Many questions came to my mind when I took the ferry from Montevideo to the port of Buenos Aires in March 2015. Air and waves or not. How optimistic and freedom-loving to call a city ‘Good Air/Fair Winds’. In my hand a big suitcase full of expectations and an address that should lead me to my host family in the north of the Argentine capital. Arrived on a foreign continent and completely exhausted I activated the last energy reserves to reach the final goal of my arrival. In stammering Spanish and gesture-rich references to my notepad, I immediately attracted the helpfulness of an Argentinean native. A little irritated by my foolhardy behaviour to go through the dangerous zone of the notorious Villa 31 packed with baggage, the Porteño took me under his care. He led me to the old Retiro bus station, showed me the direction of my train and informed my host family by telephone of my imminent arrival. At least I knew in advance that I had to drive to Ballester in the northern suburb. Ballester was also the location of my internship school, the ‘Instituto Ballester’.
Storytelling by Luca Balzer, student in teacher training at the University of Cologne
Photo: Luca Balzer
Many questions came to my mind when I took the ferry from Montevideo to the port of Buenos Aires in March 2015. Air and waves or not. How optimistic and freedom-loving to call a city ‘Good Air/Fair Winds’. In my hand a big suitcase full of expectations and an address that should lead me to my host family in the north of the Argentine capital. Arrived on a foreign continent and completely exhausted I activated the last energy reserves to reach the final goal of my arrival. In stammering Spanish and gesture-rich references to my notepad, I immediately attracted the helpfulness of an Argentinean native. A little irritated by my foolhardy behaviour to go through the dangerous zone of the notorious Villa 31 packed with baggage, the Porteño took me under his care. He led me to the old Retiro bus station, showed me the direction of my train and informed my host family by telephone of my imminent arrival. At least I knew in advance that I had to drive to Ballester in the northern suburb. Ballester was also the location of my internship school, the ‘Instituto Ballester’.
Promoting international mobility among teacher trainees
Since 2013, more than 200 students from the University of Cologne have gained experience similar to Luca’s during their stay abroad in the framework of the internships@schoolsabroad programme. When the internship project internships@schoolsabroad 2013 was first launched on the initiative of the International Office in cooperation with the Centre for Teacher Education (ZfL), nobody could have imagined how important it would be for the internationalization of the University of Cologne, says Katrin Kaiser, who supervises the project in the International Office. The network was the answer to the analysis of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) on international mobility. This had made it clear that only about a quarter of teacher trainees at universities in Germany had a study-related stay abroad. The programme, now in its fourth year, offers the answer to the question of how teacher trainees can realize and profit from a stay abroad. Positive feedback from international schools and our students suggests that the internationalization of teacher training at the University of Cologne will continue to develop successfully.
I am very pleased that with internships@schoolsabroad we have created an instrument to offer Cologne students a structural framework with which they can find their way to schools all over the world.
Curiosity about the unknown
On my first day at Instituto Ballester, I was welcomed with open arms and introduced to everyday normality and the special features of a German school abroad by my mentoring teacher. The regular teachers were very well prepared for my arrival and integrated me directly. The pupils curiously sought contact with this newly arrived person. The young people at Instituto Ballester were fascinated by me as a ‘stranger’. They asked endless questions about my country of origin, the music, the food and the way we think. The communication with and the connection to them have enriched me. This opportunity to interact with international children in this way is a unique experience from which both sides – teachers and students – can benefit tremendously. The atmosphere in the classrooms with its friendly student–teacher relationship, in which teachers and learners nevertheless meet respectfully at eye level, made a lasting impression on me.
A look beyond one's own nose
As head of the internationalization working group at the UoC’s Centre for Teacher Education, Dr. Jan Springob feels personally connected to the project and encouraged to further expand it: ‘Both my year at a high school in the USA and my time as a foreign language assistant at a school in Birmingham are now several years behind me. And yet, they belong to the most formative experiences of my life, especially with regard to my teaching activities at school and university. As teachers, we teach a very colourful student body. Looking beyond the edge of our own (school) world and supposed ‘reality’ broadens our horizon immensely and lets us question things that we take for granted. The experiences gathered at schools abroad will be manifold; students will come to see their own teacher personalities in a completely new light.’
The Casa Rosada (Spanish for the pink house) in the centre of the capital. Photo: Luca Balzer
Photo: Luca Balzer
Silent pupils – a myth
After only one week of work experience, I was allowed to take over the German lessons. The students accepted me as a teacher very quickly. Through my own lessons as well as through the observation hours, I learned that the teaching atmosphere depends primarily on the teacher’s skills. The idea of pupils who are always quiet and willing to work, which is also widespread in Germany, is a misleading myth anyway. In Argentina in particular, I became aware that the classrooms are primarily for young people and children who like to play, to be loud and to talk a lot. Every teacher should be able to handle that.
‘I am very happy and grateful to have had this intense experience abroad. This short chapter in the City of Good Air has personally enriched me and led me to new horizons of thinking. I can strongly recommend other Cologne teacher trainees to apply for the internships@schoolsabroad programme . As a traveller you will not only live in an incredibly interesting country, but will also meet many friendly people with different backgrounds and stories.’
