My response below is made up of reflections on running a Comenius course in general and reflections on this particular one.
General reflections
I love the Comenius course! First of all, it’s very exciting receiving applications throughout the year from all over Europe –Estonia, Bulgaria, Spain, Greece … - daily evidence of the new Europe in action. Then, I enjoy beginning to get to know the potential participants through my correspondence with them. I learn perhaps that someone is bringing a husband or that someone has been here before and knows the area already or that someone else has heard about the course from a friend who enjoyed it. These exchanges of greetings should maybe not take priority in my workload but they always do! Meeting people on the first day is therefore like meeting up with pen-pals, though it never fails to amaze me how wrong I have usually been in visualizing what people are going to look like! (I wonder what image people build up of me?!)
Putting together the course programme is not an easy job, as it involves liaising with a large number of people, booking trips, writing contracts, finding host families and, sometimes last on the list, preparing my own teaching! I have a constant awareness that this is a once-in-three-years experience for people and I do take that very seriously.
Anyway, it’s great when it all begins to come together and I can start to feel confident that we have something to offer, though I’m never quite sure whether the balance is going to be right for particular groups. Some want a lot of methodology; some want more culture. I think we’re maybe beginning to get the mix about right, though I wish I felt we had more to offer that was really new.
What is really new?? Well, maybe this is! Thanks largely to Tanya, we have our own exploratory third space and who knows what might come of it!
Particular reflections
The planning went fairly smoothly this time and I am learning to live with the ambiguity of guest speakers not getting back to me to confirm arrangements until the last minute! (I’m sorry we didn’t manage one of the MPs for your group. We did have Tim Farron MP on the second course and he was very popular. However, they didn’t have a school visit and I think that’s more important.) The ambiguity I can’t learn to live with is to do with whether the college – now university – services will be up to scratch: will the campus rooms be cleaned, will the coffee be on time, will the food be nice … Things are improving on this front but it’s still not perfect and I get quite cross when things go wrong!
This year I had Hai Ling working with me for the first time, which was nice and indeed a cultural learning experience for both of us. I also love working with Krista and have the fullest confidence in her ability to do a really good job on courses. Sadly, she wasn’t too well during this first course and you didn’t really get to know her so well.
As for you, well, you were great. You were all so positive and forthcoming and I felt you were really orientated towards working together and making the most of the experience. I also have to say that I have never had such wonderful presents at the end of a course! I loved hearing about your countries and the work you do in your classrooms. We saw some great examples of technology in action and indeed I think this blog will give us ideas for our teaching. I enjoyed having new nationalities in the group – first time for Russian speakers, first Bulgarian and first Dane! First time also for accompanying family members and I liked that. I particularly enjoyed our day in the Lake District and was pleased to read in the feedback forms that most of you did, too. The moment that touched me most, and made me cry, was when Carmen said at the end that she had known from the beginning that it would be a good course.
I do hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did. I look forward to reading more postings!
