Blog Archives

Learning Languages

29/6/2015

Posted By Erik Remsen
During my time in India, I was fortunate to visit 5 of the 29 states: Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh. I visited schools in three of those states: Karnataka, Kerala, and Delhi and while in the schools I was struck by the variety of languages being taught in schools. There are 122 major languages in India and the country has 22 'scheduled' languages. (A scheduled language is one that is recognized, given official status, and encouraged by the government.) The official government languages are Hindi and English. What this all means for Indian schools is that many students are learning three languages all the way through both primary and secondary school. In Bangalore, students were learning Kannada, the local language, plus English and Hindi. In Malapurram at my host school, the students were learning Malayalam, the local language, as well as English and Hindi.

I've written earlier about my host school, the Kendriya Vidyalaya school in Malapurram and their commitment to global education. It should be no surprise then that their language instruction is another marker of how their students are being prepared to be global citizens. All students at KV Malapurram study Malayalam, Hindi, and English. In fact, the whole school morning assembly alternates between the three languages. So for example, the Monday assembly was in English, on Tuesday it was in Malayalam, Wednesday was in Hindi, and Thursday it was back to English. This means the pledge is recited in three different languages, and announcements are made in three languages depending on the day. KV Malapurram recognizes the benefits of multi-lingualism and realizes that learning another language will help students as this world grows ever more interconnected. It is important to note, however, that KV Malapurram is not exceptional in this regard. We visited a public primary school (pictured above) that was predominantly attended by lower class students. Some students did not have shoes, and during our visit, the school had no power so classes were being taught in murky darkness. Technology at the school seemed to consist of one overhead projector, obviously not working that day due to the lack of power. However, students were nonetheless learning Malayalam, Hindi, and English. (There was also an Urdu language class.) Language instruction in India seems to be considered part of the core curriculum and thus mandatory at all levels and not subject to budget cuts.

Unfortunately, this level of language instruction does not exist in the United States. Only 25% of U.S. elementary schools and 58% of middle schools offer foreign language instruction. In total, only around 20% of Americans report speaking a second language. Clearly, the United States is behind India (and much of the rest of the world) when it comes to language acquisition. As the world grows smaller and the United States becomes more closely tied to the rest of the world, clear communication is essential for understanding, problem solving, and conflict avoidance. However, communication is easier with multiple languages to express yourself and that is something not many U.S. citizens are able to do.

One further note about the language abilities of the students at KV Malapurram. The students are learning 3 languages, a statement which can also be made in regards to some U.S. students. However, most often, U.S. students learn Spanish, French, or German as their second and third languages. While not exactly the same, these languages all have very similar alphabets. The students at KV Malapurram, on the other hand, are learning three languages with three different alphabets, as can be seen in the slide show above. The English alphabet has 26 letters, there are 44 letters in the Hindi alphabet, and around 50 letters in Malayalam. The students who spoke English with me while in their Hindi language class and then chatted with their friends in Malayalam are quite impressive and certainly on course to become global citizens when they finish school.

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School Facilities

23/6/2015

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Posted by Erik Remsen
Below are pictures from schools in India placed next to pictures from Rutland High School. As much as possible, I tried to group them like for like, classroom next to classroom, hallway next to hallway, athletic facility next to athletic facility. I’m presenting them without opinion, but below are a few questions to consider as you browse:

Does the quality of the facility influence the quality of students produced?

What do the facilities say about the priorities of the school?

How do the school facilities reflect the community that surrounds them?

Can facilities create a positive environment? Can they create a negative environment?

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Playing a good game

19/6/2015

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There is a lot of talk in the United States at the moment about the importance of global education. Schools like Rutland stress the need for students to recognize perspectives, communicate effectively, investigate the world, and take action. While we are saying the right things, do our actions actually signal a genuine interest in the wider world?

