"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Thank you for sharing! I LOVE how you surveyed people using social media to gain some insight into the travel experience of others (a good result of our interconnectedness due to technology ;) ).
I was so interested in your comment about policy. I am also extremely interested in policy and hope my career leads me there one day. Your comment that not enough teachers go on to shape policy particularly resinated with me. It also gave me some insight into your classroom and view of teaching that teachers should be advocates making students aware of injustices and prepared to be global citizens.
I also wonder how your sample size contributed to your results. Do you think the results would have been different if you had a larger sample size? It would also be interesting to compare the results in different states/ regions (or maybe that's just the mathematician in me).
Thank you! Your presentation extended and challenged my thinking. I so enjoyed it!
Thanks for your work here. I really enjoyed your presentation!
I was drawn to a couple of things here. First and foremost, I think, it was your page and comments about the limits of photographs to capture experiences. Isn't that so true? What a good place to start your analysis. Because what is the internet, what is a textbook, what is school--if not different ways of reducing experience to smell-less, sound-less images for a child's consumption?
OK, way too negative, but there is a grain of truth there, I think. What kids need are richly embodied experiences that make them feel certain things--like fear and excitement and joy and awe, all of which tend to take us out of our comfort zone and develop capacities we didn't know we had.
So while international travel is not really feasible the way we currently organize and fund schooling, we might have to ask whether or not our priorities are in the right place.
You are also right, however, that the "think globally, act locally" mantra (which is actually spot on when it comes to global education philosophy) can be carried out in schools, without international travel. School is both a journey and preparation for the journey. For some reason, your post makes me think about the challenge in both honoring what school is all about and somehow suggesting to kids its actually just a small part of their lives that is leading into something bigger.
That video on the whirling dervishes really moved me. How beautiful. I knew some of the history of that practice, but that video captured a few things that engrossed me. As you say, at bottom, as humans, we desire that connection to something completely bigger and beyond. Those seem to be personal journeys that produce such moments. Yet if school cannot in some way prepare children for such moments as they may come, I feel we are somehow not living up to our potential as educators.
Thank you for the comments on my own blog! I really appreciate the thoughtfulness.
In response to your project, I think it was such a great presentation! I was already drawn in by the location of your travels. Greece is one of my favorite places, and Turkey is definitely on my list!
The first thing that really struck me was your study abroad and how focused it was on the program you were studying. I find it so interesting that there are so many opportunities for study abroad in undergrad related to business, finance, environment, political science, etc. but hardly any for teaching! If I remember correctly, there was a short stint offered in South Africa (teaching English) and possibly one or two others offered in other English-speaking countries like the UK and Ireland. To me, the experience you had is SO impactful, especially for someone pursuing education! It sounds like this was a career-change for you later on, but your project shows how much you gained from it in terms of a teaching profession. Your other statement about the lack of policy change being done by educators was also important, because I feel that this is the one field of government that is run and dictated by people no where near a classroom. It's interesting that these people tend to be wealthy, which also means they have more means to travel. I wonder how we can change our society's interpretation of traveling to be less selfish and more about learning. It's not that I wish these places were less accessible, but I do wish that more people could experience the true culture and simply "dip in and dip out" when traveling to new places. Of course this whole schematic situation is present in our daily lives too. I read that you are teaching in Oxford. I'm not super familiar with the area, so I'll make a comparison within the EL community. The Lansing schools compared to Okemos schools faced severe differences. The fact that all these resources exist on MSU's campus, neighboring the Lansing Public Schools, is a huge deficit to the public schools. What's even harder to believe is that many people attending MSU have little to no idea what the neighboring towns are like or what they need. I think this shows the disparity between social and economic classes. I do think there are small changes we can make in our teaching, and I think you asked good questions. How does exploring these things improve our craft? I think it's about finding small ways to bridge our communities, and for me, one of the things I'm taking away from both your project and my research is to build more connections from community to community. Thank you so much for your presentation!!
