Original Travel Assignment

I was so excited to receive an email and placement letter from IREX on December 21, 2020, about my international travel assignment with the Fulbright TGC Program. My greatest Christmas gift ever! In my program application, I had indicated Africa as my first preference to travel, but IREX ultimately assigned me to Europe, my second choice. It looks like due to COVID-19, they're only deploying U.S. teachers to France, Germany, and South Korea for Fulbright TGC Program 2020-2021. Germany is a country I can't say no to connect with. What a great opportunity for international collaboration with Europe! It's all good. Real good!

My excitement about my travel placement for Germany resulted in my interest in exploring how similar and different the education systems of the U.S.A. and Germany are. In celebration of the International Day of Education on January 24, 2021, my students at the Alternative Education Center, Odessa, TX, researched and compared the education systems of the U.S.A. and Germany. AEC students studied the evolution of education outcomes of the two countries in terms of literacy, school enrollment and attendance, years of schooling, and attainment by level. Using a Venn diagram, students then compared and contrasted the current education systems of the two countries in terms of the 10 targets of SDG 4: quality education, namely: (1) universal primary and secondary education, (2) early childhood development and universal pre-primary education, (3) equal access to technical/vocational and higher education, (4) relevant skills for decent work, (5) gender equity and inclusion, (6) universal youth and adult literacy, (7) education for sustainable development and global citizenship, (8) effective learning environments, (9) scholarships, and (10) supply of qualified teachers.

As a high school teacher, I find this video very useful to know a little bit about the similarities and differences between the U.S. and German high schools.

As I prepare myself for my Germany escapade, should I learn what I shouldn't do in Germany? I think I should...