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“Since my time here, I have met so many more people from all over the world. So much so that in my class, I would speak multiple languages as it is so diverse. ITEPS is a very open community and the lecturers are amazing. They give great lessons, and if help is needed they are always only an email away, or available for a face-to-face meeting, which I personally prefer. The classes are also super interesting. Classes are not even every day and towards the second half of the year I only have two classes a week. I like this as I can then concentrate on myself, going out, playing volleyball at our volleyball university club, or relaxing in my room. That aspect might be a little difficult for some people as we have to work a lot outside of school, either on assessments or learning the material, but I feel it actually gives me lots of freedom.”
International internships
“Moving to the Netherlands for the ITEPS programme was a wonderful opportunity for me as I had never lived here before. Not only the location but the whole experience has given me so many opportunities. In each year of the course, I get to do teaching practice in an actual primary school. Although in the first two years you can’t go too far from the Netherlands as the lecturers need to visit you and see you at work, in the last two years, you can go anywhere in the world, and I mean anywhere. Next year, I have the chance to go to Thailand. If this isn’t international, I don’t know what is. I think the best times in the programme are the internships. It's when you actually learn how to be a teacher, how to handle kids, and while you are on internship, you always have the chance to get to know the country you're in.
Steady development
The further you are in your studies the more you have to do in your teaching practice, but that is how you learn best. First comes observing the class you get, and then giving a few lessons. It's not just teaching though, it's also taking in as much as possible, such as how the teacher does classroom management, or how they teach. Lots of the things I did during my internships involved taking care of questions students had, giving lessons, and creating relationships with coworkers. Being a teacher takes a lot of preparation work, but it is very enjoyable, and I wouldn’t mind printing or laminating everyday!
Finding the schools in which you want to do your teaching practice is easy. Every year, ITEPS sends you a list of schools all over the world offering internships. You hand in your six choices and they try their very best to send you to where you want to be. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, as there are lots of students and some schools might not have enough space, so you might get other choices than your first few. But in the end you get to go to a school which is open and offers lots of learning possibilities.
Find out more about the International Teacher Education for Primary Schools programme.