Lauren Lukasik ’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, Lukasik 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: New Fairfield, Conn.

Concentration: Elementary education, science

What differences have you seen in the U.K. school system versus what you have experienced in Connecticut? “The students [in London] talk about culture openly, and they embrace it. … I think they don’t judge each other based on their differences, because they openly talk about their differences.”

What are you most proud of having accomplished during this semester abroad? “There was a student who came in about three weeks into my placement from Italy, speaking no English, so I just took the opportunity, and I’ve been working with him every week. I did not expect to have that opportunity fall into my hands. … We started with basic letters and numbers, and now he’s writing and reading sentences, doing addition and subtraction, and a lot of the activities the rest of the class is doing. That’s been really great. It’s kind of crazy to believe I impacted him so much. I’m proud of that.”

“I’m more aware of different students and abilities and cultures, being in such an urban area, and working with staff members of different cultures.”  Lauren Lukasik ’15 (ED), ’16 MA

What kinds of support have you received from the administrators or teachers at Roxeth as part of your intern experience? “I ask them a lot of questions, and they always are welcoming in giving me answers and giving me information about the school. They’re willing to let you do new things, and they want you to learn. They’re really open to letting you do what you want to do to become a better teacher.”

What would you say are among the greatest strengths of the Neag School’s teacher education program? “I think all of the different placements we’ve been in. We have one a semester, except student teaching was a full year. We’ve had an urban and suburban [placement], so we have seen different schools. I loved student-teaching. I know [most teacher education programs] do that, but I think the way the Neag School sets it up is really good. The first semester, we just observe and help, learn about the class and the students, and in the second semester, we get to teach. I like that we have to know the kids better in the class, and then we got to student-teach.”

How have you changed over the course of your time studying in London? “I think I’m a lot more independent, even just living and commuting in the city, because I live in a really small town [in Connecticut]. I think I’m more aware of different students and abilities and cultures, being in such an urban area, and working with staff members of different cultures.”

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

Jacqueline Baril ’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, Baril taught at Roxeth Primary School, a highly diverse, multifaith school in suburban London, where about 40 different languages are spoken by the student body. Baril is a graduate of the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s program; she currently serves as a literacy intervention and math enrichment intern at Willington Center School in Willington, Conn.

Hometown: Monroe, Conn.

Concentration: Elementary education, Mathematics

You had studied abroad previously in Italy. Why did you decide to apply for this London Teaching Internship program? “I was interested in coming because you just get an experience that you never would have before — being able to come to a different country and see how they teach, see their perspective, which is very different than ours. Here, they can teach about other cultures and religion.”

What else has been different about teaching in classrooms in the U.K.? “I think the teaching style is different; they are more strict. … They have a pretty strict behavior policy, where if you do this, that’s a warning, and if you do this, then you’re missing recess. And it’s expected, so the kids know. It’s more consistent throughout the school, whereas at home [in the U.S.], every teacher might have something different that they do.”

How is this experience in London different from your time in Italy? “The first time I was [abroad], I took general education classes, and you kind of had more free time to explore and do what you want. But here [in London], it’s more focused around education; we are doing our internship and we’re taking classes focused on teaching. I got a lot more out of this program.”

“I’ve heard kids here, say, ‘Please don’t say that; that’s a racist comment. That’s inappropriate.’ And that floors me.”  Jacqueline Baril ’15 (ED), ’16 MA

What are you most proud of having accomplished during your semester in London? “I worked with an ELL student from Romania. He is pretty fluent with English, but he didn’t know any of the procedures of the school or anyone in the school. And it was really nice to come in during his first few weeks and work consistently with him on English in his classes. I built a really great relationship with him. It’s been just a great process of growth, and it’s just amazing to see.”

How do you think this experience has shaped you for your career going forward? “I’m really glad that the Neag School has this program for master’s students, because the master’s year, I feel like, is supposed to be something that will benefit us as teachers. I feel like it’s that extra layer that gives you an edge. This program definitely gives you that competence and experience to be able to go back and impact your students in a different way; it gives you a different mindset that helps you culturally.”

What’s one takeaway from your time in London that you will carry with you? “The exposure to different cultures. Just experiencing that firsthand. You can talk about it all you want in the States, but what does that mean until you see it in a school? Living through it here is something that really makes you understand what that means. [The students here] understand other cultures because they are learning about them, and because they have real conversations at the lunch table about how they practice religion, and why they’re dressing a certain way, and how their family celebrates certain things. … I’ve heard kids here, say, ‘Please don’t say that; that’s a racist comment. That’s inappropriate.’ And that floors me. It really is something you have to experience. That’s why this program has been so meaningful.”

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

Meghan Brown ’15 (ED), ’16 MA spent the fall semester of her master’s year in London as part of the Neag School’s Study Abroad Teaching Internship Program. In London, Brown taught at Rooks Heath, a multicultural school in London with about 1,000 students ages 11 to 18. Brown is a graduate of the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s program; she currently serves as a teaching assistant at the U.S.-Mexico Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (COMEXUS) Fulbright-García Robles in Mexico.

