Students entering Gymnasium #9 (Simferopol)
Thesis questions for my Ukraine TGC Experience
Teachers for Global Classrooms has given me the unique opportunity to visit
Ukraine in the Spring of 2013. Prior to going, my inquiry was 3 fold.
The following were my questions:
1. What would my understanding be of the educational system and
its influence on the dreams and desired goals of the students?
2. What relevance would this have on the cross cultural exchange
I was about to bring to my own students?
3. What applications would I use to bring this information back to my
classroom for a successful cultural exchange?
The dreams and goals of present day youth in a post-Soviet society are highly influenced and motivated by the social, educational, environmental, and political environment in their present newly independent country (21 years). The youth being educated in this newly independent country have been looking beyond their "own backyard" for opportunities in education, business, trade, and an improved social structure while slowly losing their cultural identity in an interconnected global world.
This topic is of interest to me as I am intrigued by the desired dreams and goals of my students in a public middle school system. With this inquiry of the contrast and comparison in my mind, I interviewed my 8th grade students in the public school and also interviewed the 9th grade students of a specialized school in foreign languages in Simferopol, Ukraine. The interviews were exchanged so the students could get a view of what students their own age are contemplating for their own futures. I do need to keep in mind that our country has been an independent and free-thinking society for over 200 years while Ukraine has been on the road of creating a free and independent thinking society for only 20 years. It was obvious to me through conversations with a variety of people of varying ages that this country is at a crossroads for their future with a present day declining population and what appears to be few economic opportunities on the near horizon. I might offer the idea that Ukarain is presently at the point of an “Identity Crisis”.
Our initial visit to Kiev began with a basic introductory course on the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian citizens as well as the educational system pre- and post- Soviet rule. I discovered that there are at least 10 types of school choices for families for pre-elementary, elementary, and secondary including general, specialized,
gymnasium, lyceum, collegium, social rehabilitation school, boarding school for
special needs, boarding school, educational rehabilitation school, andevening school. For those students desiring a higher education the options areHigher Education Institutions, Educational Studying Production Complex (charter), Out-of-school Educational Centers by Interest, and Vocational Technical Schools (summer).
My visits to several different educational institutions in Kiev and Simferopol has opened my eyes to some very interesting food for thought when considering the choices that students are making in their lives for post educational opportunities (in-country
and abroad) and the choices of professions of these students. I will suggest the
following ideas to consider when reflecting on this topic:
The Value of Education, the Structure of Education, and Youth Concerns/Issues.
THE STRENGTHS
Students...
1. have a strong cultural pride and recognize that there is a strong desire to keep their heritage culture/ identity. In the schools that I visited many students are maintaining their skills at traditional dance and song and the arts of embroidery and egg painting (Pysanky). World languages of Ukraine, Russian, and presently English and German are at the fore-front of their educational skills. This opens their minds to think more globally and want to study, travel, and work abroad in many different countries.
2. recognize the power of knowledge and want to be placed in good universities. Because they recognize the varying facets of corruption in their own school system, many of them want to leave Ukraine for a higher and better education. Many of them want to travel to England and many of them desire to get involved with law and business. They also recognize the labor intensive job a teacher has with minimal pay and the hardship of having to work more than one job to make ends meet in a struggling
economy.
3. have a curiosity and need to connect with other cultures to gain new
ideologies of what life could be like as a free and strong independent country.
4. have a concern about family and a care to help one another in their older years.
5. want more for themselves so they can get out of low economic
hardship.
THE CHALLENGES
Students...
1. have little opportunity to get jobs because they are far and few between. This seems to have created a problem with alcohol, drug, and cigarette use.
2. recognize that earning a strong salary is almost impossible unless you get involved with corruption in some manner.
3. are aware of major pollution issues and lack of clean water in their future.
4. find that their earning power does not allow them any purchasing power for housing because at present there is the problem of low wages and high cost of living.
With this background of knowledge from my personal travel experience, my goal has been to connect the students through blogging and Edmodo so that students can share in their personal experiences. The answers solicited from the interview questions from the students in both countries have shown the similarities in their desires to earn money and be successful at what they want to do, the desire to help other people, to do mission work, to become professional athletes in a variety of sports, to be happy at what they do best, and for some, to become business entrepeneurs. Many of them share in their excitement of learning through technology and sharing varying genres of music. The majority of them share in the idealogy of having higher education opportunities and working together to work on global issues. The students in Ukraine feel that they have fewer opportunities as compared to those students in the US. Students from Ukraine are more interested in global travel than their American counterparts. American Students believe that they can get a good education in the United States while Ukrainian students believe they can get a better education abroad.
The students did a project-based activity in creating a recipe book together of Ukrainian traditional dishes and New England traditional dishes. The books were mailed to the students of each country. They also did presentations on traditional foods
and places of interest in each respective country and sent them via e-mail for students to watch as videos and power point presentations. The best part was having the students communicate through Edmodo as they were interviewing each other and getting to know each other in a more personal way through the social media of their choice.
