June 27th
We spent the morning visiting Quinoa School Berlin, a unique school in the northern part of Berlin. Quinoa is probably best described as being similar to a charter school, though charter schools like we have in the U.S. do not exist in Germany. Quinoa is very ethnically and linguistically diverse and the school headmaster describes their school as "living multilingualism." The school tries to focus on supporting individual students with one-on-one counseling every two weeks with a teacher that the student chooses, homeroom teachers, and a team of therapists, special education teachers, and social workers. They also offer help to their graduates after they leave the school.
Students gave us tours of the school and we had a presentation from the headmaster. Then we talked to one of the teachers, who happened to be American. We were able to hear her perspective and get a better understanding of teachers' roles at the school.
Our student guide showing us a classroom (left); Ghost by Jason Reynolds in German from a bookshelf in a Quinoa classroom (center); some facts about the school from the headmaster's presentation.
Our second activity of the day was an evening walking tour of Berlin. Our guide led us through Kreuzberg, a neighborhood in Berlin that is home to many immigrants and refugees. Muhammad, a journalist and community activist originally from West Africa, also shared his own story of receiving asylum in Europe. It was a perspective on life in Berlin that we hadn't yet experienced.
Hearing from Muhammad and a poster advertising his radio program
June 28th
Today we traveled to the University of Potsdam, which is located on the grounds of the New Palace of Sanssouci, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Check out the video and photos below!
After spending a while walking around the palace grounds, we headed to the main part of the university to meet with instructors from the Center for Teacher Education and Education Research to learn about the Refugee Teachers Program. Since 2016, the Refugee Teachers Program has been working to get teachers who are refugees certified to teach in Germany. Germany's requirements for teachers – which include a BA and MA in teaching two subjects and 12 months of training – do not allow for reciprocity, so the Refugee Teachers Program seeks to get refugee teachers fully certified as quickly as possible.
We had lunch in one of the university dining halls, then split up into smaller groups to explore the rest of the campus and palace. About a mile away from the New Palace is the Summer Palace; both were built by Frederick the Great in the late 1700s. The path between the two palaces is flanked by woods and gardens and along the way is another palace that was built in the late 1800s. The whole complex is a state park. It was another hot day in Germany, but Sanssouci was pretty incredible. "Sans souci" means "without care" in French, by the way. 😉
Orangerieschloss (top left) and Schloss Sanssouci, featuring the terraced gardens
June 29th
It's our final full day in Germany!
We started today with a meeting Executive Director of Fulbright Germany and two Fulbright Germany alumni, one a principal at a German school, and the other an American former college instructor who now teaches high school in Germany.
One of the main things that the school principal talked about was how to have hard discussions in the classroom. He gave his five guidelines for how to have tough conversations:
Value freedom of speech
Hard conversations come from trust and not fearing rejection
Set rules for discussion
Others outside of the debate may express their opinion
All students are obligated to substantiate their point of view
He introduced this by explaining his own family history and what it was like when his whole perspective about the world dramatically changed. His family was extremely invested in East Germany. His father worked for the government, his mother was a teacher in East German schools, his sister studied in the Soviet Union, his brother was in the special forces of the East Germany military, and his Grandparents were members of the Nazi Party. He said that, as a young kid, he was a true believer. So when the Berlin Wall came down and the whole system was dismantled, he completed shook up his world. So this life experience deeply shaped how he taught and still teaches – principals are required to teach five lessons per week in Germany – difficult subjects.
Our second speaker said that moving from teaching college to teaching high school students was the best career move he ever made. He, too, shared with us some important teaching principles that he learned.
Always begin with reading and writing; they will lead to discussions. It's important to provide historical context for the readings.
Be comfortable with unanswered questions. Don't tell students what to think.
Give good news; point to positive progress. He shared a quote from Howard Zinn: "It’s important to know that every little thing we do helps. We don’t all have to do heroic things. All we have to do is little things. And at certain points in history, millions of little things come together and change takes place."
Give students books, whole books. Reading an entire book helps kids see problems worked out from beginning to end. Books are transformative.
Have an international context. The American way of viewing the world doesn't always translate in other countries. For example, he found that his students identify with their religious background and don't fully understand the concept of "race."
Words are insufficient; act. He shared with us about a trip his students took to Israel. As a result of that trip, they created their own comic book about their experience. He gave each of us a copy of the comic, too.
The comic that was created by students after their trip to Jerusalem
Next, we walked towards Musemsinsel and went to the offices of Atlantik-Brücke, an organization dedicated to improving German-American relations. In fact, the name "Atlantik-Brüke" means "Atlantic Bridge."
First, we heard from the Deputy Cultural Attache of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin . He gave us an overview of the role of an embassy and all of its departments and duties. I learned how much I didn't know about what embassies do. He shared with us his path to working for the foreign service and about how educators could partner with civil and foreign services through the Hometown Diplomat Program, Diplomats in Residence, and fellowship opportunities.
We then heard from the Head of Foreign and Security Policy and Congressional Exchange Program. He gave an inspirational talk about the importance of exchange programs and global understanding. I was particularly struck when he called the relationship between Germany and America as "one of the few miracles that human history holds." That point resonated even more deeply when, on our walk to our next destination, we passed a building riddled with bullet holes from World War II.
Our last stop of the day was our final formal meeting of the trip. We heard from the Deputy Secretary General of DAAD, then had time to reflect on our experiences and talk with our colleagues about all we have seen over the past two weeks. This day alone has given me a lot to think about, how am I going to distill everything I've experienced for the past two weeks?
We passed around a phone for selfies during your final dinner (left) and then a group of us headed out to explore Berlin one last time (right).
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