounds, many potential scenarios can stand in the way of staying in school. Their family may need them, once they reach a potentially older working age, to help out in the family business or shop. They may want to attend high school, but not have access to feasible transportation. Even if they do have transportation, they may not be able to afford it, or tuition itself, for that matter.
I have talked to many of the students about what they do during their summers. It cheered me to hear that, for the most part, they play and have a good time, going to the sea to swim and play soccer with their friends. Some of them, though, work at restaurants or family businesses during the summer vacation, helping out the family and, presumably, learning the rules of the working world. None of the students who spend summers working seemed unhappy about it – on the contrary, they were quite proud of their employment status. It’s great that working gives them a sense of pride, but I worry what would happen if working got in the way of going to school – would students have the necessary bargaining power to refuse jobs for employment? Would they be able to stand up to their parents? Would they have sufficient funds to attend school instead of supply their family with a monthly paycheck? Who knows?
I’m optimistic, though, about their futures. I have seen that they are motivated and passionate children. It seems that many of them really do love to learn new things and I think that curiosity will carry them far in whatever they do. After our fabulous last day and picnic, full of dancing, chatting, tug-of-war, jump rope, and playing, I feel that I learned a new facet of their personalities. For now, it seems, they’re just too busy enjoying being kids to worry about having to choose something to “grow up” and “become” – which, to me, is a very healthy thing.
Sarah jumps high with the children... we had a contest..
my group won.. :)
