'With just a few English words you can start a conversation in the Netherlands!'

Afbeelding
Engelse les, Oekraïense vluchtelingen, pabo

In a vast dark landscape with the lights of Steenwijk on the horizon, lies the large farmhouse belonging to Ellen Boerma and her husband. They live in the house at the front and the rear part of the farmhouse provides shelter to 26 Ukrainian refugees. On this dark December evening, they are being taught English by students from the International Teacher Education programme.

"The people living here really want to work but there’s a language barrier," says Ellen Boerma. "So I contacted NHL Stenden and we now have some fantastic young trainee teachers who have volunteered to teach English every week. I’ m impressed by how thorough their teaching is. I myself regularly join the advanced group and I see the enormous progress being made and how that makes them increasingly motivated. They notice that in the Netherlands you can start a conversation with just a few English words!"

"It's fun to do and I learn from it myself too"

In two large cosy rooms decorated for Christmas, the Ukrainian course participants and the four students meet. It’s cosy and they chat for a while first but soon the groups are divided and things get serious. "It's hard work," says Sonya a young girl who studies at home during the day. Her fellow students are at the secondary school in Meppel during the day, but they come together in the advanced group being taught by Hannah and Josephine, two students from Germany and Switzerland, who are studying International Teacher education for Primary Schools in Meppel. The two students see volunteer work as only natural. "During an internship at a school, I took care of a student from China who couldn’t yet understand our language at all," says Hannah. Josephine taught previously in Germany: "A friend of mine is from Syria and I taught him German, I think it makes sense to do this here. It's fun to do and I learn from it myself too. We brainstorm the lessons together and it's nice to see how it’s picked up."

Afbeelding
Oekraïense vluchtelingen, Engelse les, pabo

'Their', 'theirs', 'they'

Obligingly, she quickly turns back to her students to explain the differences between theirs and they. The other group is larger. Gracie from Germany and Francesca from Italy are teaching the class and start with a game. The students form two rows and Gracie shows different pictures. The student at the front has to give the right answer in English and then gets to join the back of the row again. Then there are chocolates brought by the girls and they work quietly on a writing task. Gracie gently explains that she lived near a refugee shelter in Germany. She thought it was only natural to teach there. "But I was still very young and didn't have much experience in front of the classroom. When I heard they were looking for people here again, I was eager to do it. I also notice that I have more experience now and my actual teaching is better." Francesca had also previously done volunteer work in Italy. "I like to do my bit. If I can help people then I will," she whispers so as not to disturb her students, and if one has a question she walks straight over.

"After the Christmas holidays, the lessons will end for a while," says Ellen Boerma. "It’s very unfortunate because these girls are worth their weight in gold. They do this in their own time and prepare well, but they’ll be doing internships. The idea is that they pick the lessons up again in the spring."

Afbeelding
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International Teacher Education for Primary Schools (ITEPS)

Do you enjoy working with children? Do you like to lead by example and contribute to children’s education? Then read on.