Final Day in Europe!

Here is my final project for my study abroad program.  We created a webpage to summarize our experience and reflect on what we learned.  I made mine as an additional page to my online portfolio.  Enjoy!

Lauren's Study Abroad Webpage

Video Blog Synthesis

Video Blog 4

Here is my fourth and final video blog for the trip!  I wanted to reflect more on my experience and something that had already happened to me.  Although the 'Hours by Myself" were interesting, it was difficult to make them not seem artificial.  By talking about something that already happening, and having time to think about how it made me feel, seemed a lot more natural.  The Global Competency that fits this experience best is "Applying Information to New Contexts".  Although I am used to making plans and making decisions, it is very rare for me to be deciding important things with such a large group.  Also, when making plans I am usually with friends or family, so I am familiar with what is important to them or how they will react to certain situations.  With a group of new people and peers, there are many things that are uncertain which complicate decisions.

Hup Groen, Hup Wit! (Go Green, Go White!)

Day 17 - Maastricht, Netherlands

"The Spirit of Maastricht" Statue

This morning, Stef and I returned to UWC for another day with the primary school.  We had hoped we would have the opportunity to visit the UWC secondary school, but the principal was unable to find a teacher who was willing to have us come observe.  I'm really disappointed that we have not had a chance to see more secondary classes.  Although younger students are very cute, and the classes are still interesting, I was excited about the prospect of working with students in a different country that were more comparable in age to the students I will be teaching.

Today we got to work with the Year 1 Dutch classes for the morning.  Every Year is split into three levels of Dutch classes, so when it is time for "Nederlands", the students divide into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. The beginning levels are for students brand new to the school and the advanced levels are for Dutch students.  The classes coincide with whatever they are learning in their regular classes (so more bugs and insects today) but focus on language competency and integration.  I was left along with the class or two minutes while the teacher went in the other room and they were bouncing off the walls - I don't know how elementary teachers do this every day.

After all of our respective school visits, we returned to Zuyd University and met with the teacher prep students again for a class.  We had a really fascinating discussion about the differences and similarities between Dutch and American culture.  We all had the chance to ask each other about things we had observed, like why, when I pay for something, does nobody hand me chance directly in the Netherlands?  They also asked us things about America that they had seen in the movies, like if cliques in high school were real, and why do we drive our cars everywhere, even if we are going across the street?

We all had dinner back at the ho-tospital and had a relaxing night getting caught up on assignments.

Tell Me What You Really Think...

Today after our school visits we had the opportunity to return to Zuyd University in Maastricht and meet with more students from their teacher preparation program.  We had a lecture and discussion with them about international views of Americans and the differences we have all observed between Dutch and American culture.  The conversations we had have really stuck with me and I would like to explore a couple of the ideas even further.  The implications of traveling as an American, as well as our place in the world, is an important underlying issue during any study abroad.  In a way, we are constantly acting as ambassadors and representatives.  In a way, this is really exciting.  We get to interact with so many people and show them how everyday Americans look, act, and think.  While broadening our own horizons, we get to meet people who have sometimes never met an American.  On the reverse side of this, this is also very scary.  Anything we do poorly can only enforce stereotypes or negative opinions.  We have spent very little time actually talking about how the things we are seeing and experiencing relate to our lives as Americans, can potentially influence our teaching, and drawing conclusions about our lives on a larger scale.  I think that the meeting today really helped a lot of us see the purpose and intention of a program like the one we are on.

My inquiry question for this assignment has been a lingering issue since I arrived but has finally materialized after the lesson today.  How do others in the world view me as an American?  What do we do to enforce or change that while we travel?  And finally, how can I use any of that information as an educator? 

While talking to the Zuyd students today, we talked about many interesting observations about Americans.  Some of them were funny: We all like McDonald's, Everyone in the US has been to New York City, We drive everywhere.   One thing that several of them brought up, was the fact that Americans always seem to have an immense amount of pride and patriotism.  I think it is easy to initially be uncomfortable with this statement.  To me, intense patriotism is tied to flag-waving rednecks who think that the American way is the only way.  I think that I saw this reaction from several of my classmates who were quick to qualify that they did not consider themselves very patriotic. However, the more I think about it, I am extremely proud to be an American.  I know that I am lucky to have grown up the way I did and (as a history and politics nerd) think that the way our country came to be is fascinating.  We have a background like no other country in the whole world and  have accomplished things more successfully and at a faster pace than others.  That all being said, I am well aware that this pride can quickly turn to arrogance to the international audience.

I found some really interesting statistics from World Public Opinion and Pew Global Resources about the international view towards Americans and the U.S.  Both sites shows varied responses to the same question over the years.  At times of high military involvement or controversial international policy by the US, our reputation sinks.  However, European countries tended to have a fairly favorable opinion of us across the board, and it has been increasing since 2001.  

