January 26, 2010
First day of teaching.
After a somewhat relaxing morning preparing for class (making copies of materials, getting together Vegemite on bread and butter—heh, it’s Australia Day!), and working out how to drive a state-of-the-art classroom (really, it is amazing, all touch screen technology) it was time to have my first class with the 17 students.
It would be an understatement to say that this is a learning experience for the students, and me. There are many cultural differences (apart from the language) that make this a very challenging environment. The students move back and forth between Greenlandic, Danish, and English but we have established a norm that individuals will speak in whichever language they are most comfortable in, but that someone will translate a summary for me. There is some tension between the two Danish students and the rest of the group. This became evident today in an exchange around appropriate choice of language. As one Greenlandic student pointed out quite emotionally, “We have waited many years (nearly 300) for the right to speak Greenlandic!” I am learning that in an era of self-rule, the native Greenlanders are ready to keep colonialism back to the 20th century. The irony in some the discussion was discovered after dinner when somebody pointed out that the only two teachers working in settlement schools (for example, a k-10 school of 19 children) were the two Danish-born teachers. Interesting stuff.
I have not been outside since arriving yesterday…no time and too cold…oh, and I have developed a cold just to make things a little more challenging J Here are a few photos:
1. The classroom: a beautiful high-tech environment. We break after two hours and have cake and coffee.
2. The view out of the classroom window—spectacular!
3. A view of the sun: this is as high above the horizon as it got. I think that there is officially 3 hours from sunrise to sunset…but I think they are exaggerating!
After today’s class I met with a group of three students to talk about the class and what they would like to get from the remaining classes. They are very concerned about their research proposals and academic writing, so I will start to build time in every day to focus on these topics.
So, time to sleep and try to ignore the dogs outside my window!
Cheers
Geoff
I hope that state of the art classroom includes free internet access so you can use tools and educational resources for your classes.
ReplyDeleteHey there! We are watching you. It is colder here than it is there. Looks like you don't need sunglasses. We both feel vegemite is really horrid.Have you seen any odd animals? We are the most odd things you will ever encounter. We can find you no matter where you are. You are never safe but we stilllove and worship you. We are enjoying the pictues as they look like it does right outside our window. Take Care and be safe.
ReplyDeleteScarface and Bonnilicious