Student Teaching Goes Global

IRELAND Student SOUTH AFRICA NEW ZEALAND Teaching Goes Global

During the 2020 spring semester, before international travel was restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of University of Wyoming students were deep into the experience of student teaching abroad. UW is a member of the Consortium of Overseas Student Teaching (COST), which allows our pre-service teachers to complete a portion of their student teaching requirement outside of the United States.

“Each student teacher has two placements, one in Wyoming or Colorado and one in another country. The student teacher works with both mentor teachers to schedule eight weeks of student teaching over the course of the semester,” says associate professor and UW COST program coordinator, Kate Welsh. “Each placement is a bit different based on the schools, the countries and their respective calendars.”

So far, 14 UW students have been able to experience what it is like to teach abroad in countries such as: Australia, Ecuador, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Spain. Unfortunately, three students who were set to begin teaching in the program this spring have been unable to teach abroad due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. Two students are currently preparing to participate in the program next fall.

Three students who participated in the program last spring shared their experience with us. Learn how their time teaching outside the U.S. has helped to shape their perspective and molded them into better teachers. WAIHEKE ISLAND

LONDON

••• Etta Flock •••

Maria Assumpta Girls National School, Cork, Ireland Junior Infants (4 and 5 years old) The curriculum was much different in Ireland than it is here in the United States. I believe the teachers are given a lot more freedom and trust in their classrooms, so it was a little difficult for me to plan lessons because the requirements and standards were so broad.

I believe that my experience teaching abroad has taught be to think more about whole child development than simply meeting the standards. I learned the importance of taking the moment to teach students life lessons and have real discussions about caring for others, rather than teaching the exact planned lesson. It is OK to be flexible and let the discussion lead you in different directions.

Some may think that they are not experienced enough to teach abroad; however, at UW you have plenty of opportunities to be in the classroom before entering student teaching. Anytime you go abroad, your eyes are opened to so many things you didn’t even know exist. It is an amazing experience where you are forced to grow individually and as an educator.

••• Autumn DePorter •••

Owairoa Primary School, Howick, Auckland New Zealand Year 2 I enjoyed learning how the primary school operates in comparison to the United States. The experience has made me a better educator because it has allowed me to realize how important classroom management is and how it should be implemented and changed based off the kinds of students you have.

Every weekend other COST participants that I met from other universities and I would do a trip. We went to Cape Reinga, which is the northern most point of New Zealand; we went to Pauanui, a gorgeous beach town; and we went to Waiheke island, which is called the island of wine. We went to the beach a lot!

The friends that I made through the COST program while in New Zealand have turned into some of my best friends! This experience taught me that I am more independent than I thought, and that I can make friends no matter where in the world I am.

KNYSNA

••• Kaitlin McGovern •••

Oakhill School, Knysna, South Africa Grade R (Kindergarten) This experience has shown me that if you put in the effort to build a relationship with your students, you can overcome a lot of other barriers that may present themselves. I spent my first couple of weeks in the classroom devoted to getting to know those kids. I got to know their families, their favorite snacks, their favorite games to play outside, what they did on the weekends, and basically anything and everything about them.

I believe that this experience widened my comfort zone. I know as a teacher I will continually have to expand that, and now I know that I am capable of stepping outside of it. I learned that if you just dive right in and trust yourself, the end result is going to be amazing. I also learned that I really like ostrich steak, and I do not have a career as a professional surfer!

I felt really supported by UW and Oakhill School in Knysna. I knew that if something went wrong I could get in touch with someone immediately, and I’d be OK. It truly was one of the best decisions I ever made, and I would do it a million times over!