As a social studies teachers, I think that it is both my privilege and obligation to incorporate international themes in my teaching.  I think that exposing my students to as many different views and opinions as I can will help them make decisions and form their own thoughts.  European students are in a unique situation in that it is not as difficult for them to be exposed to many different people and cultures.  At the risk of making a large generalization, European students seem to be more aware of the diverse population that surrounds them.  In the US, it will not be uncommon for the majority of my students to have never left the country.  My hope is to help them understand how many different kinds of people there are throughout the world, and to take advantage of the kinds of diversity that already surround them.  

Where I've Been!

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Day 16 - Maastricht, Netherlands

Today Stef and I returned to the United World College International Primary School.  Everyone in the program was separated into pairs and we visited 7 different schools.  We will be at these schools for two whole days so that we can see a little bit more about everyday activities and class structures.  At first, I was a little disappointed to be back at UWC because I was left with such a strange impression.  After speaking with the principal and vice-principals more at Rene's party, I was a little more excited to visit again.  Although I may not agree with everything about the structure of the school (I think it is the acceptance process that makes me most uneasy) I was looking forward to seeing what a full day for their students looked like, and being back to somewhere that was at least a little familiar.  Stef and I were the only two to return to a school we had already visited.

We started the day in Year 5 (our 4th grade) and worked with the students on writing scripts for plays.  They are learning about different types of literature and got to practice writing dialogue for a story.  I worked with two students from Poland and one student from Slovenia.  They decided to write a story about a class trip they had recently taken, and then proceeded to take 15 minutes naming the two characters, only for me to find out later that they had settled on naming the student a 'bad word' in Polish.  After Year 5 we joined one of the vice-principals, who is also the school's ESL specialist, for a Year 1 (Kindergarten) ESL class.  In their regular classes they are working on a unit about insects so we helped the students draw and label pictures of 'minibeasts' to put into a class book.  It was really fascinating to see how they were beginning to process language and how they were all able to make connections.  We were able to talk to the main ESL teacher about her students.  She said that working with such young students is exciting because they are so eager to be able to figure out what their friends are saying on the playground.  They all use their mother tongues to piece together the information that they know and help each other learn the English words.  At the beginning of every unit they introduce, they are able to write anything they know about the subject in whatever languages they understand. Even though I am uncomfortable working with such young students, the excitement and immediate gratification from this age is very enjoyable.

After school, we came back to the ho-tospital to touch base and have a quick class.  Afterwards, I went grocery shopping to stock up on bread and cheese, and avoiding anything fresh (which is very disappointing).  No one seems too alarmed by the E. Coli scare but we are also not getting news on a regular basis.  I'm sure it is being taken care of, but we are all too nervous to eat fresh fruit or vegetables since we are uncertain of any protocol in the Netherlands about this type of thing.  Oh well, only a few more days and then I can eat a huge salad at home!

Holiday Weekend

This past Thursday was Ascension Day, which is a widely celebrated holiday throughout Europe.  From what I could tell, it was more of an excuse for everyone to have off school and work to enjoy the weather than it was to observe a religious day.  Since we did not have any school visits taking place Thursday or Friday, we decided to take advantage of the holiday weekend as well.  On Thursday morning, ten of us left for Bruges, Belgium.  Bruges is a historic medieval city that is known as the "Venice of the North".  It was one of the most beautiful place I've seen and there is no other word for it than "quaint".  Everything about it was perfect, we actually all said several times that we kind of felt like we were in Disneyland, and not in a real city, because everything about it seemed too perfect.  Little did we know, Bruges hosts a world famous Ascension Day parade and re-enactment.  We ended up catching it in the middle and watching most of the procesion.

On Friday we all rented bikes in the morning and tooka 5 mile bike ride to see windmills and explore the neighboring town of Damme.  It was nice to get some fresh air and exercise on a relaxing day after so much traveling.  In the evening, I left to go back to Amsterdam with Alesia, Allison, Mary, and Stef.  We spent two relaxing days souvenir shopping, having picnics in Vondelpark, and enjoying the Amsterdam nightlife.  It was a much needed vacation and chance to catch up on sleep after the whirlwind we have had the last two weeks.  

Video Blog 3

Part-Time Teaching...Part-Time Dedication?

One topic that has come up in several of the schools that we have visited so far is the issue of part-time teachers in the Netherlands.  All public schools in the country have staff members that are both full and part-time teachers.  Unlike long-term subbing in the US, these are teachers who have chosen to only work part of the day or part of the week.  According to laws in the Netherlands, schools have to accommodate these requests and schedules.  This allows teachers to have families and be at home more if they need or want to.  When I first heard this option at our first school visit, I was shocked.  I would never consider teaching to be a part-time job and I think it goes against a lot we believe in America concerning the difference between part-time jobs and careers.  This isn’t just a few people who chose to do this either, at most of the schools we have been to so far, almost half of the teaching staff are part time teachers.