My week at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Malapurram School in Malapurram, India with fellow history teacher, Robert Lurie of Lansing, Michigan, has given me a new definition of what it looks like when a school community truly values global education. On day one of our visit to the school, we were the central focus of an all-school assembly. The assembly included their normal activities: singing the national anthem, the word of the day, news headlines, and birthday announcements. It was then followed by a welcoming ceremony specifically for us. We were presented with flowers, lit a ceremonial flame, and were treated to a traditional dance performance. We were also asked to speak about our teaching backgrounds and the purpose of our visit. One hour into our visit to the school and it was already evident how much they valued our presence.

Since the welcoming ceremony, both Robert and I have been astounded at the attention we have been showered with by the entire school community. We have met several times with the principal and other administration members and discussed educational practices. (The principal has also provided tea and snacks each time we have met with him.) We have observed numerous classes and then been asked for feedback by the teachers. We have presented to several classes about our schools and communities. Students have then asked us questions about everything from cricket ("Why don't Americans play the sport?") to educational practices ("What are the major differences we see between the two countries?"). We were asked to present a lesson so that teachers and students could get a taste of American educational practices. Obviously, the school recognizes the importance of learning and sharing with others and has a desire to see things from another perspective.

Additionally, we were asked by the Malapurram community council (a mix of school board and aldermen) for our input on a new interactive educational initiative being launched. (It looked good to us.) We’ve had our picture taken by local media and appeared in the local newspaper. Finally, three different teachers invited us to dinner so that they could talk with us more in order to better understand the United States and our educational beliefs.

Clearly, this is a school and community that values global education. They have gone into the stratosphere and beyond to make us feel welcome. It is not an understatement to say that we are treated like celebrities here. This is a school whose actions show they see great value in global education. At Rutland High School, we are certainly saying the right things and talking a good game, but are we playing the game as well as the Kendriya Vidyalaya Malapurram School?

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Gender and India – It’s complicated

14/6/2015

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Posted by Erik Remsen

Last month, World History 2 finished the year with a unit on gender equality. Students looked at gender issues around the world, including India. The purpose of the unit was to work on research, writing, and communication skills and to gain a deeper understanding of gender inequity around the world and at home. While I know, and my students now know, that India is a country with gender inequality, I did not expect to witness blatant gender discrimination in person while here in India.

Before I get to the discrimination incident, let me first say that I believe it was an anomaly. My first days in India were spent in Bangalore with several amazing women from the Teacher Foundation. The Teacher Foundation is working to improve education in the state of Kernataka by empowering teachers and working with them to improve their practice. (In this, they share a vision similar to that of the Rowland Foundation.) The traditional method of teaching in India is to stand and deliver and make students memorize facts, figure, words, definitions, and anything else that can be memorized and regurgitated. The women we met from the Teacher Foundation are great at what they do and we saw examples of teachers that they have worked with who are dynamic in the classroom. (In my opinion, the Teacher Foundation should win a WISE prize for education.)

My experience with gender in India began to change when we arrived at the Bangalore airport at the start of our trip to Malapurram, a city near the Arabian Sea in the state of Kerala. When our group of six got to the security lines, we realized they were segregated, one line for men and one line for women. Additionally, the body scan for the women was done behind a wall, while the men were screened in view of everyone. Finally, the men were screened and searched by other men and only women screened the women. Everything else at the airport was mixed, but security was clearly segregated.

I am spending a week in Malapurram with Robert Lurie, a fellow history teacher from Lansing, Michigan. We have been joined for the first few days by Emily Lester from IREX, who is doing a site visit to our school and another one. The three of us checked into our hotel, went on a brief tour of Malapurram with our host teacher, Thomas, and then returned to our hotel for a snack in the lounge before dinner. However, when we went to enter the bar, we were told that females were not allowed. Emily handled it with grace and accepted it. I was dumbstruck, it caught me completely off-guard. We quickly formulated a plan to have dinner elsewhere.

