As part of Erasmus for staff, Ms. Elizabeth Fau, English teacher at the agricultural high school of St Germain En Laye (SGL) did a teaching mobility internship in Ireland from April 7 to 12, 2019. It is therefore with the idea of comparing her culture and professional knowledge with one of another European country that Elizabeth left to come back to participate in the interview as soon as she returned to France.
How did you organize your Erasmus internship in Ireland?
Thanks to Christophe Hup, international cooperation referent at SGL, I was informed that the staff of the establishment have the possibility of carrying out various Erasmus internships in Europe within the framework of the consortium of Ile De France including my high school of assignment , its coordinator. I opted for teaching mobility. I asked my deputy director, Mr. Martin, for an absence which he accepted and I thank him in passing, because it is always pleasant to have a management inclined to the training of its staff, especially at an international level
Then, Christophe took care of putting me in touch with an Irish training center for adults in permaculture, of completing my financial contract, my work program as well as the logistics of my accommodation in connection with one of the Irish partners of the Consortium. . I just had to advance the cost of my plane ticket. Ms. Roussy and Mr. Cabillic, whom I also thank, helped me to obtain the Erasmus grant in particular.
Did you have any concerns about this mobility?
I was indeed very worried about the classes I had to teach. Teaching English to Irish people, I didn't see the point. But hey I had "signed", I was not going to backtrack.
The d day approaching, I started to prepare some courses on permaculture. The Irish partner of the consortium was very understanding and to reassure me immediately put me in touch with a teacher from the Irish training center. She introduced me to the establishment with its ten lessons as well as the English courses for foreigners "English as secondery language" it is in this context that I intervened. Ouff! I was relieved.
How did your internship go?
Very well, in a few words here is my week in Cork. I arrived the day before my internship and I followed the work program decided and signed upstream by all the actors of my Erasmus. On Monday, I met the teachers team, very welcoming but the person with whom I had been in contact previously was absent, hospitalized. After a few minutes the headmaster had appointed another teacher to guide me. So I took my class time off, we had a 30-minute break. I fully supported the Irish learners but was guided according to their teacher's goals. I also spoke with the Irish teaching team about our professional experiences and practices. Some courses were more based on communication skills, others on argumentation and still others on permaculture and horticulture with its attendant technical vocabulary. I also had the chance to interact with adults learning landscaping after their professional project presentation.
I was also responsible for evaluating 6 groups of 3 learners who had to present their site rehabilitation project according to the principles of permaculture. I was totally impressed by their professionalism. Of course each group got their exam "hands down".
Have you had the opportunity to take cultural tours in Ireland?
Of course, at the end of the day I took the bus back to Cork. I went to Cobh (pronounced Cove) to visit the Immigration Museum and better understand the reasons for the departure of thousands of Irish people (famine, condemnation, search for a better world…. “Among others”) of course. the tragedies of the Titanic and Lusitania are recalled in this museum.
I also visited Cork prison "Cork gaol" There, I could see the difficult conditions of the time for the prisoners who had committed nothing but simple theft, or responded to a police officer ( whip and imprisonment of several months even for children of 10 years).
What have you personally and professionally learned with this mobility?
Thanks to my Erasmus, my general personal knowledge of Irish civilization was very quickly enriched by my visits, not to mention the famous Irish dance, the learning of which earned me some giggles with one night riders.
Living with the locals has shown me that the criticisms of the Irish speaking speed and their lack of punctuality are legendary.
From a professional point of view, teaching far from your comfort zone is a bit of a pleasant challenge, I want to reinvest in my courses the argumentation techniques as well as the very precise horticultural and permaculture vocabulary learned on the spot and use different evaluation criteria in the future in my own controls during training (CCF) for my future learners.
Finally, would you recommend doing an Erasmus?
Yes and with conviction as my mobility was very beneficial to me both from a personal point of view about Irish culture and professional because even if my Erasmus reinforced me in my learning methods, I learned from others and with the others. So assessment of my little 'European history, my suitcase remains ready for other internships…
Thank you Elizabeth for your testimony and the photos of your Erasmus
C HUP, SGL international cooperation referent
