Teaching Business Graduates in Brazil Reflective Essay

Around fourteen years ago, after spending 10 years in Brazil, I came back to Panama with my wife to settle down, start a family and build a career. A few months later I was feeling I wasn’t quite happy with what Panama had to offer compared to living in Brazil, but I wasn’t satisfied with living in Brazil either.

I remember taking a walk with my father when I realized he should have gone through the same dilemma. As many other Panamanians, my father studied in a foreign country. He and my mother went to Madrid and lived there for 8 years. Two of my sisters and myself were born there while he was studying architecture.

In 1976 we came back from Spain to live in Panama and he has been here ever since. So I told my father that I could not continue to stay in Panama because of its chaotic nature and was longing for the wonderful relationships I had enjoyed during my stay in Brazil. I made up my mind to go back to Brazil few days later after coming to the realization that there is no perfect country in the entire world.

My next trip to Brazil would be more purposeful because I was determined to make a difference in the lives of those around me. I needed to do something instead of waiting for something to be done. It might seem like a herculean task, but I’ll be satisfied if I could only change people around me. I’m sure you are already doing this too. Actually, I think you have been doing this before I took that walk with my father.

You did it with your kids and I’m sure you feel satisfied about it. Now, your task there is done and you have much more to do here in Latin America. Teaching is about sharing knowledge. A good teacher also lets her students find their own answers. This approach gives the students a sense of responsibility.

Cooperative learning helps in motivating students and gives relevance to instructions. The students can work individually or in groups towards realizing the objective of the course. By letting students find their own answers, the teacher sparks some intrinsic motivation in the students that makes them to be more creative and competent.

The self- esteem of students is developed through inclusive learning and at the same time enhances team work. Since graduate students are being prepared to go to the field, teamwork and creativity are essential skills needed and cooperative learning promotes that. Yes, a lot can be done for Brazilian graduate students and that is a good reason to consider teaching there.

Brazil is a great place to live, to teach, and learn. Mostly to learn, it is such a rich and diverse culture. You can have anything between raw indigenous Amazonian villages in the North to a European colonial town in Porto Alegre, South of Brazil. There have been more than 10 years since I left Brazil.

By that time, Brazil had already dealt with the inflation frenzy, their market was starting to open, and there was an optimistic feeling in the air. Brazilian people have grown one of the most powerful emerging countries in the world and are now part of the group that is shifting the world economies.

If I needed to choose between helping Brazil business graduates how to take advantage of this position, or helping Panamanian graduates to help Panama reach a better position, I would prefer the later. There is a lot more that can be accomplished here or in another not so developed Latin American country.