Having taught since 1989 after earning my Masters in Elementary Education at Leslie University in Cambridge, MA, I have dedicated myself to education – both in schools and at home with my three daughters. It was a great privilege to stay home for 11 years until my youngest started kindergarten, though I still considered myself an educator (much to my children’s chagrin at times). Here I am now in a similar position, with my youngest out of the “nest” and 21 years old. Rather than stagnate in my current position as a Literacy Coach at the same small school, I decided to look for opportunities to go abroad and continue my own education. I was thrilled to learn about the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching program last December, and quickly researched where I would like to go based on 12 country options, and completed the application.
As I start the first post on my first personal blog, I wonder where to begin. Some of you know me from my 16 years in Taos, New Mexico at Taos Charter School, some of you are personal friends, and some of you are strangers coming upon this blog about education. Forgive me if I repeat things that you know, but I want to start from the start.
For those of you curious about the origins of this award, it is an outgrowth of the Fulbright teacher exchange program I had always heard about. However, this program does not require teachers from different countries to exchange jobs, but rather provides teacher choice in where to go and what inquiry project they would like to conduct. That is another key difference: teachers study abroad, visit schools, and conduct research in best international practices rather than teaching in a specific position.
I applied for the long-term program (3-6 months) as opposed to the short-term program summer program of 2-6 weeks. You can read about the program here if you are interested. Keep in mind that it is currently administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), as shown in the link, but the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) will be the administrator starting in this coming grant cycle. Many thanks to Leah Mason and her staff at IIE for sheperding me and my cohort of 35 US Fulbright teachers through this process and through our “in country” assignments. Most of us leave in January for countries as far-flung as Taiwan, New Zealand, and Greece. Finland and New Zealand have the largest numbers, with 9 of us headed to Finland (Helsinki or Jyvaskyla) and 8 to Wellington, New Zealand.
Long story short – I was selected for the Finland program, and I will be leaving January 7th from NYC for five months of research in Jyvaskyla which is about three hours north of Helsinki. Having learned about my award in April, I have had eight months to plan, think, and wonder about what lies ahead. It is truly the adventure of my lifetime.
Leslie Baker's Fulbright Journey to Finland 