Exploring the Country and Educational Insights

Friday, October 24

This week, the whole region of the Netherlands was off of school. It is the autumn holiday allowing students and teachers to rest from classes and enjoy the transition from warm to much cooler weather.

I used this time off from school to do a little exploring with some friends from abroad as well as with my host family.

First, my host family father took me to Kinderdijk. This is the location of windmills that have been used since the 18th century! I learned about the functioning of the mills and was able to see inside them. They have been used over the centuries to pump water out of the country using a canal system.

This prevents flooding and allows more space for building, as well as land for livestock. Today, much of the pumping is done electronically, but all the old systems are still in place.

Next, I visited some friends who I met overseas this summer. They were also on a holiday trip, in a nearby city. With them, I visited Utrecht and a small historical village outside of Amsterdam. Here I learned how wooden clogs and cheese are made in the Netherlands. I also got to taste some great cheeses!

On another day, I used the efficient bike path system to visit other small villages in the area and see the countryside. I was amazed by the connectivity of the paths and the quiet beauty of the surrounding towns.

While I do love exploring, I do have the purpose of teaching while I'm here! When I was visiting other families this week I got to hear some things about the education system and their experience with it. While there are some similarities, the education system is more separated than ours is in the US. Students go to different levels of school based on their interests and abilities. There is a practical-based path, a theoretical-based path, and a university preparation path. Students are placed in a school based on their performance in primary school, but they are able to move between levels. If a student hopes to go to a university, they could work there way through the levels to go there. A student starting in the practical-based school would just need to spend more time in secondary school than a student starting in the University preparation type of schooling.

I've seen this table several times, and it helped me understand the structure of the system.

I also learned that university and college are quite different here. College is where a student would go to get their bachelor's degree, having a practical, career-oriented focus. University is where research and theoretical work is done.

I still have much to learn about how the structure of school effects classes in the day-to-day. I look forward to jumping into the classroom soon and learning from the teachers I work with.