Hello all,

My overall appreciation of my time in the Netherlands has stayed positive throughout. The main boon with regard to my practice has been the strengthening of many of my initial premises and attitudes. I also got a glimpse of a slightly different school culture which is always a good experience.

If I were afforded the choice to participate in this project again, I would without hesitation. The situation I was in was genuinely useful to the pupils involved and this came through the absence of most of the restrictions a school environment usually imposes. I therefore got a lot of enjoyment out of helping pupils instead of mindlessly babysitting them (although I was asked to do this some of the time too).

I was also able to set my tongue free, metaphorically of course, to a great extent. The pupils were good enough to understand my speech as long as I didn’t purposefully use big words. They even claimed that I was far easier to understand than their teachers, which I found surprising. I imagine they are actually learning most of their English through television and other media: this might go some way to explaining it.

I don’t think it has qualitatively changed anything in my teaching practice, though. My job in the school was more akin to a coach and tutor than a teacher. I have had enough experience in this field to have rather stable practices and some logical fundamentals which aren’t likely to change within such a short time-span.

On a more personal note, the change of scenery was very welcome since I had many things to mull over. These are probably the memories which will stay with me the longest.

Sauce,

A