THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408190281
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
LAST MAY, Anne C. Gavin boarded an airplane with letters and photographs of Forest Glen Middle School students tucked in her suitcase. The package was delivered to British students in a school in Easton, a section in the west of England largely devoted to immigrants.
One month later, Gavin returned with personalized pen pal letters and a video of British students. She distributed them at Forest Glen just before schools closed for summer vacation.
Gavin was among 11 student teachers from Old Dominion University's Darden College of Education who recently completed one of their student-teaching experiences at schools in the United Kingdom. The four-week visit, which ended June 7, included teaching in the schools and touring in southern England.
``When I had the opportunity to go to England, I snatched it,'' said Gavin, who had an opportunity to visit Kirby-Lonsdale, the birthplace of her ancestors.
As a student teacher at Old Dominion University, Gavin taught an eighth-grade social studies class at Forest Glen during the past school year. And before she left for England, Gavin asked her students to write letters, include statistics, and enclose photographs for her to take overseas.
``I promised I would bring back an equivalent from Great Britain,'' Gavin said.
After her arrival in London, Gavin was taken by private coach to Bristol and visited the Redlands Campus of the University of the West of England.
``We went through a week of orientation to the British system,'' Gavin said. ``We met with the teaching faculty, took notes on the history of English education, sat in on education classes, and learned their laws.''
During their stay in Bristol, the teachers were involved in a comparative analysis of American and British education and produced a 45-minute videotape that presents teaching, living, cultural and touring experiences related to the visit. Next spring, a group of British students will visit Norfolk to attend seminars with Old Dominion faculty and student-teach in local schools.
``There is a national curriculum and teachers teach by topics in the United Kingdom,'' Gavin said. ``There is less structure in the classroom and children have a lot of time to work on assignments on their own. I believe their system would not work for us, but ours would work for them.''
``They teach Christian principles and sing Christian songs in assembly. Teachers are nice, but they run a `tight ship.' ''
To complete an assignment, Gavin taught 22 students in the Millpond Primary School in Easton. She also observed the teaching in a Cottswold school in Gloucestershire.
``There is no middle school concept in England,'' Gavin said.
Although teachers' salaries are 33 to 40 percent less in the United Kingdom than those of their counterparts in America, their only responsibility is to teach the students, Gavin said. Supply teachers take the children outside to play, and ``dinner ladies'' take them to the cafeteria for their midday meal.
A native of Norfolk, Gavin graduated from Granby High School and received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Lynchburg College in 1975. After spending a year doing graduate work in special education, she returned to Norfolk and went to work as an auxiliary with the Portsmouth Police Department.
While working in Special Investigations, Gavin met her future husband, Wilbor C. Gavin, who was her immediate supervisor. After 27 years of service, he continues to work with the Portsmouth Police Department.
The couple moved to a farm in Suffolk in 1979. Gavin became involved in teaching horseback riding and judging horse shows until September 1992, when she enrolled at Old Dominion University. She received her teacher's certification in May and is now qualified to teach language arts and social studies to grades 4-8.
Speaking of her experiences at the English primary school, Gavin said she remembers an 11-year-old boy from Somalia who spoke no English.
``He could not communicate verbally, but every time he had a problem, he would come to me,'' Gavin said. ``We began to communicate through numbers and he gave me a wonderful smile. We had fun together . . . and that's teaching.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Anne Gavin, a Suffolk resident and ODU student teacher, has just
returned from England, where she taught in the schools and toured
the country.
by CNB