At this point, we still do not have an explanation of why Emily was told she was not welcome. Robert and I have not yet been inside, so we don’t know why women are not allowed in. We do know that Malapurram is largely Muslim, but that does not necessarily explain the discrimination. (I should add that Emily was dressed modestly, but that her head was uncovered.) This is one incident, in one hotel, on one night so it is clearly not representative of Indian views (or even, perhaps, Muslim’s views) on women, but it was upsetting and disappointing, especially given our experience with the women of the Teacher Foundation.

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My Favorite Classroom

13/6/2015

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Sitting on a pebbled beach near Cape Royds, Antarctica.

By: Erica Wallstrom,
RHS Science Teacher, Rowland and Einstein Fellow

Though the theme of this collaborative blog speaks to me and resonates with my own recent experiences, I struggle with drafting my first post. Picture me sitting at my table, pen tightly clenched in my hand with a pile of balled and tossed paper overwhelming a mesh metal wastebin. Revise that image for the 21st century to see me with eyes glazed in front of a screen scrolling through pages of abandoned sentences, incomplete paragraphs, and potential titles. You would not think that composing a travel log would cause me such angst considering I have been gifted with an amazing year of opportunities. As a combined Rowland Fellow, Einstein Fellow, and RISE chaperone, I have traversed the globe in hopes of finding techniques, learning content, and fostering relationships that might improve the educational product offered at Rutland High School.

My passport has been peppered with haphazard, randomly placed stamps from the customs officers in Greenland, Antarctica, New Zealand, Japan, Austria, and Peru. In less than 365 days, I have accumulated thousands of air miles, had my fill of pretzels, pressed through way too many security checkpoints, and watched hours worth of movies on a six inch TV screen no more than a meter from my face. But in between the chaos and stress of the airport terminals, I have had amazing experiences. I have unofficially become integrated into a new family in Rutland's sister city, slept in a tent next to a glacier, run my hands along Incan stonework, skipped (literally) around the South Pole, contemplated the rapid depletion of the earth's mineral resources, eaten whale, hiked mountains, relaxed in hot springs, ridden on a train with a dancing cat, hovered in a helicopter over a pod of orcas, and walked amongst an Adelie penguin colony. How can one suffer from writer's block with so many possible story lines with which to work?

It is true, I have had more than my fair share of adventures to retell. But I do not want to simply create a scrapbook just about me. Rather, I want to convey something about the magnitude and importance of these collective experiences. I want readers to leave feeling excited and open to unconventional ideas. I want to inspire a new generation of gregarious travelers willing to experience places and people that are unfamiliar. I want Americans to realize how lucky and privileged we are, and that with this comes responsibility. I want my students to see what an amazing planet we live on and begin to understand how fragile that perfection actually is. I want the words and stories and pictures and moments and anecdotes that I include on these pages to help shape thoughtful, engaged global citizens.

And so while I struggle with my writer's block, I will share a succinct list of takeaway lessons I learned during my time visiting each country. Think of these statements as teasers for future posts.

Japan - We are all human. As foreign as character based language, eating with chopsticks, singing toilets, and sleeping on thin mats may seem, these are material variations. Our similarities far outnumber our differences, and if we are willing to open our homes to one another, than powerful connections can grow.
Antarctica - Collaboration is possible regardless of heritage and history. On our southern most continent, scientists and citizens are able to accomplish what world leaders and politicians are unable to manage. The harsh conditions and binding peace treaties create a thriving international community.
Austria - Resources are finite. At the European Geosciences Union meeting, there was considerable talk about the mounting pressure between increased demand and finite supply of the Earth's rarest metals. Technology advances, populations grow, and societies advance, but at a cost.
Greenland - Change is inevitable. Regardless of political positioning, Greenland's ice sheet is shrinking and changing at unanticipated speeds. The challenge for scientists now is, trying to figure out what that means for our planet's future.
New Zealand - Dining on fish and chips on the beach is good for the soul. It is so easy to be dragged along by the obligations and appointments of daily life, surrounded by screens, fluorescent lights and cubical dividers. We must not forget the simple pleasures of booming surf, salty air, colorful sunsets, and crispy breaded fish wrapped in paper.
Peru - Our greatest challenge is poverty. Viewing impoverished mountain villagers from inside the air conditioned first class train, is both a metaphorical and physical window into the conditions many people suffer daily around the world. There are so many pressing problems facing humanity, but none can be solved without addressing the economic divides both within our own country as well as between nations.

