Ethics and Education

I was not sure what I expected when I arrived at Gymnasium 18, because my experience with foreign language instruction and foreign language acquistion is quite limited. I had two years of Spanish in high school and a semester of French in college. These experiences were all more than 20 years ago and I've had little cause to use either since then. Whenever I've travled abroad the English skills of those I've met have far exceeded my own language skills.

So when I was introduced to the eleventh form students, I was thoroughly impressed with not only their language skills, but more so by the fact that their discussions in English were not about holidays or natural disasters, but instead about how they can work together to make their community a better place for their fellow citizens. To be clear, the discussions in the lower forms did indeed concern natural disasters and holidays; these were discussions that included me while I was there as I could speak about the traditions of Christmas in America, or about what we do to address hurricane relief or tornado preparations.

But these eleventh form students were discussing how to develop a playground that could be accessible to students with disabilities. And while I did not see any students with disabilities at Gymnasium 18, the discussion was heartening. Not only were these students practicing their English, which I could help with, but they were discussing issues that plague students and citizens all over the developed and developing world. I was impressed with the careful ways the teacher directed the discussion, eliciting ideas from all of the students and asking questions rather than giving explanations. This is of course a common approach in the U.S., but for whatever reason I was unsure it would be common practice elsewhere.

Touring Lutsk

The first few days of the trip were a whirlwind and when that first Saturday came, I was told Ivegeniia, Halyna, and Andrew would be taking me for a tour of the city, which I had not fully seen yet. Andrew is the nineteen year old son of Tanya, a teacher at Gymnasium 18. He spent last year as an exchange student in Leadville, Colorado. I was looking forward to seeing him.
The plan was to tour the city, have lunch, make it back to the hotel for the late afternoon, then go to Tanya's home for a traditional Ukrainian dinner.
Ivegeniia and Halyna picked me up at my hotel at 9 a.m. and we walked across the street to board the bus to the center of town. Andrew would meet us in the city. Lutsk is a city of 200,000 people on the Volyn river. The city and region have at times been part of Lithuania, Poland, the Soviet Union, and now Ukraine. Lutsk residents and their ancestors were used to be a part of something else, but they were also resolute about being part of Lutsk.
Once off the bus, we traveled down some cobbled streets where we ended up at a large church, its spire jutting what appeard to be at least 100 feet above the roof into the brilliant blue sky.
Unfortnately the church was closed, so we were only able to see from the outside.
Next, we continued down the old streets, lined with small single homes behind crumbling or wire fences, toward the river. At the bottom of the last street, we were greeted by a building right out of a short story; there were stone icons staring out at us from the wall; there were angels and demons and others that resembled Greek gods. There was a four foot stone wall circling the home. Ivegeniia explained this was the studio of her mother's neighbor; he was a famous artist in Lutsk and one of his statues graced a downtown park that we would see later. He was a troubled soul, his only daughter having been killed a couple of years ago. He used his art to grieve.
Behind the wall nearest the river was a scrap heap that I would have characterized as a landfill. I was told this was his store of possible materials. Ivegeniia knocked on the huge wood door, but received no answer. We scouted the inside of the yard, finding fountains, more icons, and his cat. In a few moments, the artist came to the door and we were introduced. He did not speak English and he quickly asked if I had any American coins. I did not have any in my pockets, but promised to send some back to him with Ivgeniia. He bid us goodbye, and we continued our tour.

Are You Hungry?

For whatever reason, I had been led to believe the food in Ukraine would be somewhat underwhelming. The Ukrainians, I'd been told, were not known for their food, so I'd better be prepared for long periods with little good food, or meals that consisted of offerings I'd be unlikely to find appealing. I would likely lose weight and come home ready for a simple cheeseburger and fries, the thinking went.

While I'm not sure where this line of thought came from, it couldn't have been more inaccurate. I ate well and enjoyed nearly everything put in front of me. On my first day at school, I gave a presentation on standardized testing in the America to a group of teachers from Gymnasium 18, where I was assigned, as well as teachers from other schools in Lutsk, who were all together to discuss testing. After the presentation, I was summoned to the office of the school director. He wanted to meet me, I was told, and we'd have a small lunch. I was accompanied by Natalia, the assistant director of the school, as well as a woman from the local office of the education ministry. Both ladies had attended my presentation.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but an interesting aspect of the meeting was that the school director, a man of my age, did not speak English. He was neatly dressed in a classic business suit and his office was large, if sparsely appointed. He came from around his large desk and greeted us at the door after we were shown in by his secretary. Introductions were made and I was welcomed. Natalia did most of the translating, though the local ministry official also spoke English quite well.

