Prishtina International Summer University 2010

The joy of teaching... happiness!

2010-07-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

I very much like a book publised by a brazilian pedagogist, Rubem Alves, titled "The Joy of Teaching". Summarizing very much that book, Alves states that a teacher should be a happy cheerful person convinced of his/her educational task that knows how to share this cheerfulness to the students, through one thousand different activities "because happiness is an inner condition, an experience of richness and freedom of thought and feelings.”(Alves, 1996:23)

(-------- Pinto-san, during a course in Japan in 2008 --------)

I truly believe that this teaching is the one that should be implemented in today’s schools to make children aware of the needs to change our behavior to face the unprecedented increase on intercultural miscommunication and misunderstandings that we might suffer. Motivating students to believe in themselves and to show them the way to create good valid opinions. To let them evaluate if these opinions are correct or wrong, but to let them do it by themselves. That is the school I really want for my future students.

I would like to be able to create that atmosphere of freedom and respect in my classroom.
Freedom to experiment.
Freedom to decide wether something is good or bad.
Freedom to rectify.
Freedom of expression.

Because I think that there is no other feeling like the one of freedom to awake
another one, the feeling of happiness and joy. The feeling of freedom makes people feel happier, more confident and ready to help solving problems.
Optimism can help facing problems.
Pessimism can help condemning the whole human race to extinction.

Schools should (need, must) show how to use freedom correctly to build happy citizens, to make these citizens enjoy their lives and make the most of it.

Consequently, we teachers “[...] can do something about the world [...].” (Colpaert, 2009:141).
“Because that is what it means being a teacher: teaching happiness” (Alves, 1996:16)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Alves, R. (1996). La Alegría de Enseñar. Barcelona: Ed. Octaedro

- Colpaert, M. (2009). Where Two Sees Meet. Leuven: Lanno Campus

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Radio and TV and Japan is a city in Kosova...

2010-07-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

In Kosova, from today on, I'll be remembered for being the Spanish guy who thinks that Japan is a city here in Kosova and who, by the way, learns Albanian language thanks to an Albanian-female.

Why????

Let me explain it?

Time in Kosova is getting more and more busy every day!

I am attending the lessons at Summer University, visiting every single corner in Prishtina to discover the changes that are taking place in the city and... hahaha attending interviews both in Radio and TV!

Last Friday, I was interviewed together with three more international students in RadioKosova. No problems at all during that interview. My good friend Afet Bela, journalist in Prishtina, was in charge of translating the questions:

But today we were invited to attend MIRËMËNGJESI KOSOVË ("Good Morning Kosova"), a TV Show on RTK1 (a public channel here in Kosova) to be interviewed about our experience attending Summer University.

Today's interview on TV
did not go that well... due to a problem with mistranslations!

hahaha

Problem number 1: JAPAN IS A CITY IN KOSOVA
--------------------------------------------------------------

I can imagine how Kosova-people today would say something like this:

"Did you watch the Spanish Guy on TV earlier today?"
"Who? The one that thinks that Japan is a city in Kosova?"
"Yes! That one. Hilarious, isn't it?"

hahaha

I know, I know... Japan is NOT a city and IT IS NOT in Kosova.
In fact, I was asked during the interview, which CITY I like the best.

But the translator said to me:

"Pinto, which COUNTRIES you like the best HERE?"

And I was like...
well, I mean... well.... good,
I would say number 1 Spain, then Kosova, then... Japan!

hahahaha

Then the interviewer asked me again, after having some laughs, and the translator quickly changed COUNTRIES for CITIES.

"Pinto, which CITIES, CITIES, you like the best HERE?"

hahaha

Then it went even worst...

Problem number 2: THE REASON I LEARN ALBANIAN
--------------------------------------------------------------

The translator asked me...

"Pinto, do you learn Albanian from an Albanian-family?"

And I was like...
well, I mean... well.... good,
I would say that yes,
all my friends here in Kosova
are like brothers and sisters to me....

But the interviewer insisted and so did the translator:

"No, no... Albanian-family", they insisted...

And I was like...
Well, I mean...

And they continued...

"Albanian-family, yes?"

And I finally said... "YES OF COURSE!
(What else could I have said?)
And they started laughing very very much!!!

????

.......