The world is the ultimate global classroom and travel a truly personalized teacher. As educator, learner, and citizen combined, I seek opportunities to experience as much of planet earth as possible during my lifetime. I look forward to delving deeper into these meaty issues that I have encountered during this fellowship sabbatical. But for the moment, I will embrace my inner Kiwi and go for a hike with my dog while savoring my last few Viennese chocolates.

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Perspectives on History

10/6/2015

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Posted by Erik Remsen

Recognizing perspectives matter. The Asia Society has identified the ability to recognize perspectives as one of the four essential elements of global competency. Recognizing perspectives is also an essential component for those who strive to teach history.

This book, "Prejudice and Pride" by Krishna Kumar was recommended to me by one of my hosts in India, Maya Menon. The book takes a look at history text books used in schools in India and Pakistan. While I have not yet read it all, the book's existence is a reminder of the importance of recognizing perspectives. It examines the shared history, including independence and the partition, and how these shared events are portrayed very differently by textbooks produced in the two countries. Recognition that textbooks do not often offer the complete history of events makes more work for teachers, who then need to seek out other perspectives, but the results will be better for both the students and the societies in which they live.

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India Day 1

8/6/2015

Posted by Erik Remsen
Day one of of my India experience is drawing to a close. For the most part, it was a rest day, given the length of the journey here. The trip here involved 3 flights, almost 26 hours of traveling, and a journey across 9 1/2 timezones. (Yes, 9 1/2. India is 9 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Vermont, but I haven't learned why yet.) Oh, and after the three flights, the last leg of the journey was made on this bus...

Stylish, eh?. It was a sight that put this weary traveler at ease at 3am on the last leg of the journey.

After a morning of rest, a few of us ventured out for a short walk. Below are a few pictures of Bengaluru, city of 8 million.

Late this afternooon, our TGC group attended a presentation on Indian education. It was very fascinating One of the interesting tidbits was the fact that, on average, India spends $140 per pupil per school year. Compare that to the Vermont average which is somewhere north of $16,000 per pupil.

Another interesting bit that appealed to my interest in geography was a map of India that was shown to us (I've included it below to the right.) It is a map made in India which shows India as including areas currently controlled by both Pakistan and China. India has border disputes with both countries and each of the three countries claims control of some of the others' land. In the northwest corner, India claims all of Kashmir and Jammu, though parts are under Pakistani and Chinese control and, in the northeast region, India claims that part of China actually belongs to the Indian state of Aranachal Pradesh. The situation is, of course, much more complicated than this, but nonetheless, it is interesting and thought-provoking to see the Indian perspective on these disputed areas visually portrayed on the map. (For contrast, I've included a map that highlights these disputed areas. You may need to click on the maps to see them in their entirety.)

A Global Learner

5/6/2015

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Posted by Parth Patel and Erik Remsen
Parth Patel has just about finished up his Junior year at Rutland High School. This was his first year in Rutland having moved to Vermont last July. He moved from the city of Surat in the state of Gujarat in India. Surat is a city of over 4 million people on the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India.

His former school in Surat had both middle school and high school students. The school was smaller than Rutland High School, but the typical class size was 50 to 60 students. The high school students went to school from 8am to 12pm and the middle school students attended from 1pm to 4pm. At his school in Surat, the language of instruction was Gujarati. Additionally, he had language classes in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit.

