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Padnos International Center 130 Lake Ontario Hall Allendale, MI 49401 Phone: 616-331-3898 Fax: 616-331-3899 pic@gvsu.edu |
GVSU grads travel abroad to teach
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| GVSU alumnus Steven Smith has been accepted to the Austrian Fulbright program, while alumnus Daniel Lehner was accepted into the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program. The Fulbright Program, dedicated to promoting “mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the peoples of other nations,” currently facilitates the exchange of students and scholars between the United States and 140 countries. JET is an exchange set up through the Japanese government and 44 other countries around the world, with the goal of introducing native speakers of different languages into classrooms and communities in order to promote the understanding of different cultures. Smith will be placed in Burgenland, Austria, teaching English to Austrian students at the Zweisprachiges Bundesgymnasium, a form of Austrian high school. He will be teaching for the 2007-2008 school year from October 1 through May 31. He said that he is looking forward to the new world of experiences the Fulbright program will offer him. “Getting out of the big European cities and into the country is something that I am really looking forward to,” he said. “To experience the culture in the big metropolises is one thing, but getting beyond those borders and into the country for a prolonged period of time is going to open up another world for me.” Smith is most nervous about the concept of teaching English as a second language, which means a lot of thought and preparation will need to go into his lesson plans. “Grand Valley has prepared me for this position by teaching me German, its culture and its history,” he said. “However, the professors here don’t just teach their students German, they teach them language: how it is structured and how it works from a linguistics standpoint. I think my English has radically improved because I studied German.” Lehner first heard about the JET program while interning with the German Academic Exchange Service in New York. Lehner said in his new role as an Alternative Language Teacher (ALT), he will be a part of a larger group, team-teaching at several junior high schools with an occasional visit to an elementary school. Lehner is confident he will help the students create a more solid understanding of his culture, and be a model on whom they can explore their preconceptions of a U.S. citizen. “This will be an accomplishment in itself, but I hope to become part of their lives and motivate them to continue learning throughout life,” he said. “Naturally, I want to develop a rapport with all of my students and provide support for all of them.” Lehner said exchanging cultural knowledge with students and adults will be fascinating. “Not only will I be able to provide a new worldview for the people I meet, but they will return the favor,” he said. “Nothing excites me more than exchanging philosophies and ideas with people.” Lehner said the liberal arts side of his GVSU education will no doubt play the most important role in his experience. “The entire point of a liberal arts education is to realize that learning is a lifelong process, that there are no easy answers, and that thinking relativistically is paramount when trying to solve problems, understand other cultures and other peoples’ beliefs. What could be more useful while in a foreign country? What could be more useful in life?” |
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| By Matt Marn | |
