Students in Guanajuato , Janis I , Mexico
On weekends , students travelled to a variety of locations within the city and to five other cities , referred to as the Mexican Independence Route . The course module about the history of Mexico helped them to understand the significance of the sites they were viewing . Knobel says , “ Learning about Mexican history in class helped me understand the sites .” Orban says , “ The copious cultural activities and trips we participated in helped me to gain an understanding of the culture but also be able to empathize with my students back in Canada .”
When Mike Zylak and Natasha Knobel first met their host “ Madre ,” they instantly felt at home
The rest of the time was spent with students ’ host families and in the communities where they were living . Living with host families provided a rich cultural immersion experience . For Knobel , living with a host family “ really made it a cultural experience ... I learned quite a bit of Spanish .”
She adds , “ I tell people I lived in Mexico ; I wasn ’ t a tourist in a resort ; I really experienced living in Mexico .” Zylak enjoyed the warmth of his host Madre , whose warm hugs from the very first meeting helped him to feel at home . Their host mom wanted to learn English and this gave them focussed time together . “ At supper , we would discuss our day with our host families . Our ‘ Madre ’ would teach us Spanish and we would teach her English ,” says Knobel . The design of the trip allowed the students to be immersed . Orban says , for her “ the highlight of the trip to Mexico was being immersed in their culture .” Lopez says , “ I was pleased with my students ; they would order and eat as if they were Mexicans ... I was surprised by how willing they were to try new things .”
Students were able to offset the costs of this trip through the U of R travel fund , which offers $ 1000 grants for international study to students with 30 credit hours and at least a 70 % GPA . Some students were able to obtain other funding , such as funds through the Education Students ’ Society . Knobel says , “ With the funding we were able to secure , the course didn ’ t end up costing much more than a 3-credit course on campus would .”
The study tour gave students broader perspectives , which according to Lopez is one of the course outcomes : “ These kids are future educators ; if they see people from other countries with new eyes , they will be better teachers . They will learn how to better interact with students .” Orban , who is currently interning at Bert Fox Community High School , says , “ As a current intern , I have been able to use this knowledge to create culturally diverse lessons and units in various subjects . As well , I feel better prepared to analyze cultural perspectives and
Martin Lopez developed the Mexico Study Tour as his Master ’ s project
use my experience as a direct comparison to our colonial past in Canada , as the two histories have almost paralleled .” Even Lopez , who grew up in Mexico , developed a new perspective , “ I got to see my own culture with a different set of eyes ; I discovered new things , new colours , and got to see it all through the eyes of my Canadian students .” Knobel saw a bigger world than the one she had grown up in , and gained new understanding of her own interests : “ I learned that I really like languages . I now have the ambition to travel and to teach English as a second language . I got to see a different culture , and see that the world is bigger than Regina ; there are different attitudes towards everything , different outlooks .” Because of his experience in Mexico , Zylak , who was impressed by the personal warmth between teachers and students in Mexico , plans to develop relationships that are more personal with students . “ We have so many policies here — don ’ t touch students , or be careful about what you say to students — I want to use the students ’ first names , to be personal with kids . If students know you as a person , they can trust you more , and you can get to know more about what they understand and what they don ’ t understand .”
How did EFDN 498 develop ?
In 2013 , Lopez had just begun his Masters ’ in Human
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Faculty of Education Education News Spring / Summer 2015 Page 11