Teachers for Global Classrooms has given me the unique opportunity to visit
Ukraine in the Spring of 2013. Prior to going, my inquiry was 3 fold.
The following were my questions:
1. What would my understanding be of the educational system and
its influence on the dreams and desired goals of the students?
2. What relevance would this have on the cross cultural exchange
I was about to bring to my own students?
3. What applications would I use to bring this information back to my
classroom for a successful cultural exchange?
The dreams and goals of present day youth in a post-Soviet society are highly influenced and motivated by the social, educational, environmental, and political environment in their present newly independent country (21 years). The youth being educated in this newly independent country have been looking beyond their "own backyard" for opportunities in education, business, trade, and an improved social structure while slowly losing their cultural identity in an interconnected global world.
This topic is of interest to me as I am intrigued by the desired dreams and goals of my students in a public middle school system. With this inquiry of the contrast and comparison in my mind, I interviewed my 8th grade students in the public school and also interviewed the 9th grade students of a specialized school in foreign languages in Simferopol, Ukraine. The interviews were exchanged so the students could get a view of what students their own age are contemplating for their own futures. I do need to keep in mind that our country has been an independent and free-thinking society for over 200 years while Ukraine has been on the road of creating a free and independent thinking society for only 20 years. It was obvious to me through conversations with a variety of people of varying ages that this country is at a crossroads for their future with a present day declining population and what appears to be few economic opportunities on the near horizon. I might offer the idea that Ukarain is presently at the point of an “Identity Crisis”.
Our initial visit to Kiev began with a basic introductory course on the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian citizens as well as the educational system pre- and post- Soviet rule. I discovered that there are at least 10 types of school choices for families for pre-elementary, elementary, and secondary including general, specialized,
gymnasium, lyceum, collegium, social rehabilitation school, boarding school for
special needs, boarding school, educational rehabilitation school, andevening school. For those students desiring a higher education the options areHigher Education Institutions, Educational Studying Production Complex (charter), Out-of-school Educational Centers by Interest, and Vocational Technical Schools (summer).
My visits to several different educational institutions in Kiev and Simferopol has opened my eyes to some very interesting food for thought when considering the choices that students are making in their lives for post educational opportunities (in-country
and abroad) and the choices of professions of these students. I will suggest the
following ideas to consider when reflecting on this topic:
The Value of Education, the Structure of Education, and Youth Concerns/Issues.
THE STRENGTHS
Students...
1. have a strong cultural pride and recognize that there is a strong desire to keep their heritage culture/ identity. In the schools that I visited many students are maintaining their skills at traditional dance and song and the arts of embroidery and egg painting (Pysanky). World languages of Ukraine, Russian, and presently English and German are at the fore-front of their educational skills. This opens their minds to think more globally and want to study, travel, and work abroad in many different countries.
2. recognize the power of knowledge and want to be placed in good universities. Because they recognize the varying facets of corruption in their own school system, many of them want to leave Ukraine for a higher and better education. Many of them want to travel to England and many of them desire to get involved with law and business. They also recognize the labor intensive job a teacher has with minimal pay and the hardship of having to work more than one job to make ends meet in a struggling
economy.
3. have a curiosity and need to connect with other cultures to gain new
ideologies of what life could be like as a free and strong independent country.
4. have a concern about family and a care to help one another in their older years.
5. want more for themselves so they can get out of low economic
hardship.
THE CHALLENGES
Students...
1. have little opportunity to get jobs because they are far and few between. This seems to have created a problem with alcohol, drug, and cigarette use.
2. recognize that earning a strong salary is almost impossible unless you get involved with corruption in some manner.
3. are aware of major pollution issues and lack of clean water in their future.
4. find that their earning power does not allow them any purchasing power for housing because at present there is the problem of low wages and high cost of living.
With this background of knowledge from my personal travel experience, my goal has been to connect the students through blogging and Edmodo so that students can share in their personal experiences. The answers solicited from the interview questions from the students in both countries have shown the similarities in their desires to earn money and be successful at what they want to do, the desire to help other people, to do mission work, to become professional athletes in a variety of sports, to be happy at what they do best, and for some, to become business entrepeneurs. Many of them share in their excitement of learning through technology and sharing varying genres of music. The majority of them share in the idealogy of having higher education opportunities and working together to work on global issues. The students in Ukraine feel that they have fewer opportunities as compared to those students in the US. Students from Ukraine are more interested in global travel than their American counterparts. American Students believe that they can get a good education in the United States while Ukrainian students believe they can get a better education abroad.
The students did a project-based activity in creating a recipe book together of Ukrainian traditional dishes and New England traditional dishes. The books were mailed to the students of each country. They also did presentations on traditional foods
and places of interest in each respective country and sent them via e-mail for students to watch as videos and power point presentations. The best part was having the students communicate through Edmodo as they were interviewing each other and getting to know each other in a more personal way through the social media of their choice.