Students in Maine and Morocco face many common challenges as they try to gain the skills they will need for success in a more globally connected future. Language learning is still a challenge in Maine. It is generally recognized as important but when it comes time to fitting it in it is a struggle. In Morocco most students speak several languages, Moroccan Arabic, French and maybe Tamazight and Spanish. However, a significant portion of the worlds correspondence and work takes place in English. Seeking out ways to adjust the education system to maintain a balance between maintaining local culture and honoring history as well as preparing for participating in a global society is a struggle. These students were participating in an evening English class taught by my host teacher Hassan. They ranged from elementary age to adult. They were extremely welcoming to Angela and I as we visited their class and demonstrated their strong English capabilities as they participated in a lesson and dialogue with us.
It is a challenge, but people are rising up to meet the challenge all over the world. In Maine we have new elementary learning programs popping up across the state and new graduation language requirements on the horizon. It is exciting to know there are creative, hard working people working toward common goals across the globe. The evening class ended late, everyone was exhausted, but it was fun to be in such great company and it helped that Hasan treated us all to a pizza party.
