Here to fight: Exchange teachers have different experiences (as submitted to Highestwire)

Submitted by Tracy Rosewarne on Saturday, April 09, 2005 at 03:18:41 AM EST.

By Iris Faraway
Community High School
Ann Arbor, MI

With 20 years of teaching experience behind her, Mima Bakoeva found herself facing a new challenge.

After receiving support from the Fulbright Program, she had traveled thousands of miles from the Roman Rolland School in Stara Zagora, a Bulgarian city, to teach Literature to American students at Community High School in Ann Arbor, Mich. The trip was part of teacher-exhange program with CHS teacher Ken McGraw, who was taking her place at Roman Rolland.

But things at Community weren’t going as well as Bakoeva had hoped. She said she felt that many students in her classes didn’t trust her, a fact which constantly put her on the defensive.

“I had the feeling I was here to fight,” she said, reflecting on her classes. “I would be thinking, ‘Where will the attack come from this time?’”

Adapting to the American school system and way of life wasn’t easy. Bakoeva had to get used to a world where students addressed her by her first name and could walk out of her class while she talked with little or no consequences. She also had to adjust to the many resources that were not available in Bulgaria, like textbooks.

“I think a lot of the students take them for granted,” she said. “You are so lucky here.”

McGraw agreed that the lack of educational resources in Bulgaria forced him into a different style of teaching.

“We had no copy machine, no textbooks. Just desks, a room, a whiteboard and a marker," he said, "and I had to buy my own marker."

Across the globe from Ann Arbor, McGraw was discovering his own cultural differences with the Bulgarians. Since Roman Rolland is a school for top pupils that requires students to pass an exam before they are admitted, he found his students eager to learn (Bulgarian students often do well on the SAT and come to American colleges). However, because of the low supplies, they were unwilling to spend their precious notebook paper on his creative writing assignments, he said.

He also had to learn to understand the Bulgarian traffic arrangements, where cars have the right of way and park on the sidewalk. “I still haven’t figured out how to cross the street,” he said.

Bulgarian menus also proved difficult for the American. Once, in an adventurous mood, he ordered a mysterious dish which turned out to be a bowl of 20 chicken hearts, he said.

However, despite the culture differences, he said he found the Bulgarian students and their families were accepting. “They made me feel very welcome, and very loved,” he said, adding that he was invited to dinner by members of the community several times.

Bakoeva, meanwhile, said she still felt she was having trouble getting accepted by some students.

“Everyone wants to be recognized. I don’t say liked, or loved, I just say recognized,” she said.

As the new teacher in town, Bakoeva said she frequently had to deal with students who were rude or ignored her. Soon she began to question whether or not coming to teach in America was a good idea at all.

“Fulbright is supposed to be difficult, but not a punishment. There were some moments when I felt like I was being punished,” she admitted.

By the time the first semester was up, Bakoeva said she was ready to return to Bulgaria. However, she still had some compliments for Community’s students, and said that she found many of them to be very creative.

“I learn a lot from my students, and hopefully they learned something from me,” she said before departing.

As Bakoeva left, McGraw returned and proclaimed his side of the Fulbright exchange to have been a pleasant experience.

“Everyone should be the foreigner somewhere,” he said.

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