Teacher sees new perspective on education

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
With 23 years of classroom instruction under his belt, Gary Ewert knows what makes a good learning experience.

That’s why the Marion resident, who teaches seventh-grade social studies at Chisholm Middle School in Newton, jumped at the chance to travel to Durham, England, for nine days in late April.

Located on the northeast side England, near Scotland, Durham is home to 40,000 people.

“The total experience was absolutely fantastic,” Ewert said. “I loved every aspect of the trip- from getting my passport and that whole process, to traveling to another country and realizing you’re in someone else’s country.

“I enjoyed learning everything I could in a week about their culture and their schools.”

Ewert was among 11 educators from Newton who took advantage of a grant from the Fulbright Agency in Washington, D.C. Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program aims to increase understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries.

The grant application defined the group’s goal as establishing dialogue between teachers of the two countries.

Following the multi-step application process that began last fall, the group included Ewert as well as a special education teacher, a high school counselor, a speech pathologist, two math teachers, an elementary teacher, a media specialist and three levels of administrators.

“We all looked at it from our own perspectives in terms of what we could pick up to help us,” Ewert said.

The group left April 21 and spent nine days learning the inner-workings of the British educational system.

Although the physical structures were less than ideal, Ewert said the system’s commitment to technology is second to none.

“They have far more computer labs and they have smart boards in nearly each classroom,” Ewert said.

Smart boards combine a computer projection screen with a write-on, wipe-off board that projects the computer image onto the board.

“At Chisholm, we have one board in our entire school,” he said.

Another stark contrast between American and British students was respect- the British are well ahead there, too, Ewert said.

He credited school uniforms and religion as key reasons.

“I don’t know if it was the school uniforms they have to wear or the school itself, but those kids didn’t have the status that goes with brand-name shoes and clothes,” he said. “And they teach religion in all their schools, focusing on six major religions.

“They focus a lot on morals and values as part of their core curriculum,” he added.

But not all British ideas were acceptable to the visiting Americans, Ewert said.

“They have ability grouping,” Ewert said, referring to the practice of separating students based on intellectual abilities. “When they take what would be the equivalent of our state assessments, they pull out the top 30 percent for advanced, the next 60 percent are in the middle and the final 10 percent are grouped at the bottom.

“I had some definite questions about whether that helps or hinders underachievers,” he said. “They do have special education, but in the regular classroom they obviously had the kids separated by their achievements.”

In England, students age 4 to 10 attend primary schools; they move to the next level until age 16.

“At that point, they must choose whether to enter the work force, learn a vocation such as brick laying or cosmetology, or return to school for two years to prepare for university studies,” Ewert said.

The British school year is longer than it is here.

“They start the first of September, take one week off in October, two weeks at Christmas, another week in February, two more weeks at Easter and another week in May,” Ewert said. “But they only have about seven weeks off during the summer.”

On the administrative side, Ewert said the British approach school funding differently.

“(Schools) are all run by the county,” he said. “They don’t have individual school boards and districts. Each school is given a certain amount of budget money and the schools basically run themselves.

“To apply that here, if Marion focused on performing arts and Hillsboro on technology, parents could choose where they wanted their kids to attend.”

Some schools apply the latitude in unique ways.

“At the last school we visited, they decided the quality of food wasn’t very good, so they used some of their budget to hire a professional chef,” he said. “That meal was absolutely fantastic.”

Ewert said the group didn’t experience the anti-American sentiment portrayed by U.S. television.

“Everywhere we went, people knew right away we were Americans, and lots of them stopped us and told us how much they loved America,” he said. “We never felt unwelcome or unsafe anywhere we went, and the kids were really nice to us as well.”

Students back in the United States were able to monitor the British trek via the internet on a daily blog updated by the traveling teachers.

Ewert said his first voyage outside the continental United States was great.

“Being a social studies teacher, the opportunity to visit places I’ve taught about and dealt with was fantastic,” he said.

“Outside of the educational aspect, the highlight of my trip was seeing the sights I’ve read about, like the Hadrian’s Wall, an old Roman ruin, which is 1,850 years old.”

Ewert said the benefits the trip were immeasurable.

“If anything, it reaffirmed what we’re already doing here,” he said. “I’ve been sifting through how to redirect my lesson plan and grading and identifying things I could do differently.”

More from article archives
DEATHS :Larry Kasper, 64
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN Larry Wayne Kasper, 64, retired equipment operator, died Dec. 18...
Read More