Caroline Katzman ’15 (ED), ’16 MA spent the fall semester of her master’s year in England as part of the Neag School’s Study Abroad Teaching Internship Program. In England, Katzman interned at Roxeth Primary School, a highly diverse, multifaith school in suburban London, where about 40 different languages are spoken by the student body. She is a graduate of the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s program.

Hometown: West Hartford, Conn.

Concentration: Elementary education

What made you decide to pursue a degree in education? “I always needed extra assistance in school; I would get pulled for literacy groups, things of that sort. I was always lowest in math, so I was used to having extra attention, and I think with those types of relationships with my teachers and with the support staff, I was able to gradually become a great reader, and enjoy it, and love it — and the same thing with math. So I think that definitely contributed to it, and just a love of kids, being able to mold how people see their education, how it can be a pathway to not just being smart, but really finding things that they love.”

How did this internship experience compare with your student-teaching experience during your senior year in the IB/M program? “With student teaching, you knew what you had to do. You’re like, ‘OK, I’m planning for tomorrow. I need lessons for this, this, and this. I need to kind of get in touch with this parent, or do this, or do a paper for a class.’ Whereas here, you really had to advocate for yourself — which was different, but it’s such a good lesson. If you want to do something, then you need to get in touch with this person and talk to her, and set it up, which was important, because I’ve come to see that’s the only way things get done. I think on a personal level, it’s been really good learning how to manage relationships. And if there is something that interests you, then you need to voice that.”

Have your perceptions of education changed at all over the course of your time interning in London? “The teachers’ relationships [here in London] aren’t as personal with their students. But [I] came to see that it’s not wrong; it’s just we are so used to what we’ve seen at home [in the States].”

“I’ve learned how to push through my comfort zone. I’ve learned to be more empathetic and understanding toward others.”  Caroline Katzman ’15 (ED), ’16 MA

How will you take what you’ve learned in London and apply it in your own classroom when you start your career in the States? “I’ll really try to foster a sense of understanding amongst [my students] … to really instill that you need to get to know people before you make assumptions or judgments.”

What would you change about your time in London, if anything? “I got here, and there were so many amazing opportunities that I think if I had a more set purpose for myself, it could have been a little different. I would have been more in one concentrated area. But it’s been so special for me because I’ve kind of divided my time; I spend some mornings with a girl I’ve grown really close with who has epilepsy. And then other mornings I’ll just do guided reading in the classsroom. So I’ve kind of tried to divide time so I can see the most.”

How has this experience influenced or shaped you personally? “I’ve learned how to push through my comfort zone. I’ve learned to be more empathetic and understanding toward others through my classes. … And [through] the Neag School in general, we’re put in contact with so many amazing teachers and provided with so many resources. There’s help whenever you need it. So finding confidence and finding a voice.”

Read about the experiences of other Neag School students studying abroad as part of the London Teaching Internship Program.

Kaleigh Kupstis ’15 (ED), ’16 MA spent the fall semester of her master’s year in England as part of the Neag School’s Study Abroad Teaching Internship Program. In England, she taught students at Rooks Heath, a multicultural school in London with about 1,000 students ages 11 to 18. Kupstis is a graduate of the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s program; she now serves as a teacher at Lincoln Middle School in Meriden, Conn.

Hometown: Southington, Conn.

Concentration: Secondary education

You did your student teaching previously at Bulkeley High School in Hartford. How has what you’ve experienced with students in London differed from that setting? “I feel like in London, ‘diversity’ is a whole new term. You have students coming in from Syria, Romania, Turkey, and you have a whole range of languages that you have to address. It’s differentiation at its finest.”

What is one major takeaway from your experience in London that you will bring with you in your career? “Never take a student’s actions at face value. There’s always a bigger story there. There’s always something more that’s going on. So really getting to know students is absolutely crucial. … That has been my biggest takeaway: how important it is to get to know your students.”

“That has been my biggest takeaway: how important it is to get to know your students.”  Kaleigh Kupstis ’15 (ED), ’16 MA

What differences have you seen between how classrooms in the States are led versus in the U.K.? “I think a strength from the U.S. is the student-centric perspective. As teachers … we feel as though [students] will learn more when they are around people that they trust and care about. I think here [in the U.K.], it’s a bit more content-based and a bit more authority-driven. They kind of hammer home discipline here.”

Has this experience fine-tuned how you think about what works best for you in the classroom? “I think every single one of us has said, in a joking way, but also with a tone of seriousness, that we’re going to be more strict when we get [back to teaching in U.S. classrooms], because structure is a good thing. I feel like I was definitely the fun, bubbly English teacher, and I let things slide. I think now we have more tactics on how to deal with discipline when we go [back to classrooms in the U.S.].”

How has your coursework here in London helped you understand the U.K.’s approach to education? “Chrisitine [Barry] took a reflective approach [as the London instructor for our coursework in cultural competence]. We had a journal we wrote every single week; her responses are tailored to you. She talks a lot about the mental process you go through when you leave your own culture and are looking at things not as ‘Here’s what we do in the U.S. [versus what] they do here,’ or ‘What’s better?’ … It’s more like: ‘They do it this way. It’s different; it’s neither better or worse.’ When I saw teachers being very authoritarian, I was thinking to myself, ‘How are they going to achieve relationships with the students?’ But that’s not the end goal.”

Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your experience in London? “Right off the bat, I would have dropped my whole ‘I want to work in an English classroom.’ I would have instead said, ‘Put me in an [English for Speakers of Other Languages] classroom’ — where they teach kids coming in how to read emails and how to send letters — more of a functional skills class, because they have those types of classes here. … I think by the end of October, I did start going to those other classes. And then kids got used to seeing me, and I found relationships with them, so that was great.”

Read about the experiences of other Neag School students studying abroad as part of the London Teaching Internship Program.