My English exam certificate

The week seems to have gone great! I’ve read the entries by Kathrin and Emmy from the Global Media Forum, which I find quite interesting. In spite of the red tape that prevented me from visiting the conference and meeting my fellow bloggers, several positive things relating to education happened to me, as well, this week. They brought about a storm of emotions, but they also gave some food for thought.

First of all, shortly before the launch of our education blog, a group of my adult students and I took part in an international English exam. And I’m really glad to hear that most of my students passed it successfully and got their certificates from Europe this week!

During the course we’ve also touched upon their expectations and life goals. Despite having different ages and positions in society, everyone agreed that learning a foreign language would give them many more opportunities abroad. For some, that meant in terms of working (one of my students was an international journalist). For others, it was about having the chance to study abroad. Some even hinted at encouraging their children to emigrate – if they end up not doing it themselves (This is a topic I discussed here). I hope the summer will give my students a chance to put their skills into practice and endow them with new ambitions.

Summer: time for some relaxation

Secondly, my university group had to go through defending our senior theses, the research papers that are required to earn our degrees – and we did it successfully! Looking back on the months we spent on preparing our research and analyzing statistics, I wonder to myself whether out efforts were worth it; did we pursue anything apart from getting a top mark? But unfortunately, I cannot answer with an emphatic “yes.” Why?

Well, any department offers its students a range of topics for their senior papers – but in regional universities, there are more chances to get a topic that has nothing to do with real life and the skills you may need in building your future. It’s mostly because some universities give courses for appearances’ sake – to show off (“Look, we’ve opened a new department this year – it’s like in the X university, which is in the top 50 in Russia. Of course, what they do not say is: We don’t have enough staff to deal with the curriculum and the equipment is a bit out-of-date.”). This is where the issue of a degree’s value arises. Still, in my group there were research papers devoted either to the professional sphere (a project on a new type of language school) or to vital social topics (like tolerance).

It kind of makes me think of Pink Floyd and the image of a wall. In a positive sense, I now have a new brick to add to my educational wall, and I intend to continue building it.

The Internet offers a wealth of ways to continue your education

Many people in Russia used to believe that it’s enough to get your university degree – then you can start working and forget about education (until your children go to kindergarten, at least). They’d say you’ve developed your skills, so you ought to find a job and get on with your life. Many still think this way. Sometimes I discuss this topic with friends, and it’s great that our generation seems to have a more modern way of thinking: We believe that it’s natural to have a “second” higher education, to attend courses even as a grown-up or to change jobs several times before retiring.

That means we need something other than the traditional educational model of going from kindergarten to elementary and high school, then on to a university or college and, finally, to graduate school. This has been the model for a long time, and is promoted by the government (Also see my second and third entries for some of the problems I see with that model).

So what’s an alternative? The answer is simple – we shouldn’t forget self-education! There are so many possibilities out there!  You can get the skills necessary for a job – a process most associate with university education – by teaching yourself.

Libraries used to be quite popular for self-learners, but the Internet is changing that. Life is getting more dynamic while the majority of Russian libraries haven’t changed their basic model at all. They don’t offer Internet access to find certain types of information quickly, and they don’t get very many specialized magazines in foreign languages. So people treat libraries not as a source of enlightenment but as a place to get a book to spend several days with.

Online resources can be wonderful if you know a foreign language beyond the basic level. And in fields like medicine or economics, you’ll likely need specialized language skills in English. Clearly you also need Internet access to use such resources – although for Russians in rural areas, a fast Internet connection is often impossible to get. But once these requirements are met, you have the whole world at your fingertips.

Russian libraries have some catching up to do

Some well-known foreign universities offer online courses or lectures for free. That’s a contrast with many universities in my country, which do not promote their websites as independent sources of knowledge. As I see it, there is also a lack of such programs for teenagers before they get to college, at least in Russia.

Clubs or associations formed within schools or by external groups are good ways to learn, too. Here you’re only limited by your interests! For example, my friends own a bookshop that organizes regular lectures devoted to literature. They invite poets or professors, and the series has grown popular with families – not just with young people.

One thing I believe firmly is that you do not get educated FOR your life, you get educated THROUGHOUT your life – no matter how old you are or what step on the social ladder you occupy.

Maria's mother grading papers

I was having breakfast with my parents on Sunday. My mom is an English teacher, and she was grading papers. She asked me to take a look at some writing by her students.

“Do you think I’m being too demanding? This is for CAE [Cambridge English: Advanced] level,” she asked.

I pondered several things and exchanged ideas with her. It was during this conversation that I recalled how exactly I came to write in English as I do today.

When I found myself attending classes in Berlin, in an international college, writing philosophical essays of around 2,000 words, I realized I didn’t have a solid base of knowledge on how to write an essay. I had to learn how to structure complex ideas and elaborate thoughts by myself, through writing and feedback from faculty members. There’s a way in which, in Argentina, high standards in learning do not come from a joint effort, a socially sanctioned approach to providing good quality education. Instead, the standards come from individual initiative. It is by and large a common thing to hear people say: “I was lucky: in seventh grade, I had a wonderful language teacher,” or, “I didn’t have a hard time in math in college because for the last two years of high school my teacher was very demanding.”

In Argentina, when I was finishing high school, the system was 6-3-3: six years of primary school, three years of pre-high school, and three years of proper high school. In this last bit you had to choose an orientation, so it could be the case that your classmates and you had to part ways, and you found yourself in an entirely new group of people.

When preparing lessons, teachers set the standards by themselves

I remember doing grammar exercises during class. Some would take part and others would be at a complete loss. So the teacher would ask, “Who was your language teacher in pre-high school?” This is when you found out that some teachers stressed writing style, while others focused on grammar exercises, and, finally, some others made literature the priority. If you were lucky, you got a good basis in grammar and learned how to write properly and express yourself. This phenomenon that took place within the same school gets multiplied when you meet others your same age in college, who come from the provinces. Then the knowledge gap is wider than when you compare teenagers educated in Buenos Aires.

There is no single system that unifies educational standards. Even though teachers follow curricula, they may not emphasize one specific thing or another, and the rest is up to you. I sometimes get the feeling that either these topics in curricula are too general, or they are not properly evaluated at the end of the term. In any case, more often than not, you are left alone in making efforts to reach further.

I’m a teacher of English, though I had never planned to be the one at first! As a student, I had to change my place of residence – and my university. When changing universities in Russia, you can’t always get into the same program you had done before. That’s why I was offered to do economics as my second higher education course and to study foreign languages, earning the qualification to be a teacher. No matter how difficult it is to imagine, sometimes you have to face such odd situations. And the quicker you get used to it, the better! That means that I accepted this variant and projected my future based on it for the coming years.

In Russia, education has 2 sectors: private and state. Both have advantages and drawbacks. In places outside of the capitals, the state school system has just begun to get sufficient monetary support. So I chose the private sector in order to worry less about my financial matters. And, of course, it also has much less red tape!

My fellow students and I in Moscow

So many things happen in the world, and some involve education in our country. We have a great opportunity to witness changes – and to influence them, making things better for pupils and students. That’s why I believe that any helpful contribution is important. The world transforms, and classical schools, libraries and universities – any institutions connected with enlightenment – alter in accord with modern methods. Changes include offering an education by means of online courses or accommodating those going in for a second or third degree while having a family. In Russia, with its rich variety of small nations and cultural diversity, this process is especially promising to look at.

I’m fond of working as a teacher now, but, psychologically, I’m the one who will not be the same over the decades. So I may find another sphere of life to work in – without giving up teaching as long as it interests me and getting useful experience for the future.