My time in DC has definitely made me less anxious about my upcoming Ukrainian adventure. I'm waiting to board the Delta flight back to Atlanta.
Let me now back up and tell of what happened Friday before our initial meeting of our Ukraine group. A couple months back, the TGC program invited the principals of all TGC fellows to attend this first Global Symposium with their TGC teacher. So In Friday the principals (or administrators sent in place) gathered with experts in Global Education to learn more about Global Education itself and the need to emphasize it our schools.
Simultaneously, TGC teachers had various sessions where we evaluated student work samples for evidence of Global Education competencies, began developing individual essential questions to guide our in-country travel experience, and had a session about cross cultural interactions. The mid-afternoon session is when I met my fellow travelers in the Ukraine cohort.
This session was followed by a session where all of the TGC fellows came together for a presentation about “working effectively across cultures.” This last session was quite interesting, not so much in the content as in reactions of various participants. Many of us have traveled extensively to other places with vastly different cultures; others have very minimal or no experience traveling to outside our country. Based largely on prior international travels with other US educators as well as former students, in many ways I think the folks with no travel experience abroad are in a better position than those with one prior experience that only borders, let's say, the English Channel. I just can't imagine that cultural hurdles one experiences in Dublin, London, or Paris can prepare one for Kiev, New Delhi, or Jakarta. My aside muse is done, so back to the day.
Following the last meetings on Friday and the symposium dinner, several "fellows" (who became "fast friends") and a couple of their administrators walked the mall to see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the WWII Memorial from the Pacific Theater side, the Korean War and the Vietnam War memorials. We then proved that six educators can ride in one taxi!
We dropped two folks off at our hotel, the L’Enfant, and then journeyed on to Fado Irish Pub in Chinatown to meet a friend of two of the folks I was with. Yes, that would be the same Fadot hat is the national sponsor for St. Baldrick's Foundation where folks shave their heads to raise money for childhood cancer research. Well, it turns out this friend we were meeting was a lovely young woman named Sarah Yabroff. I thought her name sounded familiar and then realized why. I occasionally get emails from her as she works with the Goethe Institut in Washington, specifically with the TOP (Transatlantic Outreach Program). This is the program that takes teachers on two week tours of Germany with the intent of helping them see modern day Germany rather than just the tragedies of the past. For a few of you reading, I'm guessing you've realized that this THE program that literally transformed my life (& cracked my shoulder) back in 2005. I have a lengthy “aside” that I’m not posting here…..perhaps I will insert it later as a document that can be opened.
While this (referring to what I’ve “not” inserted) seems like a tangent, in reality it is like coming full circle as I prepare to travel to Ukraine. That trip opened the WORLD of travel to me to compliment my extensive domestic travel as my "50 states by 50" quest had begun officially and in earnest four years earlier. I expect my Ukraine experience to be somewhere on the continuum between Germany and Cuba (4 humanitarian/faith based trips in the 90's). But my desire to travel abroad extensively as well as take former students on international travel was spawned by that trip to Germany.
Saturday morning brought a collaborative planning meeting where we worked with our principals. Most people also worked in collaboration with others from their state. Since I’m the only TGC fellow from Georgia, we were at a table with other “solo” state representatives from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The aim of this time was to work on strategies to improve or initiate Global Education in our schools. An exciting part of the meeting for me was that Dr. Downs brought up student international travel. He WANTS me to do my trips as SCHOOL SPONSORED trips! How cool and what a change. I’m already looking into Spring Break 2013 or early summer!
The last official meeting was again in country cohorts where we were able to meet with a teacher from our country of travel. The Ukraine group met with Viktoria who teaches in Nikolau, Ukraine. She told us about the Ukrainian educational system and various cultural aspects of life there. The final activity of the symposium was a closing luncheon. I said farewell to Dr. Downs and his lovely wife. They were headed to Baltimore to spend the long weekend with friends.