Hometown: Groton, Conn.

Concentration: Secondary education, Spanish

Had you studied abroad before? “This was my second time studying abroad; my sophomore year, I was in Spain for five months. I didn’t know how different the U.K. was going to be when I came here. I had that big culture shock. There’s no way to compare my experience in Spain to my experience in the U.K. It’s different; I’m in a different place in my life, and I’ve learned to embrace that things are different, and they’re not going to be the same everywhere you go.”

What did you learn, teaching in classrooms in the U.K.? “To be able to understand that your students are different; they’re not all pulling from the same educational background that you had. They come from different places, and you need to understand those differences and embrace them instead of minimalizing them. … It has to be individualized; no one’s the same. I think I understand that better now that I’ve been here [in London], in working with my students; a lot of them are asylum seekers and refugees. You need to understand that, and see how it affects their education, [and] to recognize it and not just push it to the side.”

“I’ve learned to ask my students, ‘Are you OK? What’s bothering you?’ and not being scared of the answer.”  Meghan Brown ’15 (ED), ’16 MA

How has this experience changed your view on teaching? “I’ve never felt more ready. … I’ll go home and I’ll look at the education system a little bit differently. I’ll be able to look at it with a more critical view and a more outside perspective — coming at it with a different eye.”

How have you or your intended career path changed as a result of this experience? “I’ve had the opportunity here to work with a program called The Children Looked After. It’s a foster care system. That gave me a different perspective of something outside the classroom, of what the students were dealing with on the outside, and showed me what being a social worker or psychologist at a school would be like. … I’m working with ELL [English Language Learners], and I absolutely love it. I think I’m going to switch over, transfer from Spanish and go more into ELL. I’m really interested in the transition of immigrants coming from a different country into our school systems. … So I definitely shifted professionally in that aspect.”

What’s one takeaway from this Study Abroad experience that you will carry with you into your career? “You realize you are going to make mistakes. I was always like, ‘You don’t want to offend anyone; you don’t want to step over the line.’ But you have to ask questions; otherwise, you won’t understand. So I’ve learned to ask my students, ‘Are you OK? What’s bothering you?’ and not being scared of the answer.”

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

Jacqueline “Jackie” Rankin ’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. Rankin is a graduate of the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s program. She now teaches seventh- and eighth-grade math at Fred D. Wish Museum School in Hartford, Conn.

Hometown: South Windsor, Conn.

Concentration: Secondary education, mathematics

Compared with the student teaching you did previously in Hartford, Conn., how has teaching in London classrooms differed? “In Hartford, I thought I was in a diverse setting. But when we say ‘diverse’ here, it’s a whole new level. I have a Romanian student, a Turkish student. Neither of them speak English, but I’m teaching them math. You’re pulling out all the stops to learn how to teach them, and it’s a really rewarding experience.”

How do you prepare yourself to be able to teach people from all of these different backgrounds that you may not know anything about? “The big thing is to ask questions, and research something if you don’t know. So I did a probability lesson, and I was teaching about the probability of [pulling a specific] color of Skittles out of the Skittles bag. I had no idea if Skittles were halal or not. I was like, can my students eat these? Can they touch them? Here [in London], you have to be so aware, because every student deserves the same entry point. So if you’re doing an activity where they don’t have that access point, then you have to change it. I wanted to make sure that everyone could participate. For me, because I knew very little about the Islamic faith and the Muslim community, I educated myself, and I did the best I could so I was not making any faux pas.”

What has the coursework that is part of this internship program done for you? “It really helped me teach a cultural mindset, and to be aware that you are going to be dealing with kids from so many different backgrounds, whether it be race, religion, country, language, socioeconomic status. There are so many factors that make up a person’s culture that you are going to have to take into account and, as a teacher — to be a really effective teacher — you need to know how to deal with that on so many levels. So doing that here [in London] is incredible, because you get that wide range. … It’s taught me how to teach in a different environment, where you are forced to be more culturally aware.”

How have your your perspectives on the education system in the U.K. changed over the course of the semester? “When we first got here, it was very much like, OK, this is what I know about the United States; this is what I know about England. How is it different? What’s the same? I would constantly compare. Like this is how we teach math here; how do we teach math there? I was always comparing, comparing, comparing. And then as soon as we came on, it became less of comparing and more of, OK this is how it is; now let me figure out why that is. What is the purpose for this is, and what can I do with that?”

“There are so many factors that make up a person’s culture that you are going to have to take into account and, as a teacher — to be a really effective teacher — you need to know how to deal with that on so many levels.”  Jackie Rankin ’15 (ED), ’16 MA

What kinds of lessons will you bring back with you to teaching in classrooms in the U.S.? “Here [in London], if the student’s doing the [math] problem wrong, you just say,  ‘You’re doing the problem wrong.’ They’re OK with it. They don’t mind the criticism. They don’t get bogged down by getting it wrong; they want the help. That’s such a freeing thing as a teacher to be able to say, ‘You got it wrong.’ I see value in being straightforward with students. There’s no reason to tiptoe around it. I think I am definitely going to take that approach and be like, ‘All right, so you didn’t do this problem right. How are we going to fix it?’ I think that’s a good thing. The teachers here are very straightforward.”

