International Student Ambassador Lucille taught primary school children about her culture. Find out how it went.
As an international student, some days you miss your home and all the things that make it special. This is why, when the opportunity arose to teach Cottage Grove primary school students about my home, Germany, I was delighted!
To prepare, I created a PowerPoint presentation about Germany, its food, architecture, language and music. Along with this, we made a Worksheet and a “Where’s Wally” picture with my face hidden in a map of Germany!
During the first day, the ambassadors would deliver 45-minute workshops about their countries to different classes. We even had one Bollywood dance workshop!
On the second day, there was a cultural fest where each class got allocated one country that they would learn even more about, and then later on everyone would come out to the playground, dressed in traditional clothes and perform song and dance for the whole school.
On the first day I was quite nervous, as I had never taught younger children before and was not sure how my workshop would be received. When I entered my first class full of 10-year-olds, I soon realised that there was no need for me to be nervous.
Every one of the students was so excited for another cultural fest - they do one each year - and had been looking forward to it all year long. The students interacted really well with my presentation and showcased big curiosity in cultures and learning.
I had never seen a school as excited, curious and diverse as Cottage Grove. And I felt incredibly happy to see that young minds are being exposed to such variety so early on. Even the younger classes, such as 6-year-olds, were engaged and excited to learn about other countries.
Over the day, I realised what children took away the most from my Workshop: the fact that there are over 3000 different types of bread in Germany!
The next morning, they had an assembly before starting the fest, and when they were asked what they learned in the workshops at least two children got up to say that fact!
Throughout the day, whenever they were asked for any number, most children would suddenly range in the thousands even though the day before, when I had asked them how many types of bread they though there was, their answers were usually in the twenties.
Also, during the assembly we celebrated the school dog’s third birthday! It was heart warming to see how much these children cared about animals, others and most importantly each other.
On this second day, I was back in a class I taught the day before to learn more about Germany. It was a year two class, meaning the younger children. They remembered me from the day before and greeted me warmly with hugs and smiles, saying they had missed me.
They were so excited to have me back and I was so happy to be there and teach them more about my home country. Throughout the day, we grew very close and I even ended up going home with pictures and bracelets made by the children!
Finally, during the cultural fest, my class performed a dance to a German song that I had taught them earlier on in the day. I was so relieved to see their courage, and how they were not shying away from performing in front of the crowd. That is what that day was about, sharing excitement and moving away from shame about our differences but embracing them and sharing them with each other. Their courage inspired me to be more courageous going forward.
That day, I realised the value of days like these for the children, to appreciate their own diversity and backgrounds but also to learn to appreciate each other’s differences, see the similarities we share across the world and what makes us special. They truly embraced approaching new things with open arms and curiosity, which will get them far later in life.
As for myself, I did not even realise how much there was to tell about my own country. Growing up there I took a lot of it for granted, but preparing my presentation and engaging with the children showed me how special a lot of it was, and how lucky I am to have experienced many things first hand, whether that is 3000 types of bread or a song about Barbaras Rhubarb Bar.