Over the summer Gateway Middle School teachers, Elizabeth Colen and Lucy Hilarides, traveled to South Africa as fellows for the Global Teachers Institute (GTI). In partnership with Teach with Africa, the GTI fellowship program identifies high-impact teachers and educational leaders in the US and places them in South African schools.
Along with only three other teachers from the US, Elizabeth and Lucy were chosen to be part of the 2016 GTI Fellowship Team dedicated to strengthening teacher capacity in South Africa.
With financial support from Ed Fund for Teachers and GTI, Elizabeth and Lucy spent six weeks in South Africa presenting educational models at the Axis Education Summit and reciprocating teaching and learning with South African teachers.
"During the Axis Education Summit, Elizabeth and I presented a session on metacognition, a concept that has been widely discussed during our professional development here at Gateway," said Lucy.
"The young people at this conference were incredibly motivated and thoughtful in the face of some big systemic challenges," said Lucy. "They soaked up everything we had to offer in our session. We felt so welcomed, valued, and grateful for the opportunity to channel our expertise during this conference."
Elizabeth and Lucy were placed at a LEAP Math & Science school in Langa, a township and suburb of Cape Town, for three weeks. Langa is one of the many areas in South Africa that were designated for Black Africans before the apartheid era. It is the oldest of such suburbs in Cape Town and was the location of much resistance to apartheid.
"A lot of South African kids live in what's considered temporary housing, which are essentially shacks," said Elizabeth. "They don't have running water, electricity, rear walls, toilets, or access to reliable technology. They receive two hot meals a day at school and feel incredibly lucky just to have access to education and a safe space."
"Daily teaching life is very different from teaching life here at Gateway," explained Lucy and Elizabeth.
Between having conversations about best practices, sharing teaching tips and tricks, and introducing the concept of co-teaching, Lucy and Elizabeth were able to initiate a shift in practice among LEAP educators.
"Throughout South Africa, all students are required to take a class called Life Orientation, said Elizabeth. "We were particularly interested in how LEAP teaches this course and how they incorporate the concept of student belonging into Life Orientation."
"The way in which LEAP teaches Life Orientation is very different from other South African schools, explained Lucy. "The core of LEAP's teaching is this idea that you need to understand the whole student and unpack trauma before learning can even begin."
According to Elizabeth and Lucy, "students are unable to learn in the classroom if they're dealing with challenging personal issues. If these issues aren't being dealt with it takes the forefront to learning."
The fellowship allowed Elizabeth and Lucy to connect with other American fellows and reflect on the tension of trying to meet our students' socio-emotional needs while also meeting their academic needs.
This is the second year in a row that Gateway Public Schools and Teach with Africa have participated in a teaching and learning exchange. Gateway Middle School has hosted two South African teachers and Gateway High School hopes to host a teacher this academic year.
To learn more about Elizabeth and Lucy's trip to South Africa, follow their blog Adventures in Teaching & Traveling.