He recently worked with teachers, Hilary Poremski-Beitzel and Patricia Alonso, on an English essay about his experiences this past year and about gender issues in both India and the United States. Below are excerpts from that essay in which he reflects on his first year in Rutland and on the differing gender roles in India and the United States.

"I want tell you about my new experiences in my new country USA. I remember when I moved here to the USA, my first day it was so cold and rainy. My flight at the airport was just the only flight because there was really bad weather and a thunderstorm...

I live in Rutland, Vermont which is such a great city. Everywhere I see in my life, everything is green. The trees and mountains especially are my favorite. It is good to live in living things but this is so different from where I used to live because is not that green and not that many trees there. Where I lived, there was too many people and a lot of pollution...

I like to live in USA because in my country, India, and USA have big differences everywhere because of how the people think. The food, lifestyle and schools are so different. I think especially women’s rights are the biggest main differences...

In general, in the US a woman does not need men to support them. They can live on their own and have jobs and support their children without men. It is very different than India. Women have equal rights in everything in the USA and can make choices to do what she wants and what she likes. They don't just do the housework. Women also have choices to choose their life partner and that is very different. Indian women don’t have rights about marriage because no one asks the girl what she likes in a man. Parents of the girl look for the boy and if the family likes that boy then woman see that guy and that’s how marriage happens in India. In India, women’s roles are just do the housework, take care of the kids and do the marriage when the family says! Education depends when you are born and when you live and what your family thinks about education. Sometimes families like their daughters go take education but some families don’t think that and that’s why girls don’t get educated! And sometimes the girl when she takes education but the family does not want her to and she is in trouble with her family! But now the Indian government is making new laws and to try to help women to take education. People try to help other people that women have some rights and now people helping women to do what she likes. Now people are changing and change their thinking that way also that women have rights to go outside and do work and do what she likes. Now families are thinking about women rights because now women fight for their rights and what she believes.

These is not challenging me because I also believe in that men and women have equal rights in everything. Sometimes I see people judging others based on appearances or background.  I just look one way: we are all human and we all live in this beautiful earth."

Many thanks to Hilary Poremski-Beitzel for accepting this blog post as a writing assignment and to Patricia Alonso for her assistance in editing and refining the writing.

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Traveling to India

3/6/2015

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Posted by Erik Remsen
On June 6th, I depart for India for three weeks as a member of the Teachers for Global Classrooms program run by the U.S. Department of State and IREX. I will be traveling with 14 other teachers from around the country and we will be visiting the cities of Bengaluru and Delhi, as well as embedding in an Indian school for a week. For me, the Indian school experience means traveling with teacher Robert Lurie from Michigan (check out his blog here) to Malapurram in the state of Kerala, not to far from the southwest coast. At the school, we will have the chance to observe classes, talk with both students and faculty members, and guest teach several lessons. As the global studies advisor and a teacher of 10th grade world history, this trip is a wonderful opportunity to make connections with fellow educators, experience another culture, and learn about other perspectives on both history and education. It's experience that will no doubt enrich my teaching.

While I have travelled to western Asia (Qatar) and eastern Asia (Japan), India is a new destination in Asia for me. Below, in no particular order, are some of the contrasts I will experience during the trip:

Bengaluru is a city of around 8.5 million and Delhi has over 20 million people. Even Malapurram has a metropolitan population of around 1 million. The entire state of Vermont, by contrast, has around 650,000 people.
This morning the temperature as I drove into Rutland was around 45 degrees. Last week, the daily high temperature in Delhi was also 45 degrees... celsius. (That's 113 degrees fahrenheit.)
Our school year is ending in a few short weeks. In Malapurram, the new school year begins next week.
The average class size at RHS is around 20 students. The school in Malapurram where I will be guest teaching averages 40 students per class.

Will there be some culture shock? Yeah, probably. However, it is something to look forward to.

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RHS students, faculty, and alumni with global experiences to share with the community.

This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee’s own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.

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