Submitted by Susanne Steele on the 2020 winter session program in Barcelona, Spain sponsored by the College of Education and Human Development…
This week, we started our daily visits to the St. Peter’s international school in Barcelona. Being in the school for a week, I have already noticed so many differences between this school and schools in America. I am in a Year 1 (first grade) classroom from 9:00 am-3:00 pm working throughout the day to support the students in my class as well as my teacher. One drastic difference I’ve noticed between this school and American schools is the time that teachers have to themselves. Our teacher always has a half hour break in the morning, from 10:30 to 11:00, and an hour and a half lunch break, from 12:00 to 1:30. In American schools, from personal knowledge, teachers usually have a thirty minute break when students go to “special” and sometimes an hour lunch break if they do not have to be on recess duty. This is so much more time for teachers to work on lesson plans as well as to just have some time to themselves to re-energize so they can be at their best for their students.
There are also lots of differences between Spain and America in what students learn. In the international school, throughout their regular class day, students are taught in English, but then they learn, as early as foundation 5 (their name for kindergarten), how to speak Catalan, Spanish and French and have the option to learn German, too. One important thing to note is that our students learn in British English rather than American English, so there are minor differences in the language like trash is rubbish and an eraser is called a rubber. One opportunity that I think is great for my students is their STEM learning. Once a week they have a specialized STEM instructor come to their class who has them use sophisticated tools like saws and hot glue guns to build structures.
Besides being in school this week, I have enjoyed several other great experiences throughout Barcelona. I attended an FC Barcelona fútbol (European Soccer) game with some of my fellow study abroad friends, getting to experience of what it means to be an FC Barcelona fan chanting for players, waving around the Catalan flag and cheering with the proud Barcelona crowd. I took a cooking class where I learned how to prepare and cook foods the way that Barcelonans would, like bread with tomato, paella, and Catalan cream. I learned that in Barcelona it is traditional for their paella to contain ingredients such as rabbit, chicken, eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, saffron, chicken stock, prawns, and mussels. I also took the opportunity to visit Barcelona’s Chinatown, not really knowing what to expect. I enjoyed seeing numerous Chinese markets, restaurants and stores. One thing I learned is that Barcelona’s Chinatown is a developing and growing area which I think is great!