We were seated at a conference table on the side of the room, and as I scanned the spread, I saw many foods I recognized, including navel oranges, green olives, bananas, and kiwis. The meal was made up largely of fresh fruit, which is considered a minor delicacy in Lutsk, especially in the cold weather season. The local growing season was only just beginning, so these fruits were from Turkey or the Crimea region of Ukraine, I was told.

On the table as well was a bottle of Georgian cognac. We sat down, and the discussion began. "Was I comfortable in the hotel," the director wanted to know. I was. "Were the teachers at Gymnasium 18 showing me what I wanted to see," he continued. So far as I thought I knew what I wanted to see, they were.

During the conversation, I was offered small portions of the varied foods. In between answers, I sampled the oranges, the bananas, even the shrimp stuffed olives, which was a stretch for me. After the first couple courses, the director broke out the cognac and filled the four small shot glasses. He explained that Ukrainian tradition was firm on the order of toasts. The first toast was to health. We all raised our glasses. The amber coganc was smooth, more smooth than I'd expected. The second toast was to friendship. Again we raised our glasses. The third toast now required the director and me to stand up. He explained that the third toast was to the women and to love; the two women giggled, but we all held up our glasses and drank. In short order, the meeting hit a measured pace; before long the food was mostly depleted and the cognac bottle empty. Our meeting lasted more than an hour and when we stood to leave, the director explained that the teachers had been complimentary of me already and that he looked forward to our next meeting. If the food and drink were any indication, I too looked forward to the next meeting.

Let's Get Started

"If it's raining, it must be...." the teacher begins. In unison the collection of second form students all respond, "Spring." "If the sun is shining, it must be..." she begins again, moving quickly around the room to show herself to all the students, who reply, "Summer." And so it goes as the second form students all concentrate on memorization of the seasons, practicing their English in simple, repetitive form. The teacher, who starts with this group as their primary English teacher, will now follow the students to third form, fourth form, and so on.

I was unaware of this practice of language instruction, though learned from speaking to other American teachers who have traveled more widely than I have, that it is a fairly common practice in other parts of the world, Ukraine included. This eliminates the gaps that might form when one teacher passes off his or her students to another teacher. In language instruction this is thought particularly critical, as gaps can take a long time to fill, if they are ever truly filled.

There are maybe twelve of these second form students in this classroom, their workbooks simple picture books with spaces for single words to be filled in. Repetition of sound is emphasized over writing at this young age. The students all resemble one another in that their is a de facto school uniform, which consists of a black or green blazer for the boys, and a dark blazer for the girls of this age. Older boys continue to wear the blazers, while older girls are more apt to simply wear a skirt, dress, or dress slacks. There are no jeans or t-shirts at school, but when I encounter students on the streets of town, they are dressed much like students I might meet in Petoskey, where I live.

The teacher of the second form students seems more harried than the other teachers I've met, but it is no easy task to keep a group of such young students always at attention and always moving toward their goal. The schedule has the langauge teacher with the students for the better part of an hour. The primary teacher, whose English is less advanced than the English teacher's, sits in the back of the room grading papers while this lesson goes on. She also ocassionally pets the class gerbil, which she has on her desk.

No Easy Way To Get There

Lutsk, Ukraine is located in the Volyn region of Western Ukraine.

Would You Like To Go To Ukraine?

When I received the email in late September informing me there was an opportunity to travel to Ukraine as part of the International Research and Education Exchange (IREX), I was taken aback. When I applied the previous spring, I had expected to hear some details about whether I'd properly completed my application. No such feedback arrived and I was only able to keep the details straight at the back of my mind; my days went one as usual and I tried not to get hung up on whether I'd been chosen for the exchange or not. School started as usual in early September and I'd not heard, so figured I had not been chosen; afterall only 40 teachers nationwide are selected for travel to some possible two dozen countries. I figured I'd apply again for the following year.

Then the email came, out of the blue, and I was excited. I spoke to a couple colleagues that day at school and asked their thoughts. I had 24 hours to decide whether or not to travel to Ukraine in mid March. I went home that evening to ask my family's input. When my sixteen year old son responded with, "Dad, if you don't go, it will be the dumbest thing you've ever done," I knew I was going.

The next month was filled with anticipation as I prepared to head to Purdue University for an orientation. I would meet the Ukrainian teachers who had been posted in the U.S. for the past six weeks and ostensibly meet the teacher I would partner with in Ukraine.