#schoolofeducation

As a School of Education major studying in Italy, I participate in six hours a week of student teaching. One other SJU School of Education student and I were placed in a British International School, St. George’s, in which most of the teachers hail from the United Kingdom but the students range from all over Europe. Because of the large difference between these students, the accepted spoken language is UK English which is formally the same spoken language as American English but in reality, it’s very, very different. When the teachers speak very fast, I have a hard time understanding them especially when their accents are coupled with phrases that one does not typically hear in the United States. For example, rather than, “Act appropriately when walking down the hall to lunch please.” A teacher at St. George’s may say, “Now don’t forget to act sensibly, we don’t want a rise, do we?” The most interesting thing in terms of language for me is that these students may be speaking three to four different languages throughout the day, but they are all developing British accents because of their academic culture. Many of these students have diplomat parents or come from affluent backgrounds who do not originate from Italy but have settled in Italy. For example, I have a small girl in my class who speaks Slovakian at home with her mom, her dad speaks French, she is learning Italian (as the school’s foreign language) but is only allowed to speak English outside of play time and Italian class. She is not the only student with these circumstances either. A child’s capacity for language has never seemed so extensive to me until I stepped into this school.

Because of these language complications, I have noticed particularly in the younger grades the struggle to read and write. I’ve also noticed many learning devices put in place to aid these students with normal development despite the challenges they face learning as many as four languages at once. Another large difference worth mentioning by now is that this private school starts their students in Kindergarten at age four. So during their academic career, they are always a full year ahead of where they would be in the United States. When I’ve brought this up to teachers, I’ve heard mixed feelings. Some say that it’s wonderful and gives them a chance to push themselves and learn more from a younger age in which it is easier to learn and retain larger sums of knowledge. Others have said that it is too much because they are not socially developed to match their intellectual development with this structure. I can see and agree with both of these sides. I have witnessed the challenges of teaching six year olds division when it would normally be a seven year old’s academic duty. However I have also witnessed five year olds write creative narratives with ease, which would normally be expected of a first grader at age six. The argument can be made for either side however, working with the students who struggle is what has made me so confident in my decision to follow this career path.

These students are so bright, especially facing the challenges that they do. Being a private school, students have access to all of the resources they may need. A student with number confusion can use different manipulative (blocks or counters) but if that doesn’t work, perhaps a simulation on an iPad app, or maybe written numbers appeal to him more on the projector. Watching these students struggle and finally succeed, having pride in what they worked hard to accomplish makes it all worth it. Without a doubt, the School of Education students have a lot on our plate: on top of six classes every semester to graduate on time, we have to add six hours of student teaching every week which is the equivalent of two more classes including the homework and prep but not the commute. I commute about a half hour to St. George’s twice a week in between classes. While it may be more challenging to be here in Italy, studying our major, I believe I can speak for all of us SOE students when we say that it’s worth the commute and extra work to see how happy those students get when we walk in the door or when we come to help them with a subject they’re having a hard time with.