This raises a lot of questions for me.  How could a teacher that works half the time be as dedicated as a full time teacher?  How do the students react to switching between teachers?  How much instruction time is lost on spending time getting the students and the teacher on the same page each day?  Does teaching part-time prevent burn out?  

The thing that strikes me the most about this issue is that whenever we are told about the part-time teaching staff during our school visits, no principals or administrators feel very positively about it.  I think that if it was the way the school worked and it ended up beneficial for everyone, I would just assume that this was an system that worked in Netherlands schools.  Instead, principals and other teachers make it seem like a hassle to work around and a frustrating accommodation for their staff.  

Last night at Rene’s dinner party, the many of the men and women hosts from the different schools we have visited were there.  I got the chance to talk to Nikki, one of the vice-principals at the United World College primary school.  We covered so many things, from our own backgrounds and teaching philosophies, to some of the differences in the schools we have both seen.  She grew up int he United Kingdom and has taught most primary grades in several different countries.  When I asked her about how she felt about part-time teachers in her school, she kind of rolled her eyes.  She said that she didn’t feel teachers were nearly as effective if they considered teaching a hobby.  She worries that not all teachers equally dedicated to their classroom, so the students she is responsible for get a wide range of attention.  She said that for some teachers, having the flexibility and option to continue teaching while raising a family is a wonderful alternative.   The can combine something they love without sacrificing time to either.  On the other hand, she said that most teachers who only work part-time, do so for selfish reasons.  They want more time off, less responsibility, and more choices.  She also said that she feels that part-time teachers ask too much of their administration.  They are attempting to do the same amount of work with half of the effort, and be rewarded for doing so.  

I can’t imagine a system like this ever working in the United States.  This is mainly due to the fact that I do not see how part-time teachers would fit into our unions as they are currently.  I also do not know how a school district would provide benefits or protections for part-time teachers.  This issue is not as pertinent in the Netherlands because of socialized health care.  

It seems like the two teachers would spend all of their time catching each other up on what happened on the other’s days off, and not get around to educating.  I think this would be a very complicated system for students as well without the proper structure and scaffolding.  To me, it seems like being an effective part-time teacher would take even more work than full-time.  In turn, I think this means that most part-time teachers are not being successful.   It was very difficult to find concrete evidence on how part-time teaching effects students, but I think speaking with Nikki as someone who deals with the issue everyday, is a great way to gain insight.  I would also be very surprised that part-time teachers are very willing to participate in any kind of research that may rule them unnecessary.  Overall, this is a really intriguing concept and I would like to learn more about the interaction between part-time teachers and their students.  Hopefully I will get a chance to see both a part-time and full-time teacher’s instruction during my time observing at the United World College next week.  

Day 11 - Aachen, Germany

Today we visited a comprehensive secondary school in Aachen, which is only about a half an hour drive into Germany from where we are staying in Maastricht.  I was really looking forward to this trip because we have not had the opportunity to see many secondary schools.  When we first arrived at the school, I was surprised at how much it resembled an American school - much more than any other had so far at least.  We met with the principal and an English teacher who introduced us to the school and gave us a tour.  We quickly found out that the German school structure is very different from both American and Dutch schools.  This, although interesting, was kind of frustrating because we didn't understand how a lot of the classes work.  I think we were finally all just getting the hang of Dutch classes, so to see something completely new was challenging.  We broke into small groups and were supposed to visit several different classes.  My group, which was supposed to go observe an English class, was sent away by three different teachers that did not want us to come in.  I think the teacher showing us around was very embarrassed and just said that it was because of discipline problems.  I was really surprised by this because I would think that having visitors from so far away would be exciting in any classroom.


I was most struck by the way the teachers at this school spoke about their students. They repeatedly said that their school was the last choice of anyone in the area and that it was full of students that were pretty much 'left over' after all of the more affluent students had chosen their schools.  She said that they had lots of discipline and behavior problems and that her students were overall really low performing.  Another thing that was really interesting to me was that at this school, the students stayed in the same classroom and the teachers rotated rooms when the subjects changed.  This meant that each room was not personalized and had nothing on the walls and no materials to use.  This really bothered me because I think it makes a really uncomfortable atmosphere for the students, and it was not inviting at all.  On that same note, when we asked if students participated in extracurriculars, the teacher and principal both kind of laughed at us.  They said that students were not interested in being at school any longer than they were forced to be.

After the visit we stopped by the Netherlands and American World War I and World War II War Memorial.  It was a really beautiful cemetery and monument that is maintained by the American government.  We got there right at closing so the manager let us walk to the flag pole and help take down and fold the flag for the evening.  We were joined by the Canadian group that is traveling with us, they helped take down the flag too and it was awkward.

In the evening, Rene had a party for us at his house.  We were joined by the teachers, principals, and administrators that we had met so far.  It was a really nice opportunity for us all to talk more and interact informally.  The night was beautiful and it was a really nice way to spend the evening.