Final Chapter number 3: MY FRIEND AFET EXPLAINS
--------------------------------------------------------------

The interview finished,
and we met AFET, one of my Kosovar friends from my visit in 2004,
was waiting for us outside of the TV Studio
to bring us back to the University.

The first thing he asked me was...

Afet:
"Pinto, how come you never told me?"

Pinto:
"What did I never tell you?"

Afet:
"That you have Albanian-FEMALE?"

Pinto:
"WhaAAAAAAAAt?... Albanian-FEMALE!!!!
Oh my God, I thought they were asking me about
an Albanian-FAMILY....
FA-MI-LY and not FE-MALE"

For God's shake! you don't use MALE/FEMALE for human beings...
you normally say an Albanian Woman or Girl or Girlfriend!

hahaha

So that means that from today on,

YES!
I am the Spanish guy who thinks that Japan is a city here in Kosova
and who, by the way, learns Albanian language thanks to an Albanian-female.

pffffffffffffffhahahahaha!

(^o^) Pinto-san

Summer Universities and safe-enviroment.

2010-07-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

For the last days, we've been having some lessons with the co-teacher of our course, Ms. Aurela Zisi from Tirana University in Albania.

In a way, her lessons have made me reflect my role as a teacher and, even more important, to understand why I love so much spending my summer vacations attending Summer Universities around the world:

I've discovered that it is not really the content of the courses being taught during the summer universities what has been influential and important for me but the development itself of the gathering with people belonging to so many different cultures. An activity that has been repeated year after week during the different summer universities I've attended. Several summers holding dialogues with my classmates. Several years learning how to listen (and not only how to talk); creating a safe atmosphere in the classroom to hold discussions and to express ourselves.
---------(Kosova, Bosnia and Spain working together)---------

During summer universities we are taught how, through dialogue and negotiation, we could discover how many times we might be wrong; how to accept it and to understand that we could change our opinions without having to lose face or credibility for doing so.

My teachers during the different editions of Prishtina Summer University I attended in 2002, 2004 and 2010, managed to create a feeling in us, the students, of belonging and being part of a bigger group, the classroom, and to respect and support the other members of that group. And that feeling was gradually transferred from the weekly sessions to the rest of the activities (mensa, excursions, parties, Konvikti...)when that atmosphere of self-respect and open dialogue originated in the gatherings was permanently there.

Consequently I really believe that we, as teachers, we all have an important role in shaping and defining who our students are as people, and what they might become when they are adults.

Teachers can make a difference!
Let's go for it!

(^o^)

Opening Ceremony

2010-07-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

Busy busy days!

Great course!
Great teachers!
Great classmates!

Great opening ceremony!

PD: My luggage has finally arrived in Prishtina. hahaha

To be a good teacher...

2010-07-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is the course I am attending this year at Pristhina Summer University:

"Challenges of education in the new century: Communicative Skills as a European Teacher."

Yesterday, during the first session of the course, our teacher (Niomi Kelly from Belgium) asked if we had been happy at primary school and secondary school. She also asked us if we remember any "good teacher" we ever had.

But what is what I understand as "being good teacher"?

Well, when I think back on my own experiences of being taught, it is the teaching techniques that I remember least. I certainly remember teachers who made subject matter come alive, through their great knowledge and enthusiasm.

The teacher I recall with more admiration and respect, is Ms. Pinteño, my teacher of English at Primary School. I was eleven years old and it was my first time ever learning a foreign language. She was a teacher who listened to me, who encouraged me, who respected my own views and decisions. That teacher who helped me the most was the one who, I think, did less “traditional-teaching” of the subject matter and was “technique-free”, being herself in class. My memories of her lessons are what I did, rather than what she did, of my learning rather than her teaching.

Sometimes this "way of teaching" involved her in less traditional techniques, becoming more a “guide” or a “counsellor” than an "I-and-only-I-know-English-teacher". I also remember how she encouraged us to use English as soon as we entered her class everyday. My classmates and I were highly motivated and could not wait the English-hour to arrive. It was like leaving Spain for a while and, although challenging, arriving in an English speaking country to attend her lessons.

