Don't Forget South Central

The morning after the conclusion of the Fulbright Forum in Helsinki, three Fulbrighters boarded a plane to Berlin to continue our learning. What greeted us were no less than 550 Fulbrighters based in Germany! Now to recap, Fulbrights are merit-based grants managed by the U.S. State Department, whose funds often come from our taxes. However, budget cuts have recently become a recurring issue and many countries have binational commissions that also supplement or fully pay for the cost of Fulbrighters to come to their country. The German and American Fulbrighters bonding Fulbrighters are scholars, students, teachers, scientists, artists, and mid-career professionals that want to embark on a cross-cultural exchange that will lead to increased cooperation and mutual understanding between nations. This may seem like a lofty goal, but it has been happening for over 70 years. I still can’t believe I am a part of this inspiring group of people. The Berlin Seminar w...

The new "Olds" at Schildt Upper Secondary School, Jyvaskyla Being wrapped up in the cozy cocoon of Finnish schools (wearing socks instead of shoes, eating a daily hot lunch, and hearing the happy buzz of children), it is easy to forget that Fulbright is more than just teachers working on inquiry projects. Schildt has merged and will be known as Gradia next year These last two weeks swiftly reminded me that Senator Fulbright left the world an incredible legacy, and that almost half a million people have participated in cross-cultural exchanges since the program’s inception. Fulbright Finland’s Spring Forum The Fulbright grantees in Finland are located in a number of cities. For the first time, students, teachers, and scholars from the U.S. gathered for three days of learning from each other. For those of us fortunate to attend the separate workshop “Making Democracies Resilient to Modern Threats,” we enjoyed the added bonus of hearing an impress...

February marked a number of school visits ranging from elementary (primary) to middle school (lower secondary) and high school (upper secondary.) As the Fulbrighters get their feet wet, mastering public transportation, integrating in schools, and networking in the education world, the question that keeps arising in lunch rooms and private conversations is why do we have so much violence in schools? History Department, Jyvaskyla Normal School (Lower and Upper Secondary) I was trying to explain my school environment both to the History department at the University of Jyvaskyla Teacher Training School (the Finnish version of a lab school) and to seniors at Schildt school, both mature audiences who can handle a nuanced discussion. It never occurred to me just how much I’ve internalized and to an extent, normalized the violence in our society. The new high school seniors asked if gun control might be feasible after Stoneman How does one explain the dramatic rise in pov...

The joyous children of Haapalan school What happens in a school system that treats its teachers so well that there is a competition to enter teacher education programs? A competition that in some places is more challenging than being accepted into medical school? What happens is a stable and healthy school system. In the month I have been in Finland I have spoken to teachers, students, education officials, professors, and non-profit organization leaders. I am only scratching the surface. But it seems to me that the foundation of this very successful school system is to trust the human capital to do what they have been trained to do. Preparation You have to earn a master’s degree to be a teacher in Finland. Teacher training involves conducting research and you are required to produce a Bachelor’s thesis as well as a Master’s one. So not only do you enter the university system as a well-prepared tri-lingual student (Finns speak three languages: Finnish, Swedish, and Eng...

It has been 18 days since I landed in Finland, but it feels like much longer. Leaving Los Angeles, and leaving my public, urban middle school (what’s up Lions?) I was moving at the speed of 100 miles per hour. Here, I have had the incredible luxury of s l o w i n g  d o w n , as I mentioned in my last post . Cultural exchanges take time. Time to understand why people live their lives the way they do. Why certain practices exist. Why some values are more important than others. With 18 days under my belt, I am barely scratching the surface, but progress is being made. It comes with understanding phrases spoken to you. Or learning how to pronounce words correctly. Or walking in snow and ice and not biting the dust. Humorous take on pronunciation of certain Finnish letters I’m getting used to little to no direct sunlight and am surprised at how much it has affected my mood. In the darkness, you have to push yourself to be active, to make some kind of progress. ...