There is a saying in Turkish used when talking to someone returning from a trip: keep what you ate and drank to yourself, tell us about what you saw! My trip fits this cliche phrase perfectly.<\/p>\n
This year I was one of the staff members who was given the PD opportunity to visit a school abroad. One part of our school philosophy description says \u201cStudents, teachers, and parents are encouraged to participate in the life and mission of the schools, forming a community dedicated to a lifetime of learning and service.\u201d To me, my trip was an example of this philosophy in practice.<\/p>\n
This one week visit was a unique experience for me as I didn\u2019t have a chance to study or work in another country before. Stepping out of my bell jar and swimming in other seas and looking at my bell jar from outside gave a very different perspective. The trip, which forced me to get out of my comfort zone by requiring me to plan all of its stages by myself and by acting on my own, was a huge contribution to my personal development.<\/p>\n
I visited Berlin Brandenburg International School. Abbreviated as BBIS, this school is the only school in Berlin that offers the full IB continuum. The school, which was founded 25 years ago, also has CIS accreditation.<\/p>\n
Because it is an international school, it has students from 68 nationalities. This diversity naturally makes the school an internationally-minded school. During my visit, I saw that being a home to a wide range of nationalities and cultures makes it easier to develop this perspective. However, from my experience here, I can say that it is possible to develop international-mindedness without having cultural diversity.<\/p>\n
During the one I spent there, I had a chance to observe all classes in the Primary School and assisted the teachers of these classes as needed and attended their planning meetings. Interestingly, it was both surprising and relieving to see that teachers all over the world have similar challenges and issues. So we are not alone!<\/p>\n
The most surprising thing was the level of independence students displayed. I had never seen Grade 1 students having the lunch they brought from home or bought at the canteen on their own, without any adult supervision. I thought maybe as adults we set boundaries as to what children can or cannot do by themselves. Upon my return, I started acting with increased awareness about it. The other day I stopped myself in the last second as I was about to get soup for one of my students. Then I stopped and watched only. In fact, children can be more capable than we think they are!<\/p>\n
Note to self: Think more about learner autonomy!<\/p>\n
Our school philosophy underlines student-centered and independent learning. For this reason, I think we should focus more on learner autonomy.<\/p>\n
I returned with many ideas and activity and material samples. I already started sharing them with my team members and colleagues at every opportunity. We liked the idea of designing notebooks based on needs and using them as an alternative to worksheets. We already took action on this issue!<\/p>\n
As we have seen during our preparations for the accreditation visit, providing PD opportunities to teachers is one of the strengths of our school that was deemed worthy of commendation. I would definitely recommend my colleagues to use this opportunity. It is said that travels change people, which is definitely true. This visit helped me gain a different perspective.<\/p>\n
I would like to thank our school administration for the chance to have this experience, which has significantly contributed to my personal and professional development.<\/p>\n
–Seren Naz\u0131rd\u0131r, Primary School English Teacher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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