I would describe this experience as a very successful learning one. So successful that although I was only eleven years old, it had such an impact on me that I decided I would also become a teacher, a teacher of foreign languages. And I also decided that I would follow that model of teaching she presented to me. That teacher was not conscious of the present she gave me. I will thank her forever.

(^o^)

Kosova celebrates Spain wins FIFA World Cup 2010

2010-07-12T08:01:00.001-07:00

Hello! Hello! Hello!

What can I say?

Yesterday I went to watch the final match with some friends here in Prishtina and SPAIN WON FIFA WORLD CUP for the very first time in history. Wow!

Spanish-supporters here in Prishtina just went crazy yesterday night and celebrated the victory too!

This is a short video I recorded after the match:

And these are todays newspaper in Kosova:

hahaha!

PS: Today I received a call from Austrian Airlines. My luggage is today in Vienna Airport (Austria), they hope to be able to send it to Kosova in the next flight tomorrow morning..... So... I decided not to wear the same clothes for the third day in a row and I bought a new shirt and some toiletries in order not to start smelling bad...

NEWBORN Kosova...

2010-07-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

Wow!

I am lost for words....

last time I visited Kosova was in 2004... and today, 6 years later,
it is amazing how many changes and improvements these brave people have accomplished!!!

I'm sorry if I just don't write longer today,
but I've just to visit all "my places" in the city
and I did not have any time to update the blog.

Now I have to go. I go with some friends to watch the final match HOLLAND - SPAIN
that will decide the winner of FIFA World Cup 2010!!!

Go, Spain... go!!!

PS: By the way... alghouh I arrived in Prishtina yesterday, after more than 10 hours flying via 3 different airports... Oh my God! My luggage did not arrive with me. The company is trying to track it down. They told me that it is stucked in Barcelona airport. But today is Sunday and there is nothing they can do (???) So I keep wearing the same clothes as yesterday, the same trousers and the same socks and shoes... I hope not to start smelling bad...
hahaha

Prishtina... I'm back!

2010-07-10T02:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my newest blog!
I know my previous blogs were written in Spanish,
but since this time I will be meeting old friends in Kosovo-Kosova who are not fluent in my mother tongue I decided to write in English. Hope it's Ok for you.

How can I start this "last-minute-blog" about my "last-minute-decision" to start my "last-minute-trip" to Kosovo?

Well, let's say that the very best thing about "last-minute" journeys is that you are not really aware of what you've done until you reach your destination.

(^o^)

That is exactly the way I can describe how I feel right now on my way to Kosovo-Kosova.

Hold on a second...
you, dear reader, didn't you know I was going back to Kosovo-Kosova?
Well, to be honest... neither did I...
until the day before yesterday!
ha ha ha

My contract in the European Union Office in Alicante was coming to an end and, although I've received a Teaching Assistanship to move to China, the University over there does not expect me to arrive until the end of August.

What was I going to be doing all-summer-long in Alicante?

And then I received a confirmation mail from Prishtina Summer University. If I still was interested in joining the course, they would enrol me but they also informed me that the course will start on Monday!

I attended PSU (Prishtina Summer University) twice.
The first time, in July 2002, I went there as a member of the Spanish Delegation sent by an academic organization. It was an amazing journey to a recovering hard-working balcanic area.

You can watch more pictures from my visit to PSU in 2002 here.

Then I came back in 2004 to attend PSU again and it was even better than the first time. On the one hand, I met my dear "sister" Sara (another traveller with no fear to move here and there around the Globe). On the other hand I witnessed the great amount of improvements and changes that people in Kosovo-Kosova managed to accomplished.

You can watch more pictures from my visit to PSU in 2004 here.

So they called me again on Wednesday... and I said yes, of course!

Today, I'm on my way to a new country. Slightly different from the one I knew. Back in 2002 and 2004 Kosovo-Kosova was not yet an independent country. Today, 8 years after my first visit, it is considered the youngest country in the world and I am very much curious about what am I going to find on this third visit.

And here I am, in Barcelona Airport, after having landed from Alicante, waiting to take a flight to Vienna where I will take a final flight to Pristina.

Yes... the very best thing about "last-minute" journeys is that you are not really aware of what you've done until you reach your destination.

(^o^)

PS: Although in English we refer to this country as Kosovo (Serbian name), in Albanian the name is written as Kosova and it is the one locals prefer to use.