What are you most proud of having accomplished during this experience? “Taking on a class by myself. Halfway through the semester, I was working with a year eight class, and their teacher left; they were working with a substitute. I was like, ‘Well, I was here with them for the entire first half, so let me step up and let me teach the class.’ I learned to take what I learned from teaching in the U.K., and what I learned from teaching in the U.S., and then doing a really good combined lesson. I took the best aspects of both.”

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

 

James DiNello ’15 (ED), ’16 MA spent the fall semester of his master’s year in London as part of the Neag School’s Study Abroad Teaching Internship Program. In London, DiNello taught at Queen Elizabeth’s School, a highly selective all-boys’ school in north London with 1,200 students ages 11 to 18, whose population is composed of 92 percent minority ethnic groups, and a longstanding record of being one of the most academically successful secondary schools in England. He is a graduate of the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s program; he now serves as a teacher at the University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford, Conn.

Hometown: Southington, Conn.

Concentration: Mathematics Education

Why did you decide to explore this Study Abroad opportunity? “I always wanted to study abroad. I felt like this was the only and best opportunity to see a different system. I think if I hadn’t come here, and I went through my master’s year in Connecticut schools, I don’t think I had too much more to gain. I had already been in urban and suburban placements, so trying to go out of my comfort zone a little bit and see a different system and environment entirely I thought was an amazing opportunity.”

What were some of the differences in teaching in classrooms in the U.K.? “London is such a diverse community, whereas some of the suburban schools at home [in the U.S.] might not feel that cultural competency, diversity, and learning about other religions is as important. But I think it’s essential for every student to learn pieces of that curriculum. … Talking to the students here, seeing the perspective they have, thinking back to when I was 14 or 16 years old, I think, ‘Wow, these kids really have such a better understanding about other cultures and religions.’ Our public schools [in the States] don’t provide that.

Students are also really competitive at home [in the States] when it comes to grades. But the grades aren’t what matters so much here, as that the students are learning the material that they’re supposed to be learning. It’s not just about getting an A, and saying, ‘That’s good enough; I’ve gotten an A.’ It’s, ‘Am I reaching my goal to maximum potential?’’’

“I felt like I was having an impact. I was excited to come to school every single day.”  James DiNello ’15 (ED), ’16 MA

What has surprised you the most? “I pictured myself walking into a building with all-white, middle- and upper-class students. I was completely shocked. [The student body at Queen Elizabeth’s School is] 92 percent minority — I never would have assumed that. That was the piece I thought I was going to miss out on: Going to London, I wanted to be with a diverse population of students from different backgrounds. …

And I see in math classes that there’s never a finishing line to the lesson. Here, they’re always pushing the kid that finishes first to do an extension exercise, or push them to their maximum potential. So that’s been really cool to see, like that’s something that needs to happen more at home [in the U.S.]. We focus a lot on pulling up the kids that are toward the bottom, and looking at the kids who are struggling, which is doing a disservice to kids who are performing really well and could be pushed even further.”

What would you change about the experience? “There’s really very, very little I would change. At the beginning of the internship, I was like, ‘OK, how are we going to get ourselves fully involved here? Where are we going to find our place?’ But I think that’s natural. It takes a couple of weeks in a new environment, with a completely new demographic of students, to find your niche. But once [I] found that, I had a good mix of being in the math department for part of the day, but also helping the older students in applying to American universities. I felt like I was having an impact, even if it was only on a couple of students at a time. I was excited to come to school every single day.”

What’s one takeaway from this Study Abroad experience that you will carry with you into your career? “That aspect of needing to push every single student in your classroom. It’s not OK to just be focusing on the bottom [performers]; every student needs to be having valuable lessons, and taking away equally as much as any other student. … The other takeaway would be the ability to see what real diversity looks like in a classroom. Again, I had an experience at East Hartford High School for my student teaching, but even then, the kids came from different backgrounds from me, but they all came from similar backgrounds to one another, whereas [in London], kids are coming from very different background from one another; socioeconomic status varies greatly among the students, religion, cultural background. There are a lot of students who aren’t even from London, who have come from other places as well. So trying to figure out the best way to cater to all of those needs, ways to differentiate lesson plans, ways to get everybody involved, and create a culturally responsive community in the classroom, where there’s a mutual sense of respect between the students regardless of how different they all are.”

What advice you have for someone coming here? “Don’t be afraid to approach a teacher, and say, ‘Can I sit in on this class once a week?,’ or, ‘Can I get involved?’ … You’re not stepping on anybody’s toes. That was me at first.”

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