Get Involved!

The educational conditions in the coastal regions of Oaxaca are plagued by a lack of resources. Many teachers work more than one job to make up for the inadequacy of salaries. Teacher preparation suffers from a lack of cutting edge research and methodologies. Uneven teacher preparation and a lack of educational materials provide students with compromised academic models and materials. Unreliable infrastructure, such as irregular electricity, creates daily challenges in schools.

How can you help?

In Person

Experience the warmth of the people, immerse yourself in the culture, and learn about the flora and fauna by going there. While there:

- Provide professional development for teachers in ELA's summer workshops.

- Be a guest presenter in an elementary, middle or high school classroom in rural Oaxaca.

Contact Aldo Bautista for details at r.bautista@elaofnj.org

We provide a NJ public school professional development hours certificate.

How does Professional Development work in New Jersey?

Teachers who teach in public schools need 100 hours of professional development over 5 years. "It is now the responsibility of districts, schools or individuals to review the credentials of the providers and make their own determinations of suitability and level of expertise." - New Jersey Department of Education

Please confer with your district prior to considering donating your time to Educadores Latino Americanos to confirm whether the ELA experiential professional development is a suitable provider for your teaching situation.

What is one of the goals of Professional Development in New Jersey?

“To develop a deeper understanding of the core standards; create shared curricula, units, lessons and assessments…”

Standard One: Subject Matter Knowledge

Teachers shall understand the central concepts, tools of inquiry, structures of the discipline, especially as they relate to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS), and design developmentally appropriate learning experiences, making the subject matter accessible and meaningful to all students.

What is the mission of Educadores Latino Americanos?

In the service of exchanges of expertise between New Jersey and rural Oaxaca, you will be expected to plan workshops for teachers in the summer or presentations for students during the school year. You will incur all financial costs personally. This is most suitable for teachers of Spanish as the workshops are presented in Spanish.

I'm a teacher in NJ. How does this professional development work for me?

While in rural Oaxaca, you will also learn about education in these areas first hand. You will be immersed in the language, culture and the physical environment. Our mission is that, just as you are providing your expertise to benefit those you serve in Mexico, you will develop your own professional content.

How will this be of benefit to the students in my classes?

Part of the requirement for receiving a Professional Development Certificate from ELA is that you provide evidence of how you will use your newly acquired knowledge as part of a unit in your classroom. From the photos, new vocabulary and expressions, personal contacts, items acquired, videos, conversations, potential pen-pals, observations and experiences, you will be able to integrate your trip into your New Jersey students' lessons. Alternatively, you may create an entirely new unit of study based on the products, practices and perspectives of people in rural, indigenous Oaxaca.

What are the potential surprises that I may want to know beforehand?

If you are planning your professional development experience in coastal Oaxaca State for the summer seminar with ELA, you should know that the temperatures run high with high humidity. There is a strong presence of mosquitoes and being able to tolerate the most potent bug spray is essential. Air conditioning and WiFi are not widely available, electricity may be erratic and cell phone tower coverage is uneven. Handouts must be prepared and brought with you as high speed, high volume copy machines are not widely available, either. Regular mail service is not reliable in this region. Fed Ex does not deliver there and DHL is very costly.

By Donating

Or, help with costs. Make a donation that directly benefits teachers and students in rural Oaxaca.