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! I LOVE how you surveyed people using social media to gain some insight into the travel experience of others (a good result of our interconnectedness due to technology ;) ).
I was so interested in your comment about policy. I am also extremely interested in policy and hope my career leads me there one day. Your comment that not enough teachers go on to shape policy particularly resinated with me. It also gave me some insight into your classroom and view of teaching that teachers should be advocates making students aware of injustices and prepared to be global citizens.
I also wonder how your sample size contributed to your results. Do you think the results would have been different if you had a larger sample size? It would also be interesting to compare the results in different states/ regions (or maybe that's just the mathematician in me).
Thank you! Your presentation extended and challenged my thinking. I so enjoyed it!
Courtney Gough
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your work here. I really enjoyed your presentation!
I was drawn to a couple of things here. First and foremost, I think, it was your page and comments about the limits of photographs to capture experiences. Isn't that so true? What a good place to start your analysis. Because what is the internet, what is a textbook, what is school--if not different ways of reducing experience to smell-less, sound-less images for a child's consumption?
OK, way too negative, but there is a grain of truth there, I think. What kids need are richly embodied experiences that make them feel certain things--like fear and excitement and joy and awe, all of which tend to take us out of our comfort zone and develop capacities we didn't know we had.
So while international travel is not really feasible the way we currently organize and fund schooling, we might have to ask whether or not our priorities are in the right place.
You are also right, however, that the "think globally, act locally" mantra (which is actually spot on when it comes to global education philosophy) can be carried out in schools, without international travel. School is both a journey and preparation for the journey. For some reason, your post makes me think about the challenge in both honoring what school is all about and somehow suggesting to kids its actually just a small part of their lives that is leading into something bigger.
That video on the whirling dervishes really moved me. How beautiful. I knew some of the history of that practice, but that video captured a few things that engrossed me. As you say, at bottom, as humans, we desire that connection to something completely bigger and beyond. Those seem to be personal journeys that produce such moments. Yet if school cannot in some way prepare children for such moments as they may come, I feel we are somehow not living up to our potential as educators.
Great post!
Kyle
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments on my own blog! I really appreciate the thoughtfulness.
In response to your project, I think it was such a great presentation! I was already drawn in by the location of your travels. Greece is one of my favorite places, and Turkey is definitely on my list!
The first thing that really struck me was your study abroad and how focused it was on the program you were studying. I find it so interesting that there are so many opportunities for study abroad in undergrad related to business, finance, environment, political science, etc. but hardly any for teaching! If I remember correctly, there was a short stint offered in South Africa (teaching English) and possibly one or two others offered in other English-speaking countries like the UK and Ireland. To me, the experience you had is SO impactful, especially for someone pursuing education! It sounds like this was a career-change for you later on, but your project shows how much you gained from it in terms of a teaching profession. Your other statement about the lack of policy change being done by educators was also important, because I feel that this is the one field of government that is run and dictated by people no where near a classroom. It's interesting that these people tend to be wealthy, which also means they have more means to travel. I wonder how we can change our society's interpretation of traveling to be less selfish and more about learning. It's not that I wish these places were less accessible, but I do wish that more people could experience the true culture and simply "dip in and dip out" when traveling to new places. Of course this whole schematic situation is present in our daily lives too. I read that you are teaching in Oxford. I'm not super familiar with the area, so I'll make a comparison within the EL community. The Lansing schools compared to Okemos schools faced severe differences. The fact that all these resources exist on MSU's campus, neighboring the Lansing Public Schools, is a huge deficit to the public schools. What's even harder to believe is that many people attending MSU have little to no idea what the neighboring towns are like or what they need. I think this shows the disparity between social and economic classes. I do think there are small changes we can make in our teaching, and I think you asked good questions. How does exploring these things improve our craft? I think it's about finding small ways to bridge our communities, and for me, one of the things I'm taking away from both your project and my research is to build more connections from community to community. Thank you so much for your presentation!!