Chris Stephenson, Ireland
"Since I started teaching in 1996, I have had a sign that always hangs in a prominent position on my classroom wall: "We share the same biology, regardless of our geology." I always thought that one quotation summed up how education should be approached, no matter where we are in the world."
Chris Stephenson, from Kilcock, Ireland, teaches Global Connections and social studies at Clayton Middle School. She is at home with her VIF family and wouldn't trade the experience for the world.
Little did I know that this idea would become the intrinsic fabric of my vocation. As part of the VIF Program, I have been given an enhanced opportunity to not only "share the world" with the students of Clayton Middle School in Johnston County, North Carolina, but to educate them about my home country of Ireland and try to dispel the many myths and mysteries surrounding that particular country, especially in America.
In the literature that is sent to you initially from VIF, I remember reading one teacher's comment about VIF being "life-changing." That is only the tip of the iceberg, for I would have to say it's "life-challenging!" From my own personal experience and on reflection, I believe that not only have I been profoundly changed and challenged by the VIF Program, but also my colleagues, my students and the people in my community have been challenged and changed. None of my colleagues had worked with a VIF teacher before, and I was the first to come to Clayton Middle School.
They accepted me into a close circle of highly professional and hardworking teachers. Anything that I needed was graciously given, from advice to furniture. We are family. We have shared in new babies and retirements, and we meet each day to eat lunch like the kinfolk around the Sunday table. I have become a part of their lives, and they are as much a part of mine. I believe that I have not only colleagues, but also lifelong friends that will remain for many years after I leave the United States.
In addition to school life, my VIF family are just as important. This year, we are mainly from England and Ireland -- last year we had Welsh, too, as well as some teachers whom we have picked up from Canada and America along the way. We have had amazing times together -- from the dizzy days of orientation to travel, fun and laughs! It is these memories that will linger with me personally. However, for the community and the school, I hope that I have left behind something that can be pursued and developed in the Global Connections curriculum that I have created.
When I first arrived in Clayton Middle School, I found out I would teach an elective class in world cultures. My principal, Mrs. Deborah Woodruff, who is the most supportive and inspiring person that I have ever had to privilege to work for, came up with the idea of Global Connections. I came up with the content.
The students of Clayton Middle School experience the world. They Irish dance, they learn different languages, they see life in all continents of the world and they learn that other cultures are not strange or scary -- they are just different! I believe that I have inspired many of my students to broaden their horizons and goals and hope that many of them will travel outside the United States to see for themselves the diversity and wonder of the planet on which we live.
The opportunities to teach, to learn, to travel and to have fun are endless. I have travelled to 15 states so far -- there are a few more to go! I have had my share of adventure and there is no denying that it is a lot of hard work. But I would not change the last 15 months for the world! I really want others to experience what I have! My good VIF friend Jane, from England, signs her emails thusly: "If adventures do not befall a young lady in her home village, she must seek them abroad." -- Jane Austin Wonder if Jane Austin would have made a good VIF teacher?