Hill Climbing

It is now week 4 of my international teacher exchange. The last two weeks have been a blur and as we develop our lives in Australia, it has become more difficult to make time to write in the blog.

Heather, Fenton, and I just got off Skype with our exchange partners, the Turners. It was really interesting to have a conversation about our two worlds, one that each of us know intimately, and the other that we are each assimilating into. As Gary put it, it is absolutely amazing how two school systems can be so different in so many ways despite the fact that we are both Commonwealth countries that speak the same language. Prior to this experience, I would have expected an exchange like this to be a great adventure, plenty of travel, meeting amazing people, and learning great things. The funny thing about such a prediction is all of those things are happening, but it does not feel the way I thought it would. The challenges have been so much more uncomfortable then I had ever imagined.

Many differences exist between our cultures, and the differences between the two school systems are screamingly obvious. However, there are many things about the Aussie school system that I believe are much better than our system. One simple (and easy to put in place) difference is the teaching schedule. In Australia, teachers and students have two short lunch breaks; a 40 minute “morning tea” and a 20 minute  “afternoon tea”.  In addition we have three to four 70 minute preparation periods a week. At Londonderry, a teacher is “on” from the beginning of school day until the end with with one 30 minute lunch break - often taken up tutoring students, supervising, or providing supports in other ways.  Full time teachers at Londonderry have two 50 minute preparation periods a week. I was surprised to calculate that the total weekly teaching minutes in each teaching schedule are almost identical. In Edmonton I finish the day rattled, and it takes effort to reel back in and produce a "to do" list in order to prepare for the next day. Here in Australia, I work a longer day, but the extra break makes an enormous difference and it does not feel nearly as extreme as at home. Having this opportunity to shut off part way through the day is a gift that I will miss dearly.

How is all of this affecting me? Back home throughout my development as an educator, I learned how to work efficiently. As such, I can prepare quality lessons in a short period of time; and I can do all of this while maintaining life balance. This skill is not needed in Australia because we are given enough time to prepare lessons during the work day. In Canada, I developed skills to motivate my students in a setting where most of them already accepted the idea that school could increase their quality of life. Even the least motivated Edmonton kids knew that success in school could mean the opportunity to have some choice regarding what they do for a living. This is simply not the case here at Maroochydore. I have realized that I need to develop the skill to sell education to my students in a different way. I have to acquire a new set of skills if I am to be successful this year. A new Aussie friend told me to "be brave" and that has become my motto for the year.

Every day I ride Gary's bicycle to school and I must climb a very steep hill. The hill is so steep that I cannot make it up without getting out of the saddle. Every day I get better and I am able to climb higher while seated. The goal is to climb the entire hill seated. Once I achieve that I will take on a bigger hill.  My average speed to work is faster and faster each week. 

The ride to work and back home has become symbolic of the daily challenges I take on as an educator here.